most people can only afford one AR, the other calibers are nice, but when you need one and cant find ammo like 300 blackout or 6.8 etc. you are just gonna wind up with a plastic club.

Billy Bob you can differ all you want but what you say is not always true. I have killed hogs with shotguns, '06s, 5.56, .22-250 and arrows. Each one is different but unless you break down the shoulders, hit the spine or brain, they will run most of the time.

Dead is dead, no matter what killed 'em, even a knife.

X2

Put a good constructed bullet from any of the ones listed = dead critter. Haven't had a dead critter complain about being shot with too small or too large a bullet.

Your right....but some require a little more accuracy or shot placement. A 65 grain slug is not going to due the damage a 168 gr round will do. The op wanted to know the best ar for deer and hogs. Its an ar10.........

Depends.

I had an AR-10 in .308. Loved it for its hitting power but at 4-5 pounds heavier than an AR-15 she was a pain to walk around with.

Now I have an AR-15 in 6.8. This is my dream setup. 80% of the power of the .308 but with the lightweight and lower recoil of the .223. I've now bought two uppers for my 6.8, one for blind hunting with an 18" barrel w/scope and one for stalking and has a 14.7" with reddot.

Do more research on the 6.8. Perfect round for deer and hogs.

the 6.8 and variety of 6.5 rounds are great, like I said previously, when you really need them, you aint gonna find them at Wally world or any other place, that will be one expensive plastic club.

be sure and get yours with a bayonet lug....you will probably need it.

For hogs... Having both the .223 and .308...give me the .308 every time...

Oh my god someone call the cops it's not in just 308 it's in 338 fed!!! Now you just go ahead and kill a bobcat with your ar10 and see how much is left to show everyone how pretty that cat was. A 308 or 338 federal are big rounds, but big isn't always better, I'd happily take any ar15 in any caliber and kill a deer or hog in one shot where it stands being the 22lr as a exception to deer. Now say we were shooting 1000+ yards at a deer or hog then no it's not a reliable and lethal weapon capable of killing a deer. But out at that far its not considered hunting, its long range target practice. You'll have better luck finding the 223 round over anything besides the 22lr, everyone has one, it's a good lethal deer/hog round, and it's cheap. I have a hard time finding 338 fed rounds at the country store in the middle of nowhere, kind of like I do with the 308. Now you'll definitely have better luck finding 308 than 338 but I garrintee it ain't gonna be $8-$15 a box like it would be in 223. The ar15 is defanitly better in my opinion because you don't need to blow everything away. Now what I say is get the new colt ar10 that can hold a ar15 upper. Then everyone wins and we don't have to sit here and fight like we're five years old. The name is the colt le901-16s check it out

balboa, the new colt .308/.223 is a great rifle at about $1900retail. you can reload .308s for all needs. I do know from experience 40 plus years ago, the M16 (.223) failed us a lot, the reliable M14 (308) did a hellacious job. just facts. I guess to each his own.

Add the .243 to that available in stores round. Not as much as the .308 but been around a long time.

6.5 Creedmore
6.5 Grendel
7mm-08 and on, and on, and on.

To the OP, like others have said, it depends on how you're hunting. I prefer more horse power and will just deal with the heaft of the heavier AR-10 if I was just getting into the AR biz.

But if you're going to run an AR-15 in .223 I'd find a heavy for caliber bullet since they've ususally got an agressive twist rate and will stabilize the 75gr. bullets just fine.

40 years ago.... We didn't have iPhones, household desktops, Internet, and the reliable tools to make exactly every rifle of that model the same. Close, ya pretty close but not exactly. Thing have come along way since the 60s and 70s. Honestly though I'd choose speed over size when it comes to guns. Speed=penetration= dead animal. Example: baseball thrown at a window from a teenage boy makes a baseball sized hole it the glass, maybe a bit bigger. Same boy exact same kind of glass window. A 22 rim fire bullet pierces the glass and the glass shatters completely. I'll chose speed over weight any day.

An ar-15 is lighter, cheaper, and more options (not that there aren't plenty of longer action AR's out there).

I've killed deer with my AR-15. No problem. I don't need another gun. If I do, I'm stepping up a lot more than a 308. Yes, .223 has some limitations, but those don't really exist in Texas. It does take some understanding of bullet construction and twist rates. But you should get what you want, always. If you just want to lug around one of those 308 AR's, then go ahead.

Out of principle, I think it is wrong to compensate for piss poor accuracy with more gun. It doesn't work, and is a poor argument.

Can't use that rationale...look at the mauser and springfield actions of the 1930's. You must be new to hunting thinking speed and penetration are the keys. The .223 round is not going to be a penetration round unless your using FMJ. If your shooting hollow points you will be lucky that it doesn't explode on the entry hole. If there is any brush in the way of a .223 forget it. Listen to texaspatriot.308 he's used them against humans and so have I. Unless you're a great shot you'll be tracking wounded animals. Mine lay down where they were shot.

Nothing wrong with an AR-10 in 308 or any of the other cartridges they are chamnered for. Just not my choice.

Have killed several deer and hogs with 223s and they all died within sight. There are better deer cartridges for the AR-15 than the 556 or 223 and my favorite is the 6.5 Grendel.

The argument that if TSHTF and good luck finding ammo in a store will be impossible for the less popular calibers than the 308 doesn't hold water to me cause if the deficate makes contact with the rotary oscilator it is late to be looking for ammo other than in your current stash.

Hey now hey now, if you can't hit the neck of a deer or right. Shins the shoulder you shouldn't be hunting. "That's some piss poor accuracy" and I don't believe you should be hunting just yet. Now I love the 308 round, but when buying a gun which would you pick? A 308 or 223? Here is why I would pick the 223 any and everyday, the 223 ammo is cheap, you can kill damn near anything in Texas with it (and still have something to show for it), it's proven, and you can shoot all day and your shoulder won't hurt to much. Vs the 308. Ammo is above $15 a box, it's got more knock down power than the 223, slower speed, more recoil, only useable for deer, hogs, and if you are a real lucky man, turkey. Now based on that right there tell me the 223 isn't better. And, since we are talking about ar15 vs ar10. The ar10 only has long action calibers from what I read above and has NO RIMFIRES!!! The ar15 has RIMFIRES calibers, and center fire calibers, so if you want to go get some coon skins you can, and with the same gun you can kill a hog or deer. The ar15 just has better choices and is just a better gun. But now why are we still arguing when you could have both? As mentioned above the colt le901-16s is a dual gun so therefore we are both right and both wrong. Any one else got something to cry about?

I like my targets dead. Speed is fine, but your example doesn't hold water (pardon the pun). I'm not sure how much hog hunting you've done. All of the discussed calibers will kill, I just like mine to be with as much certainty as possible. I generally prefer head shots. I have shot pigs with my .223. More often than not there is some thrashing before death. A few months back I did a neck shot with my .45-70 and it dang bear decapitated the pig. My favorite however, has been the .308. It is an instant dirt nap with almost instant death. Here is an illustration of my point to counter the speed and baseball example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6JZbYApiDY

I shot a 140 pound pig last night with my 5.56/223 at 100+ yards running one time using Winchester razor back xt 64 grains dropped it dead. I think it more important to use the right ammo vs a bigger caliber

And honestly, I don't think I've ever been to a small town hardware store that didn't have a few boxes of Remington Corlokt .308 ammo on the shelf. I think a .27 or .30 caliber round is better for pigs and deer and that's why I bought a .30RAR. Only slightly slower than the .308 with the same bullets. Best yet is it's an AR15 platform so you keep the light weight but still have great accuracy and knock down.

Your argument is invalid. Your saying it's easy to find ammo, and good knockdown power. Same dang thing with the 15. Yes it's better suited for deer and hogs but I don't need a 308 or 270 for a coon.

Absolutely...and the 150 grain corelokts work perfect in my gun. I've seen them there when they were sold out of .270..

...and I'm not generally a price shopper when it comes to ammo. I'll spend more if that is what it takes to make MY gun run right.

Man the new guy has a chip on his shoulder.

Yea he does....he probably isn't old enough to hunt on his own. We'll have to get lil chit on him.

Oh now you got jokes