I went out Sunday morning when it was -2 here. Saw a bunch of deer and turkey on the first stand but no coyotes. The second stand had warmed up to 1. It required a 3/4 mile hike in to a secluded river bottom. A tall grass strip cuts through the middle of the bottoms and the north half is covered with a layer of ice from the recent flooding. The south half is backed by a tall oak timber and the river. As I am approaching the north edge of where I want to set up I spooked up a half dozen deer who took off to the south west across the bottom. I watched through the bino's as two 'deer' still faced east. Closer inspection revealed that they were two very large dark coyotes about 600 yards across the field. I slowly backed up the hill to gain some elevation and cover from a thorn tree. As I did I see a set of ears in the tall grass in the middle of the field. I sat down and picked up the AR and saw the big pair turn and follow the deer into the timber. The single was about 350 yards out with the open ice between me and him. I knew he would try to swing into the scrub timber line to my left to get my wind and figured he would head through the grass strip to the trees. I lip squeaked twice and he sat up and looked in my direction. I was in enough of a shadow that he did not pick me up even though I was sitting uncovered on the hill side. One more short squeak and he popped up and to my surprise, he started trotting across the open ice right to me. As he closed to about 250 yards I could see him wanting to slip into the trees downwind of me. Not wanting to have him come right into my lap out of the thicket, I picked a spot on the edge of the trees and ice and waited for him to reach it. It was right at 200 yards when he stopped and checked the wind again before entering the trees, just as the 52 gr. hp entered behind his left shoulder. I checked my watch.. 9:00am.... Solunar table said that 8:50-10:50 was a peak for today. I guess the coyote read that too.

Nice...do you have any pictures of the gun? I'm looking at buying one before next year in case there is an "assault weapons ban" put into place.

I do not have a good one on my laptop at work.

It is a Bushmaster XM-15E2S 1:9 post ban upper on a RRANM lower. It has a Bushnell 3x9 and a cheek piece from Delta. I was shooting 52 gr HP but am working on a 55 v-max load to replace that. The white rectangle on the butt stock is my wind dope and drop data for the load.

Because if one is good, two must be better.... I also have a White Oak match upper with 1:7 SS preban that really like shooting the 69 and 75 grain bullets into little bitty groups way put there. I save that for Service rifle matches matches though.

And what does a setup like that cost?

Lets just say it is more than my bride thinks I have in it.... I have about a grand in each of my AR's. the one in the picture breaks out like this.

Bushmaster 20" A2
Target heavy barrel 850
Scope mount rings 100
Match trigger 120
Match sling 30
Delta cheek piece 25
------------------------$1125





I guess it depends on what you are wanting to do with it. If you want a semi auto version of the M-16 with a 20 inch barrel for 'nostaligia" sake there ara a ton of them out there for about $900. If you want a cool truck gun, the 16" carbines in M4 configuration are all the rage. The ones with the AK stlye supressors do nothing for me though. The 16 inch barrel gives up too much velocity and accuracy at longer ranges for my liking. makes it a 100 yard gun pretty quick. The things I have seen a 20 inch free floated 1:7 .223 do at 600 and even 1000 yards with 80 and 90 grain bullets and iron sights is too cool.

If you just want a rifle on the AR platform for varmint shooting I would buy a flat top. I am considering getting a new upper for hunting with a 24 inch fluted 1:8 or 1:7 barrel and shooting heavier bullets.

Do not be afraid to mix and match and buy a RRA lower and a DPMS upper or Bushmaster. Every thing is modular and interchangable. Make sure that the upper has a bolt and bolt carrier included. If it is about $120 lower than other uppers.... it needs a bolt! It is often cheaper to buy a lower and upper separately. This has something to do with the way they are taxed. Swapping an upper to a different lower takes less than a minute to do and causes no change in zero for the upper. Plus, once you have a good lower, you can get uppers sent to your home without an FFL. They are an accessory, the lower is the registered part.


So the next time you have $1500 burning a hole in your pocket... Get a RRA NM lower with a good 4# trigger on it for about $350, a classic A2 or A3 20" upper for about $550 and a Flat top Varmint barrel for another $550. If you want the best... save up another $100 and check out White Oak Precision in Carlock Illinois. John Holliger make tack driving match rifles and varmint uppers in many calibers. No junk leaves John's shop. He is a Distiguished High Master marksman and makes sure every one of his pieces shoots as well as he does.

For a while they were dumping some old triangle handguard Colt A1 uppers from a prison trade in that had 1:12 chrome barrels that were like new for $300. Just be aware that older colts had a different size hinge pin an an $10 adapter would be needed to put it on a modern lower.

Thanks for the info. I'm looking for a longer range varmint rifle.

Cody, I bought a DPMS "Lo Pro Classic" a while back for $750. 55 grain FMJ "factory reloads" from Georgia Arms gave me 3100 ft/sec from the 16" bull barrel with a 1 in 9" twist. The most accurate load I've tried so far was a handloaded 63 grain Sierra SMP that produced a 0.6" group at 100 yards. I haven't chronoed that one yet as I'm still playing with loads.

I bought the AR as a short-to-medium range varmint gun which could obviously double as a home defense gun. With this in mind I put a Bushnell Elite 4200 1.5-to-6X scope on it.

Some of these AR match rifles are shooting out to 1000 yards. How much farther do you need? (I also have a .220 Swift for longer ranges than I feel comfortable with the .223.)

Well I was looking for out to 300 yards. I have quite a few "varmint rifles", 223, 204, 220 swift, 22-250, 25-06, 308, 243.......you get my drift. I was just looking for a coyote gun that was a accurate semiauot. Or maybe I just want to justifiy a new gun

I would get a 20"-24" 1:8 RRA , Bushmaster or DPMS flattop on an RRA NM lower and start having fun! You cannot beat the quick follow up shots and recoil is non extistent. Make sure it has a free floated hand guard.

Well, you COULD look at the various AR-10 style rifles in .243, .260, etc. I've been wishing for a DPMS LR-260L myself...

The .260 would be my choice on the bigger platform. The cost goes up a bit on those too.

I'm just looking for a .223 as of right now. So you buy the lower, and then you can buy differant uppers then? Can you swap out calibers in the uppers, and keep the same lower then? Sorry if these questions sound stupid, but I know nothing about these type of rifles.

Cody, that's the basic picture but there are two different lowers, depending on the cartridge class. The AR-15 lower will accomodate the .223, .204, etc. while the AR-10 handles the .308, .243, .260 ...

Where's the best place to buy all the differant components at? I was mainly looking for something that shoots 223 as well as nato 5.56

You might want to visit www.ar15.com. I'm pretty sure you'll find more info there than I could provide, I'm relatively new at this AR stuff.