AR15 rifles move into hunting mainstream

Free Republic original publication | April 28, 2007 | Rob Berg

[reginhild]

Recently we had the Jim Zumbo incident as a new fact of life in our internet connected culture. The rifle that was involved in his article was the AR15 and the opinion that got Jim laid off was that they are not hunting rifles.

Jim Zumbo was testing an artillery round by the old cartoon method of hitting it on the head with a hammer. What he did not know is that the common military caliber 5.56 or .223 in AR15 had been fully adopted by varmint hunters. Additionally, in the last 6 years, multiple alternative calibers for the AR15 have been popping up. These alternative calibers are being used for every type of game from the smallest to the largest. Hunters accepted the new .50 Beowulf cartridge (similar to the .500 S&W) designed for the AR15 as a capable big game round that has also found favor in wild pig hunting. Deer and other medium game hunters have found the AR15 to be and excellent light weight semi-automatic rifle for stalking when used with the right caliber such as the 6.5 Grendel or the 6.8 SPC.

There was an undercurrent of growing acceptance and use of the AR15 as more than a varmint hunting or survival rifle. The expansion of calibers and wildly popular demand was missed by a few of the older generation such as Jim.

Unfortunately, some have been suckered in by the inappropriate labeling as an "Assault Weapon" by the 1994 ban (now expired). The term "Assault Weapon" as used by the military refers to everything from flamethrowers to shoulder fired wall breaching rounds - all used to aid in an assault. Assault rifles used by the military are capable of full automatic or burst fire to lay down enough fire to aid in an assault. Applying the term "Assault" to a semi-automatic weapon which does not have a rate of fire needed to aid in an assault is inappropriate and non-descriptive. By giving certain semi-automatic weapons this label many were confused and thought that they were military fully automatic weapons. The stigma stuck and individuals such as Jim thought of the semi-automatic rifles as inappropriate compared to their counterparts without a pistol grip.

With the current rate of acceptance by hunters, the AR15 rifle looks like it will become the new hunting standard much like the .30-06 of yesteryear.

[kiriath_jearim]

“Technically you are right by virtue it uses a 45ACP, but that would be the same as saying any assault rifle using a pistol round cannot be called thus like the Uzi or an MP40.”

****

The original “assault rifle”, i.e. “sturmgewehr 43/44” did not use a pistol cartridge nor a full-sized rifle cartridge...it used a modifieid cartridge, i.e. the 8mm “Kurz” or “short round”.

I suppose to gun grabbers, any firearms that sounds like “rat-tat-tat-tat-tat” or “budda-duh, budda-duh” (Sorry, SGT FURY fans), they’re all the same.

[Shooter 2.5]

died from promiscuous overuse.

Thank you. I found my tombstone epitaph.

[matt1234]

The .222 was used years before the .223 came out and it would kill deer(at reasonable ranges) like lightning.

I have shot a .222 with a 24-inch barrel, and it was extremely accurate.

[Copernicus]

You might enjoy this:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1794836/posts

Best regards,

[infowarrior]

Technically you are right by virtue it uses a 45ACP, but that would be the same as saying any assault rifle using a pistol round cannot be called thus like the Uzi or an MP40.

Technically all those (the Thompson, the Uzi, and the MP40) were classified as machine pistols, or submachineguns, because they were all chambered in pistol cartridges...

the infowarrior

[JudgemAll]

That is why I mentioned the CETME (German design)

[Who is John Galt?]

The Germans of WWII will be surprised to hear that.

Given that they defined the term "assault rifle," you are 100% correct...

;>)