M4 Carbine for Coyotes

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UncleDoc

New member
I already shoot an AR in .223 with a heavier 23" Oly barrel and it is a great shooter albeit a little on the heavy side. I'm thinking of building a mil-spec M4 as a light carry rifle for coyotes. Good idea, bad idea, opinions?
 
Just be careful, because after you build your first AR, you'll start wondering if a 6.8 or 243wssm or 6.5 grendel or 5.45 or well I digress.

Heck yes, it will be just fine.
 
I think it's a great idea, but that's probably because I really enjoy it.

I really enjoy using my carbines in multiple roles from hunting, to 3 gun, to personal protection. I believe that each helps my training.


Have fun
 
UncleDoc, I've had quite a few ARs and am now down to four....one is my .204 with a 22" barrel, the rest are all in the M4 configuration...just with different options and upgrades (or lack of)....

For my shooting purposes, they will all reach out and touch something...I just want them to do it accurately..
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Just a thought, but DPMS has a model called the sportical with a pencil profile barrel. If weight was an issue, this might be one direction to look.
 
What is the accuracy of most M4 style 16" carbines? How far can they reach out compared to something like a 20" bull barrel? I might just end up using my shotgun for close range, building a tactical carbine and using it for mid range, and possibly a bolt-action .204 or something for long ranges.
 
Originally Posted By: roky0702What is the accuracy of most M4 style 16" carbines? How far can they reach out compared to something like a 20" bull barrel? I might just end up using my shotgun for close range, building a tactical carbine and using it for mid range, and possibly a bolt-action .204 or something for long ranges.

Not hard to get them to sub moa. The length at 16" has not reduced the accuracy, but has reduced velocity.

I use the 16" out to 300 yards effectively and could stretch to 400 yards depending on the target.

We use to shoot to 500 yards in the military, but that was a big target.
 
Two of my Carbines will shoot sub MOA (@100yd) with my loads and some factory rounds...The results are still out on the newest one as the barrel and trigger are not as 'broken in' as I want..

With my old DPMS 16", I've never had a problem hitting Prairie Dogs at the 300yd mark on a consistent basis,,At the 2007 PM Hunt Egg Shoot, another member borrowed it and was hitting eggs at 200yds
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...Pulling 1" groups at 200 yards with my Armalite 16" is not a problem either...

I'm sure that there is a yardage limit where the 20" will possibly show an advantage over the 16", depending on the shooter and ammunition..Using iron sights, the advantage would be in the sight radius, but with equal optics, I think the difference would be more minor..
 
Why build a "tactical" carbine? Why not build one that meets your needs for the type of hunting you do most frequently?

This is one I built for a general purpose carbine:

2 stage match RRA trigger
WOA stainless 7 twist tube turned down to a pencil"ish" profile
ACE Lightweight stock
Carbon fiber handguard
Lightweight gas block
Colt bolt and internals
Topped with a 4x ACOG in a Larue mount

Weighs less than an M4, has a better trigger and shoots straighter.

The point I am trying to make is not to get hung up on "Tactical".

Try Practical.....
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Cheers

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Originally Posted By: RowdyRawhide Just be careful, because after you build your first AR, you'll start wondering if a 6.8 or 243wssm or 6.5 grendel or 5.45 or well I digress.

Heck yes, it will be just fine. Sooooo true indeed!
 
I wanted to build a nice lightweight AR to use as a calling rifle. My first attempt was a RRA lower with a 16" lightweight upper from Model 1 sales. I was able to get this one to shoot just under an inch with my reloads and Remingon 50 grain HP's. I decided to upgrade the upper and ordered a 16" RRA upper with a midweight Wilson stainless barrel and freefloat forearm. This upper was a bit heavier than I wanted but it shot well under an inch. Due to the weight, I sold the complete rifle and began building another. This time I used a 16" Colt H-bar barrel with a carbine length freefloat forearm. This rifle was lighter than the RRA I'd sold and would shoot .5 MOA out to 300 yards. My only negative with this AR is that I was getting more spinners and runners than I liked. I then decided to build another 16" carbine, but this time in 6.8 SPC. I reasoned that the higher energy from the 6.8 SPC would help put coyotes down better, and it does. I'm loading 90 grain Sierra varminter bullets at 2850 FPS. I now have a handy lightweight carbine length AR that I can carry in the luggage bag on my ATV and it is absolutly deadly on coyotes out to 300 yards. I'm getting .5 to .75 MOA with the 6.8 SPC out to 300 yards. It hits as hard as my .243 Winchester, but just doesn't quit shoot as flat. I'm getting used to it though.
 
Quote:Why build a "tactical" carbine?

Yeah, I agree. I have no use on a hunting rifle for things like full-length Picatinny rails, chrome-lined barrels, grenade-launcher cuts in the barrel profile and flash hiders (though the flash hider might make sense for night hunting).
All that stuff either makes the rifle bulkier or less accurate, exactly what I'm trying to avoid.

Much rather have a lighter contour stainless match barrel with a free-float tube that lets me add a short rail where I need it (like the Yankee Hill) and a good target crown.

Even the Army is coming around to this idea with their Squad Designated Marksman rifle.

SDMR link
Now, if you've got an M-4 upper that shoots MOA, not a thing wrong with it. They're few and far between, though.
 
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Man, if it's not too late, just turn around and look the other way. The darn thing about AR's is one turns into another and so on and so on.

My first AR some how turned into three more.

One AR for long range, med range, super close, and one for, well crap I don't really remember...

It's all good!
 
Originally Posted By: Lost_River
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What carbon fiber handguard is that? I know DPMS makes one and I've seen a couple others...I want one really bad!
 
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