Just switch the barrels out?

[AKMO]

I live in Alaska and I use my AR-15s(5.56mm) on foxes, lynx and other game BUT it is simply not enough gun for moose. I have friends that have taken caribou with the 5.56, but I have potential ethical issues with using it on moose. And I admittedly do use an AR for a bear defensive weapon while fishing. A couple 30 round PMAGs at least make me feel secure.

Anyway, I am researching switching my AR-15(s) over to 300 AAC BLK.

I have 2 ARs, a Bushmaster and a Sig Sauer M400 and I was wondering if I simply purchased 300 AAC BLK barrels from CMMG, Olympic Arms, or one of the other companies, will these barrels just install on my Bushmaster and the SIG M400 right out of the box? Or am I way off base here?

These are supposed to be mil spec so these barrels should fit right?

[ztug]

If they are standard ARs carbines that would be all you need, providing, they are carbine length gas system on a 16" or longer barrel. If you have riffle length or mid length, you would have to change that out too.
As far as the size game goes, the way I look at is, anything that you can take with a .308 you can take with a 300blk, you just have to be closer. A poster on AR15 figured it out, about 250 yards closer. At 250 yards the 300blk bullet is traveling at the velocity and has the same energy as the 308 does at 500 yards.

[docfireant]

You will probably need to add the cost of a hand guard and front sights, unless the barrel you buy has the permanent front sight base. I am assuming your Bushmaster and Sig are carbine length and have permanent front sight bases. Not many 300 blk barrels come with permanent front sight bases. I know Palmetto State Armory (also chrome lined) and CMMG has that as an option on their 16" 300 BLK barrel.

http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.ph ... arrel.html (may not be in stock at this time)

http://www.cmmginc.com/product_p/30df80a.htm

I have installed a 9" and 10" 300 blk barrel to existing AR's (as SBR's), but because the barrels were minus the front sight base, when I installed the barrel (with barrel nut) to upper I also installed the gas block, pistol length gas tube, Tory alpha rail, front sight, and flash suppressor. So, my cost was a little more than just the barrel. When buying the barrel some come with barrel nut some do not, also some will come with gas block, some will not, same with pistol length gas tube. Flash suppressor is 30 cal, so barrels threads are different.

Just be aware of these possible extra costs when designing your build.

You will like the 300 BLK. It has its place. As ztug mentioned, it is not designed for long range, but within 300 yards you should do fine. As always ammunition choice and shot placement will also play a role in your success on moose.

Good luck!

[ztug]

https://www.sotaarms.com/component/jsho ... 7?Itemid=0
https://www.sotaarms.com/component/jsho ... s?Itemid=0

SOTA has the parts and finished uppers. They might be willing to install the gas block etc for you if you are buying it from them at the same time. The dealer that I bought my Spike's lower from completed it for me with a parts kit I also bought from him and he didn't charge extra, they might too.

[20X11]

I bought the CMMG Wasp 16" barrel (carbine length gas system) and couldn't be happier. Wasp is their melonite coating which should come in handy in AK. The barrel is accurate, is ported properly, and cycles my AR perfectly.

So, as long as you have a carbine length gas system currently, the barrel is all you should need. (Oh..you will need a new flash hider/comp/can mount...whatever you run as the bore is larger)

[AKMO]

Thanks! I trust the 5.56 a lot more than many folks down south would think. Folks up here in the bush will grab that AR in a pinch. Someone has a bear issue and the AR comes out first, it is simply hard to argue with having a couple 30 round magazines handy. The shotgun loaded with slugs will surely be there too, but you'd be surprised at the number of ARs and AKs that just pop out from behind the door, or off the wall. Lots of FALs, G3s, and M1A1s up here too.
People will tell you that they want a caliber based upon the question "will one round stop this, or that?", but in reality if you have bear, or moose charging you are going to empty the magazine anyway. Just my take on it.

This switch to a 300 AAC BLK gives me a bit more room ethically speaking, and maybe I would not need to empty the entire magazine.

[AR-300]

if I were you I would just get another complete upper
then you have the best of both worlds!

[ztug]

Down here in Florida the bears are smaller, fewer and not as mean and they get hunted with .45colt by some with success , We don''t see moose obviously and it you do see a panther ( mountain lion) you better be mauled to shit if you shoot it otherwise you will be going to jail if somebody see you. The toughest animal on dry land were have here are wild boar, they get up to about 300lbs on rare occasions and they can get mean but if one was charging you you would be close enough that a 300BLK would probably go through him, stem to stern. I would think that from self defense range the 300BLK will do the job even against something big and pissed offf, especially with 30 rounds of .308 calibre goodness.

[AKMO]

Moose are not nice, but they are also not remotely bright either. They come around your yards and some kid will hit them with a rock or something and they run off. The problem is that they then get pissed off, apparently stew on it for an hour or so, and then see another human walking out to their car, and stomp their ass. Shooting one is not that hard, just finding it really, and if you hunt during the rut then just toot that horn a few too many times and he'll find you.
Caribou are a bit harder, they know the gig and ain't playing it. The hardest thing to hunt is bison, sounds odd, but bison are not dumb, they put the cows and calfs on the inside of the herd and the young bulls on the edges. The young bulls are skittish as hell, sleep standing up, and if anything looks anything close to shakey they are headed for the next county, with the cows and calves in tow. It is tough to get close to them, and the herds roam so much that finding them is not easy in the first place. I have friends that are goat hunters, and they weigh everything, including their socks, that is a tough, demanding hunt too.
I dont hunt bears. Might hunt a black, but browns and grizzlies are different matter to me. Blacks are scared of you, and are crafty, smart critters. If they are not scared of you then they are dangerous. Browns and grizzlies are NOT scared of you in the least, they avoid you because they don't like you, big difference. Your presence genuinely offends them. Something else that is a myth is that bears are cumbersome and awkward, they are NOT. I remember watching a grizzly ripping boulders out of the ground to get at marmots. The marmots would panic and make a break for another hole, and I mean booking, flat out, like a mouse running between cabinets, and the grizzly simply made it look like nothing catching them. My jack russell terrier can't catch a marmot and that bear made it look simple, almost no effort. We see them on TV and never in perspective reality. 2 springs ago a fellow was hunting early season grizzlies on a snowmobile with 3 other folks on snowmobiles. The bear decided it had enough, hid in a gulley, waited for the snowmobile to go past, and then exploded out of the gulley, covered 75 feet and killed the guy on the snowmobile before he could even, punch the snowmobile OR clear his rifle from the scabbard. It literally tore him in half, one of his legs was still on the snowmobile.....

I'll shoot a grizzly if I have to, but I have no interest in going looking for them. Call it a trade off, we have no snakes, no ticks, no fleas, no reptiles, and no poisonous spiders... But we do have bears... No mountain lions either, because we have no deer or elk.

We do have wolves, see them sometimes. Another PC myth, they ARE dangerous. They killed and ate a special education teacher while she was cross country skiing the winter before last. They will eat your dog in front of you in broad daylight during a bad winter, they are not scared of you either.. They are also why bears are not scared of dogs, and will actually come to a dog to see what it has, like dog food. Grizzlies steal food from packs of wolves, so for a grizzly to simply walk up, rip your chain link fence open and mosey on in to see what sort of dog food you buy is not a stretch. Feed the dogs inside and never leave any food outside, ever.

Anyway, thanks for answering my question.

[Desert scrub]

You're making me really want to move up there again. We almost did last year, then my wife's job there fell through and we had to back out. It was in Ketchikan.

As far as 300blk on moose? Personally I think it's a little light and slow for anything bigger than deer, but it'll kill them just fine if you do your part. I initially thought about using mine on my elk hunt this fall, but decided on getting a new 308 pws to use instead. Any excuse for a new toy I guess
As a defensive rifle against bears I think it's perfect, especially with a 30rd mag to dump into it if need be.
What do caribou usually weigh? What's their meat like? They've always looked fun to hunt.