I bought him a Remington 700 youth in .243 but the stock is too long and the gun is too heavy. I figure a lightweight AR with collapsible stock is the way to go, at least short term.

I've got several ARs in 5.56 and a rock river upper in 6.8 but it is a heavy bull barrel.

Should I stick with 5.56 or get a lightweight 6.8 or .300BO?

As long as recoil isnt too bad, I want whatever is best at killing deer up to 200 yards but realistically 100 or less.

If you were setting up an 8 year old boy, what would you go with?

Also, I'm thinking a red dot would be fine up to 100 yards. He may be cross eye dominant and just can't seem to get a good sight picture looking through a scope up even dialed down. Thoughts?

300BO has similar ballistics to 30-30 out to 100yds, so that wouldn't be a bad choice. I have killed a few deer with a 6.8 I had, using SSA Barnes TSX projectiles and Aimpoint PRO. If you weren't already invested in 6.8 I would have suggested 6.5 grendel.

As for the red dot, I would suggest he get 50 or more rounds down range with it and ON TARGET at 50-100 yards before letting an 8 year old take a shot at a deer and possibly get a poor hit. If you are absolutely confident with a kit at 100 yards using a 2MOA dot that would cover a third of the shoulder of a deer at 100yards, then thats on you

Is 5.56 legal for deer in your state. Here and in some others it's not. We have a .23 minimum caliber requirement.

.223 is legal for deer here in Arkansas. A 223 /556 with a good hunting bullet will do the job just fine with good shot placement.

6.8. Great hunting cartridge out past 200 yards. Recoil is just a tad more than .223/5.56.

quote:

Originally posted by ruger357:
Should I stick with 5.56 or get a lightweight 6.8 or .300BO?

I will assume 16" barrels, 4000' density altitude, best guess on muzzle velocity, JBM ballistics, for fairly comparable hunting bullets.
Distance -- bullet velocity -- kinetic energy

30-30 Barnes 150 flat nose
muzzle -- 2200 fps -- 1614 ft/#
100 yards -- 1828 fps -- 1113 ft/#
200 yards -- 1503 fps -- 752 ft/#

300 blk Barnes 110 tipped triple shock
muzzle -- 2400 fps -- 1407 ft/#
100 yards -- 2032 fps -- 1130 ft/#
200 yards -- 1917 fps -- 898 ft/#

6.8 Barnes 110 tipped triple shock
muzzle -- 2550 fps -- 1588 ft/#
100 yards -- 2347 fps -- 1345 ft/#
200 yards -- 2153 fps -- 1132 ft/#

6.5 Grendel 120 tipped triple shock
muzzle -- 2425 fps -- 1567 ft/#
100 yards -- 2256 fps -- 1356 ft/#
200 yards -- 2094 fps -- 1168 ft/#

223 Barnes 62 tipped triple shock
muzzle -- 2900 fps -- 1158 ft/#
100 yards -- 2621 fps -- 945 ft/#
200 yards -- 2358 fps -- 765 ft/#

IMO, from a 16" barrel, the 6.5 and 6.8 are noticeably better than 30-30, 300blk, and 223 for your specified purpose.

quote:

Originally posted by ruger357:
He may be cross eye dominant and just can't seem to get a good sight picture looking through a scope up even dialed down. Thoughts?

The first thing I'd do is find out which eye is dominant and teach him to shoot that way, even if it meant being right handed, but shooting left handed. It will make like much easier later shooting handguns and shotguns.

Since you are already invested in 6.8 SPC II, I would build a lightweight 6.8 SPC upper using an AR Performance 16" Scout barrel and bolt or a 14.7" and pin the flash hides/comp.

300BO would be the winner from a cost and ease perspective (same magazines and BCGs as any 5.56 AR), however since you already have a 6.8 I'd probably go with that for a little better performance.

any ar cailber off of a bag / shooting stick or bipod. Maybe from a blind!!!!

If you’re hunting from a blind/stand the weight of your heavy barrel 6.8 should not not be an issue.

The ARP Scout barrel is good recommendation for a 6.8 hunting barrel...

https://www.ar15performance.co.../sdetail/38010/43897

quote:

Originally posted by zoom6zoom:
Is 5.56 legal for deer in your state. Here and in some others it's not. We have a .23 minimum caliber requirement.

Ditto ... Here, the last I heard in Kansas it was .24 caliber.

I built a 6.8 a couple years ago with a DD barrel I found on clearance from Brownells. My 11 year old daughter used it last weekend and dropped a spike buck (her first deer) at 105 yards.

I tried to get her to use a my old youth model Remington Model 7, but she's too small to get a sight picture through the scope. The adjustable stock on the AR (Magpul STR) was the solution to that problem.

.223 is legal for deer here, but I prefer the 6.8.

When the fellas around here start asking the same questions, I have to remind them that they aren't hunting ISIS in Tora Bora. The deer can be easily taken around here with a 5.56 and the ballistics aren't really an issue because the distances aren't that great. 5.56 kills them just as dead. Frankly, I start him out with any old AR, and a low power scope or red dot depending on the terrain you are hunting.

I've killed a ton of deer with a 22-250. Same bullet, little better velocity for distance. I laugh when I hear all of the deer snipers talking about ballistics on their hand loads for the 200 yard shot they are going to make with their 300 Win Mag. I then remind them of the dead deer laying on the side of the road on the way in, and how crafty those devils are that we kill them constantly with cars.

.223 is the answer, if that's legal in your state.

64 grain powershock or similar will drop them in their tracks.

Presuming that you're hunting in-state (AL) and not in a managed wildlife area, centerfire .223 is acceptable. Recently had a customer from AL out here visiting relatives come into the shop and we talked 'hunting', so that's how I came across this info. Doesn't hurt to double-check with your game regs, however.

Out here in WA it's not legal to use anything below .24cal. Too many hacks who don't know HTF to shoot wind up maiming and consigning deer to a slow and most painful death, at least that's the reasoning. A local example of that kind of crap happened a few years ago when a group of idiots armed with ARs had a confined herd of deer cornered and shot the bejezus out of them. From the subsequent investigation, the state game dept. said it was clear that some of the animals didn't die immediately despite the number of hits they had taken. Worse yet was that there was no attempt by those shooters to harvest any of the animals, instead leaving them to rot. Killing for the pleasure/joy/sickness of killing. Clearly not for skill or sport. As an aside, earlier this year a local 'poaching club' was found out and its members charged with doing much the same thing across multiple states. Some humans can be such shitty creatures.

While I have no problem using .223 for eradicating coyote or nuisance ground rodents, to me using a larger, more powerful caliber gives the hunter a greater margin for error and is a more humane way of taking down large game. But that's me; let your own conscience be your guide.

A coworkers 8 year old son bagged his first Deer with a 450 Bushmaster and he is not the least bit "large" for an 8 year old. Fact is that he's a bit skinny. According to his Dad he isn't the least bit bothered by the recoil and took his Deer with a round right thru the center of the heart.

Point is don't get hung up on the caliber, the bolt design of the 223 platform limits the maximum energy achievable and the recoil at the same time.

I hunt with an 18" 6.8spc, the upper is from Bison Armory. It is MOA accurate at 200M but the 18" length is heavy (AAC 762SDN mounted) and from what I am reading not really needed, I am going to have it cut down to 12.5" after this season.

But that is not your question, I have an almost 7yo and I would think a LW 6.spc would be ideal, the recoil is not bad at all certainly no where near a .308 and it is a viable 300M hunting rifle that he will be able to use forever if he so chooses.

.223 can be used but the margin of error (and many state laws) make it a less than an ideal choice in my opinion. A bolt or lever action is harder to manipulate for an 8yo than an AR as well. If you hunt from a blind get a good monopod and he should be good

I shot a doe this evening with my 300BO upper and it was my first time firing it "in the wild" (away from the range). I kind of chuckled at how it was like a BB gun going off, I missed the recoil and it was quieter than expected. (I was wearing ear plugs). I hunted with 300/221 pistols for many years, but this was the first time shooting it as a rifle in the woods.

The last few days I've been toying with buying one of the cheap Ruger bolt guns as a bad weather gun (what I use my AR for), I think it's performance may have sealed the deal.