So - I'm building an 8.6blk AR10 SBR that will initially be just a toy - but that I could see replacing the Marlin 1895 Guide Gun as a woods / bear / short range game gun if I come to trust it. I only found two manufacturers of barrels in that caliber for the AR platform - Faxon and one other that I can't remember - but they were more than twice the cost of the Faxon. I bought the Faxon 12" barrel (may eventually get an 8") and then got some pretty strong opinions that they were known to be poor quality and result in inaccurate guns. This led me to the question...
In my mind - I'm building this as a heavy hitting, fast firing, high capacity "bear or other predator in the woods" gun, that I could see getting used as a hunting rifle were I to end up hunting in short range (150 yards and in) environments. For that purpose - my view is that an accuracy target of 2 MOA or so is sufficient and anything better than that is gravy.
My reasoning is:
- Bear Defense - at 25 yards and in ("OH $#!^ - bear charging us" range) as long as the gun is reliable and functional - the pattern will be more a function of my mechanics under that sort of adrenaline dump (3" group at 25 yards equates to like 12MOA)
- Short Range Big Game Gun - At 150 yards, 2 MOA is about 3" - so if I do my part, on the type of game that I'd be shooting at that distance ("kill zone" on a mule deer is about 10" and double that on elk) a 3" dispersion at that range is not likely going to be the determining factor.