Hunting with Semi-Automatic Rifles

I used an AR in .300 Ham’r last year to take a nice 8 point. The 16” rifle with a 7” long suppressor is handy and sounded like a .22 lr going off (admittedly I probably had some auditory exclusion too)
One 130gr softpoint thru the heart and the deer ran 20 yards, falling in mid stride.
The rifle isn’t pretty but I don’t worry about weather or briar damage either.

For a couple of days I once I borrowed my brother's BAR in 300 Win when my Springfield had lost zero. A heavy and very poorly balanced rifle. Absolutely killed my left shoulder and neck when carrying it at ready. And I am used to carrying a heavy old A5 Magnum Twelve with 31" barrel all day pheasant hunting without a problem, but that BAR was miserable.

I'm not into the ambush style of "hunting" but I can see where an auto might be useful for that. The problem I have seen (and heard!) big game hunting (stalking method) with semis is guys have a tendency to fill the air with bullets as fast as they can ... because they can. Twice bird hunting I've had to clean up their mess. Both times I heard the firefight first. Saw the second group leaving the scene of the crime. Young daughter was carrying the black gun. Later I pushed up their young buck hit in the leg. Called my buddy in town who was just leaving work and he came out to take care of the buck. My tag required my brother to be with me and he was still home five hours away. Buddy's daughter came out and cleaned up the other mess. Another small buck hit low in the guts with another plinker bullet. Again, I heard the barrage go off about an hour earlier. Almost sounded fully auto! Maybe two of them firing together. Their tracks in the snow indicated they must have seen it go down but apparently decided the horns weren't big enough.

I have seen/heard the same phenomenon with guys hunting uplands, particularly with O/Us. Firing as fast as possible. This tells me they almost expect to miss the first shot.

Bolt action requires more care when taking the initial shot. More awareness I think. Because the shooter knows the animal will be off after the first shot and getting a good followup shot after cycling the gun is at least difficult. A third shot can be way beyond difficult unless the animal is hurt. In short, I have found hunters with semis have a tendency to be less careful with their shots, initial or otherwise. It's a generalization for sure but I think any of you who have hunted long enough surely have made the same observation.

M

Boyd Brooks said:

Depending on the bush I’m hunting I do carry an older Ruger Carbine in 44 Ram Mag. I have been lucky enough to only require 1 shot at each of the deer it has taken.View attachment 764912

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My dad gave me one of these when I was 11. I still use it yearly, mostly when specifically hunting hogs in the river swamp where shots are relatively close.

Myself I only use a AR-15 for deer hunting in areas requiring straight wall cartridges, my 450 Bushmaster has been a one and done gun. Really never have needed more than one shot. My wife when hunting other than requiring a straight wall cartridge, uses a BAR in 7 mm REM MAG it a very rare rifle it came from Browning with a 20" barrel. I have only seen 2 BAR's in 308 have a factory 20" barrel.

HuntingEnthusiast said:

A beautiful firearm, in an interesting caliber. In Europe, we only shoot the .44 Magnum out of handguns—and not for hunting (with the exception of tracking wounded game). At what distance do you use the .44 Magnum for hunting? (I’m thinking about getting a Marlin lever-action rifle in .44 Magnum).

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In the USA, there are several states that now allow hunters to use lower-powered straight-walled cartridges early in the hunting season when traditionally only archery & black-powder muzzleloaders were permitted in the past. So cartridges like the 44 Magnum, 45-70 Gov't, 350 Legend, etc. are popular choices when hunting under those regulations before modern-gun season starts.

My Browning 1885 in 44 Magnum is good for all of the early seasons in Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi. I got my gunsmith to put a scope on it so I would feel comfortable shooting it anywhere from 35~125 meters. My rifle really likes the Remington 180gr JSP rounds. The dense woods where I hunt rarely offer a shot over 150 meters so worrying about long shots is not a concern. The last deer I shot was through the heart at 45 meters & it dropped like a rock.

I've never had an opportunity to shoot one of the Ruger 44 Mag carbines that prompted the OP's question. But that particular model wouldn't be as useful to me since semi-autos are disallowed for my straight-wall season. I'd have to stick with my single-shot for that caliber.

I have hunted used a Ruger semi 44 magnum, an AR 10 in 358, and a Remington 750 in 35 Whelen. All got the job done but for reasons hard to put into words just didn’t suit me. I much prefer a pump gun or lever action to a semi auto.

Here fl. The rem and bar were very popular with the dog hunting crowd.
The ar is used a lot especially with stuff like the 6.8 and 6.5 that they are chamber in now.
Along with the 350l
I have used the bar and a number of the Remington over the years.
And have a few ar’s for hunting/ pest control
The 350 with a good 180gr is good on hogs

HuntingEnthusiast said:

A beautiful firearm, in an interesting caliber. In Europe, we only shoot the .44 Magnum out of handguns—and not for hunting (with the exception of tracking wounded game). At what distance do you use the .44 Magnum for hunting? (I’m thinking about getting a Marlin lever-action rifle in .44 Magnum).

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I have taken all my deer inside 75 meters with this rifle, with 250gr Nosler Partitions, which I believe are discontinued now. I would feel comfortable out to 100 meters, but I usually carry this on nice days in thick stuff. If I’m hunting more open hardwoods or marshes where I could reach 300 metres, I carry my 308 Norma Mag.

I know of two hunter using BARs, one a 270 and the other a 300 WM, both placing their magazines on the dash of their truck. See where this is going! Any way when the 270 was fired in the 300 no one was hurt but the gun was beyond repair needles to say. No booze involved just carelessness. Keep those auto and any gun of your choice at arms.

HuntingEnthusiast said:

The 9.3x62 is an excellent caliber for wild boars. How accurate is the Benelli in this caliber?

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All ammo I put in that rifle shoots same point of impact.
Average group size is approximately 3 cm / 100 mtrs.
I started using it with 286 grains bullets, and I never changed bullet weight.

I am more then happy!
I keep it zeroed at 100 meters, dead on, and it gives me almost same point of impact at 50 mtrs.
Easy for maintenance.

Not all Argos are perfect.
My friend has Argo in 30-06.
Accuracy ok, but every extracted casing is bent on the neck. Not good for realoaders.
My extracted casings are all fine!

PS, in recent years I noticed some factory ammunition is produced in different weights, while traditionally 9.3 was produced exclusively in 286 grains.
286 grains is perfect for me, and I never tested anything else.

I think that due to traditional weight of 9.3 bullet, all factory rifles in that caliber have same and optimized twist rate for 286 grains.
So, I never changed nor tried to change bullet weight.
I dont need to fix something that isnt broken.

odonata said:

In the USA, there are several states that now allow hunters to use lower-powered straight-walled cartridges early in the hunting season when traditionally only archery & black-powder muzzleloaders were permitted in the past. So cartridges like the 44 Magnum, 45-70 Gov't, 350 Legend, etc. are popular choices when hunting under those regulations before modern-gun season starts.

My Browning 1885 in 44 Magnum is good for all of the early seasons in Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi. I got my gunsmith to put a scope on it so I would feel comfortable shooting it anywhere from 35~125 meters. My rifle really likes the Remington 180gr JSP rounds. The dense woods where I hunt rarely offer a shot over 150 meters so worrying about long shots is not a concern. The last deer I shot was through the heart at 45 meters & it dropped like a rock.

I've never had an opportunity to shoot one of the Ruger 44 Mag carbines that prompted the OP's question. But that particular model wouldn't be as useful to me since semi-autos are disallowed for my straight-wall season. I'd have to stick with my single-shot for that caliber.

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This rifle is indeed a beauty! A real classic!

I had a H&K91 (.308) I used on hogs until it was stolen. I started out hunting in OH with a REM 1100 with slugs for deer. Use an AR for coyotes.
Something that surprises me is that although the .350 Legend is extremely popular as a deer round in OH, it is usually seen in bolt rifles. Seldom do I see deer hunters with AR’s.

Boyd Brooks said:

Depending on the bush I’m hunting I do carry an older Ruger Carbine in 44 Ram Mag. I have been lucky enough to only require 1 shot at each of the deer it has taken.View attachment 764912

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Those were so great.

It all depends on what you are hunting and where. For semi-auto's I use a 7mm mag BAR, 450 Bushmaster AR, 458 SOCOM AR pulse several 22's.

I inherited my father's browning bar in 30-06. I used it for one season in eastern Oregon. It is a fine rifle. My father killed a lot of White Tails in the UP. It was not usual for him.to take three or four deer opening weekend. I like the rifle and love the caliber but I preffered a nice FN mauser. I keep the rifle because it was his and will be passed to my nephew sone day. I have never wanted to hunt with an AR 10 and am.not a fan of the 223 when it comes to hunting deer.

I hunt with an AR a lot

Once upon a time I had a Remington 742 in .30-06 that was useful only as a boat anchor. That turned me off of auto loaders for the most part. Military service and the myriad problems associated with both the AR-15 and M60 of that era further confirmed my disgust with the autoloader as a useful or reliable option for almost anything.

A couple of decades later, I was more or less forced to use an AR-15 when I needed to mount NV sights for pig hunting. Much to my surprise, I discovered the commercial AR-15 of the modern era actually worked and was accurate to boot. I later expanded my repertoire of AR-15s to include the .300 BLK, the 6.8 SPC, the 6.5 Grendel and the .224 Valkyrie, and even picked up a couple of AR10s. For hunting in locations that weren't AR friendly, I picked up a Browning Short-trac in 7mm WSM, which was also reasonably accurate (1.5" @ 100 yards) and reliable. Very effective on running hogs, I might add.

In my opinion, the most important skill in hunting with an auto is the ability to clearly focus and to fire quickly but without haste. I've seen videos where the shooter bags most of a sounder at one go, but I've never hunted property that wide open, and the best that I've done is three pigs in one session, but I can honestly say that a skilled and deliberate shooter with a quality autoloader can be very effective in situations like pest control (think coyotes and hogs) and driven game shooting where there may be multiple opportunities within a very short interval.

The key isn't shooting rapidly; it's shooting deliberately and with focus.

I have several rimfire semiautos I use for birds and hares.

I have an AR15 I bought days after Biden was elected simply because he was elected. I have not used it beyond the range. My kids love it.

Like Analog above, I have a 742. It was an impulse buy right before I went in for surgery. It's cosmetically beautiful and it was cheap. I only read about the damage that can be true about the rails after I bought it. Mine is not afflicted; the rails are in good shape. I haven't yet found the right load (I am open to suggestions). Mine is a .280 in caliber. I would like to hunt with it someday.

I used a Remington 742 in 30 - 06 for about 15 years. Never had a single jam with my handloads. I now own several of them. I've also used a Ruger Deerslayer. No trouble with it either.

For several decades now, I have not been interested in hunting with self-loading / semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
(Weapon designs for self defense are in their own category, separate from hunting, IMO).
Anyway and instead, I definitely favor manually operated rifles and shotguns for hunting.
That is partially due to my leaning toward fair play as I age, (more now than ever).
And, it’s partially due to my ever increasing dislike for disassembling cleaning and reassembling complicated mechanisms —> AKA: “Lazy”.

However approximately 40 years ago, I successfully hunted caribou with an M1 Garand.
Mine was made by the International Harvestor Company, I suspect sometime in the 1950’s ?
The bore was festooned with countless tiny pits, showing a “dark appearance” the full length of it.
But nonetheless, it provided somewhat acceptable accuracy, sort of.
This, considering the bore looked like the inside of a .30 caliber diesel exhaust pipe.

As far as factory loaded ammo went, my particular M1 favored Remington 150 grain “Core-Lokt” spitzers.
Caribou look larger than they really are, perhaps because they usually (usually) inhabit treeless landscapes.
Also, they are not especially “impact resistant”.
Mule deer are much tougher, in my limited experiences.
And so, the .30-06 is more powerful than necessary for caribou.
But it is comforting to carry the 8 shot M1 where grizzlies are common.

I kept a couple of standard 8 round clips on my person, loaded with the same ammunition mentioned above for my hunting purposes.
In addition, even though I have never been forced to shoot an aggressive bear, I did also carry an 8 round clip, loaded with heavy bullets in it, always ready in a dedicated pocket.

For those who enjoy semi-automatics for hunting, I have no quarrel.
But for myself personally, I have lost interest in such contraptions and am happy hunting with earlier conceived, more traditional designs.