Please Explain the popularity of AR's for hunting big game

[Boss .300 winmag]

1000.00 for a home built 6.5 Grendel. 1200.00 for a home built AR-10 in 308 etc case.

Barrel and trigger are a must for a good shooting rifle semi or bolt. Get quality there and the other parts are just operator choices.

Add Cerakote and all the extra high end goodies along with quality part and or billet and it's quite a bit more.

Quality name upper and lower like spartan, RRA 2 stage, black hole barrel. Magpul gear etc. I can build the Grendel for 1000.00 all day long. Done it several times.

The cerakote is a option that a guy does not need to get a 1" rifle. The extra goodies are nice but not needed to achieve the 1" groups.

A basic AR yes, a quality custom no. If you want to put together a cheep Grendel that will shoot. Purchase the Ruger AR for 500.00 bucks. Plain as it gets, throw a 6.5 Grendel barrel and bolt on it along with a 12.00 magazine and your ready to Rock.  A Prius will get you there but I would be caught dead in one.

  I think you are way over thinking it.

This is the question: "So, what ballpark price range would it be for a decent AR to be used for deer or elk?   (That would get less than 1" groups at 100 yards)"

Decent AR in 6.5 custom parts as asked 1000.00 no problem. I can build you one if you like hammer

That be about like you pinch hitting for the "Babe". 

[carpsniperg2]

I don't know about that I think I'm at 83 or 84 builds in ar15 and ar10. I might give you Sammy Sosa 

[Oh Mah]

I wonder how much a Ruger American .308 with custom stock,Almost zero recoil ,Muzzle brake(AR),and detachable mag would cost?Yes there are some fine rifles out there that are less the cost. 

Well, ya didn't say all that. You said...

Number 2 is probably cost,To buy a better rifle would cost a lot more than say an AR-10.That would shoot as well.

Lots of guns would shoot as well as a $1000 AR, and would be half the price. I guess it depends on your definition of a "better" rifle.
You can buy one of those Ruger Precision Rifles for $1099.  They shoot.
 

not wanting to argue either.I was agreeing with you to a point.The main word I used was BETTER I put the stock stuff out there for the ar for that reason.It would take more than $500 to get a bolt action rifle with what comes stock on the ar.As I stated earlier Cabelas had an ar-10 on sale for under $800 so they are out there when they are out there.

[theleo]

Because they are tacticooool or their wives tell them "either use it for something or get rid of it!".

[lamrith]

ARs are really not heavy like people are making them sound to be.  no a std AR may not be featherweight bolt gun light, but then again, neither are regular bolt guns...  MY AR with iron sights is 7.2# and I did NOT build it to be light.

For me I chose it because it is what I know and am comfortable with, lugged it around 7days in AZ in Oct with no issues.  Heavy pack was far more a burden than the AR was..

[dontgetcrabs]

I tried getting into the fad of the ar style rifle and just couldn't.  Here is what changed my mind and why I chose not to hunt with them. 

1.  They are very heavy
2.  They are very loud.....I don't walk with one in the chamber and when I went to chamber a round, it was very loud.  Imagine metal on metal with spring sound while trying to chamber a round.  Anything withing 500 yards will hear you. 

If you hunt from a stand or blind and can sit with a round chambered it would probably work well.  They are fun and the recoil is very light in comparison to bolt rifles.  I still shoot .223 and even take it coyote hunting once in a while but for big game I prefer my bolt guns.   

Defiantly not a fad. As technology advances so do hunters. The bolt gun will go to the niche market just like the lever actions did.

#1 Mine is not noticeably heavier than a similarly equipped bolt rifle.

#2 Closing the bolt on a AR is no louder than closing one on a bolt gun. Unless you just pull the charging handle back and let it fly.

[bobcat]

"Definitely not a fad. As technology advances so do hunters. The bolt gun will go to the niche market just like the lever actions did."

   Are you serious? No way will AR's ever replace bolt action rifles for big game hunting. 

[dontgetcrabs]

"Definitely not a fad. As technology advances so do hunters. The bolt gun will go to the niche market just like the lever actions did."

   Are you serious? No way will AR's ever replace bolt action rifles for big game hunting.

Maybe not the AR, but something more advanced will put bolt guns in an archive!

[Oh Mah]

no way will the bolt go any where,it is undeniably the most accurate and strongest action ever made.

[Biggerhammer]

So, what ballpark price range would it be for a decent AR to be used for deer or elk?   (That would get less than 1" groups at 100 yards).

I bet decent for $1500 or less. Awesome for $2500 or less (including good glass). Hammer?

Depends on what they want most of the guys that I deal with want a truley custom AR, that's why their not buying one of the shelf and most often than not they don't care what it costs just as long as it's the way they want it  and it SHOOTS! I can't recall a build without Cerakote even if their black, it's graphite black Cerakote.

Sure Carp , whenever I can't swing everything. I'll kick some action your way.

[jackelope]

All things considered, will most $800 AR's shoot MOA out of the box?

(ok to put a scope on it)

[Biggerhammer]

All things considered, will most $800 AR's shoot MOA out of the box?

(ok to put a scope on it)

Most and it's hard to find a AR that won't shoot 1/2-3/4 MOA with the right handload and pilot.

[Bob33]

Defiantly not a fad. As technology advances so do hunters. The bolt gun will go to the niche market just like the lever actions did.

I can't speak for others, but I can assure you that my bolt actions will not go away or get relegated to non-use.

[James]

I have seen it go two different ways:

Service members that are just using the gun that is familiar to them. One of my hunting buddies is a former marine and he hunts with a DPMS AR10.  He picked it up for 700ish bucks new IIRC, got a trigger job, a good piece of glass and it shoots well under 1 MOA.  When I have asked him why he hunts with it his response is "It just feels right, I have so much trigger time behind these type of guns that everything is natural".  I will admit after shooting it this year, it's really nice, minimal recoil and accurate. He also the most reliable deer hunter in my group of friends (in terms of getting deer most years).  I don't see this any different than service members from WWI and II that buy surplus military guns as their hunting weapons (cost incentive aside).

I have also seen a number of guys that were never into hunting or shooting that build an AR as a project.  They build them because it's fun, then after a few times at the range, it's a "now what?" If three gun or other shooting sports don't interest them I have seen some want to try and take up hunting.

We should welcome these new hunters into our family with open arms.

[Karl Blanchard]

Defiantly not a fad. As technology advances so do hunters. The bolt gun will go to the niche market just like the lever actions did.

I can't speak for others, but I can assure you that my bolt actions will not go away or get relegated to non-use.

I'm with bob.  I LOVE my black gun but my bolt actions aren't getting retired any time in the next 3 or 4 decades, and I'm not even old like him