Ruger's SFAR Is Built for Hunters. Should You Get One Before It's Too Late?

Many hunters have adopted the AR-15 as a hunting rifle due to its light weight, modularity, and easy maneuverability. Problem is, the .223 Remington cartridge most commonly chambered in these rifles is underpowered for big game. It can tackle deer-sized animals with the right bullet, but most prefer to have a little more horsepower under the hood.

The AR-10 platform can be chambered in one of those more energetic cartridges, usually the .308 Winchester. But that platform tends to be bigger and heavier than an AR-15, which negates one of the big reasons a hunter would pick an AR over a bolt gun.

Enter the Ruger SFAR. It’s chambered in .308 Winchester, but other than the magazine well, its dimensions mimic the AR-15. It seems like a best of both worlds scenario–a rare instance when you can have your cake and eat it too. The SFAR is a great tool for hog hunters here in Texas looking to put a dent in a local sounder, and it’s accurate enough for Big Woods deer hunters looking for a lightweight, maneuverable carbine. I’ve been eying one for a long time, and I was stoked to finally get my hands on it thanks to our friends over at Scheels.

Unfortunately, while you can still find models at sporting goods stores and on the used market, Ruger recently discontinued it. I explain why below, along with all the reasons you should–or should not–pull the trigger on one of these rifles before it’s too late.

AR-15 Package?

The central promise of the SFAR is that it offers AR-10 power in an AR-15 package. As you can see, it delivers.

The dimensions of the SFAR are virtually identical to my Sig Sauer M400-SDI X (bottom rifle in photo). The only thing that separates the SFAR is the magazine well, which is about a half-inch longer and a third-inch wider than the AR-15. Otherwise, the upper and lower receivers, furniture, and handguard share almost exactly the same external dimensions.

The SFAR is even a bit lighter than the AR-15. The Ruger weighs a scant six pounds, 11 ounces while the Sig clocks in at seven pounds, six ounces (no scope, unloaded). I’ve outfitted the Sig with a few more bells and whistles, which adds some weight. But there’s no question that the Ruger SFAR is indeed, on the outside, a near perfect clone of an AR-15.

That offers several advantages to the hunter/AR enthusiast. If for some reason you don’t like the Magpul furniture that comes with the rifle, you can swap it out. Shouldering and firing the SFAR will feel familiar to anyone used to an AR-15, and even if you’re never used that platform, the rifle’s light weight makes it easier to carry through the woods or shoot off-hand.

The SFAR can also be fitted with any standard aftermarket AR-15 trigger. I liked the two-stage, 4.5-pound trigger that came with the rifle, but it’s easy to swap out for something different.

Chambered in the .308 Winchester (right), the AR-10 offers significantly more power than a standard AR-15 chambered in .223 Rem. (left).

Of course, not everything about the SFAR is compatible with an AR-15. Since the SFAR is chambered in .308 Win. rather than .223 Rem., the bolt face and lugs are wider to accommodate the larger cartridge case. The dimensions of the carriers are similar, but you wouldn’t be able to swap one for the other. The firing pin on the SFAR is also longer and the retaining pin is in a different place.

The bolt on the SFAR (right) is not compatible with the bolt on an AR-15 (left). The firing pin (top) is also significantly longer.

This could end up being an issue if you ever have to replace the bolt. It looks like some of the bolt components are interchangeable, but not all of them are. If Ruger opts to stop producing those parts, that might leave you down the river without a paddle if you run the SFAR into the ground.

The barrel extension and upper receiver are also proprietary, so you can’t swap barrels like you would an AR-15. That’s standard operating procedure in the AR-10 world: while there is some overlap between manufacturers, there is far less cross-compatibility than the much more standardized AR-15. Still, it’s worth pointing out because the SFAR looks like it could accept AR-15 parts–alas, that’s not always the case.

Basic but Functional Features

The SFAR is a utilitarian rifle, but it still offers some upgrades over your standard AR. The Magpul furniture is definitely better than what normally comes on a budget-friendly rifle, and the charging handle is also enhanced. The slender handguard has M-LOK slots at the three, six, and nine o’clock positions, and the picatinny rail can accommodate whatever scope, red dot, or iron sights you prefer. The mag well is also slightly flared for easier reloading.

As I already alluded to, the trigger is definitely an improvement upon your standard AR trigger. The two stage trigger is crisp and consistent with a tactile and audible reset. It might be a little heavier than you’re used to if you hunt with a modern bolt gun, but overall I think the trigger is a help rather than a hindrance to accurate shooting. Plus, if you don’t like it, you can always swap it out.

Moving towards the muzzle of the rifle, the adjustable gas block is super useful but easy to overlook (and not a standard feature on most AR’s). If you’re not familiar with how a gas block works, it siphons off some of the gasses expanding down the barrel and reroutes them back into the action. This is what powers the bolt carrier and allows for semi-auto fire.

The adjustable gas block has three settings.

The adjustable gas block allows the user to control how much gas is siphoned off. Ideally, you want to use the least amount of gas that still produces reliable cycling. This is especially useful when running a suppressor, which, as I explain below, is almost a necessity with this gun. Suppressors tend to push more gas back into the action. This can increase recoil and fouling, but it can also decrease reliability and lead to malfunctions. Being able to adjust the gas via the adjustable gas block is a great feature, and it should give you peace of mind if you’re thinking about running the SFAR with a can.

Here are a few more features and specifications of the Ruger SFAR:

Trigger: Two-stage, 4.5-pound break

Barrel: 4140 chrome-moly steel

Barrel Length: 20/16 inches

Receiver: 7075-T6 hard-coat anodized aluminum

Handguard: 15” aluminum, M-LOK at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock

Weight: 6 pounds, 11 ounces

Overall Length (Stock Fully Extended): 35.5 inches

Furniture: Magpul

Magazine Compatibility: SR25/AR-10 pattern .308 Win/7.62 NATO magazines, including Magpul PMAGs and Ruger SR-762 steel magazines

Cost: $1,000-$1,200

Check it out

At the Range

Ruger SFAR delivers on its central promise and offers several useful upgrades over your run-of-the-mill AR-platform rifle. It looks good on paper, but I was curious to see how well this gun performed at the range.

The first thing I noticed is that it’s LOUD. I don’t normally use all-caps, but that’s how you’ll be talking if you’re unfortunate enough to fire this gun without hearing protection. Even with hearing protection, the muzzle brake that comes with the rifle creates a strong enough concussion that my head was pounding after a half-dozen shots. I removed the brake and swapped it out for a Silencer Central MeatEater Banish suppressor, which tamed the shot report to create a far more pleasant shooting experience. I still used hearing protection, but I didn’t need anything more than ear plugs.

With a suppressor, shooting the SFAR is a surprisingly pleasant experience. With the supplied muzzle brake, not so much.

This is one of the major downsides of this rifle in the field. Even without a muzzle device, a .308 Win. screaming out of a 16-inch barrel on a semi-auto rifle is going to pack a punch to the ol’ eardrums. I wouldn’t take this thing on a hog hunt without hearing protection, and even a single shot on a whitetail would be painfully uncomfortable. I’m no ear doctor, but I have to think the blast from this thing causes more hearing damage than a longer barreled bolt gun.

I still think the SFAR is a great hunting rifle, but only if you can use hearing protection or a suppressor. If you’re unable to take either of those protective measures, it may not be the rifle for you.

It also may not be the rifle for you if you’re looking for an AR-10 that’s easy to control during rapid-fire shot strings. The brake on the end of the Banish suppressor helps control recoil and makes the rifle easy on the shoulder, but muzzle rise is still an issue even with the beefy brake that comes with the rifle. This is why I think the SFAR is the hunter’s AR-10–it’s not ideal for a special operator looking to put a hurt on some bad guys, but in most hunting scenarios, you don’t empty a full magazine while trying to keep shots on target. Shots might be quicker and more frequent on a hog hunt, but still nowhere near fast enough to be impacted by the marginally greater muzzle rise of a lightweight rifle. For a hunter, the SFAR’s light weight outweighs (ha!) whatever drawbacks it imposes on rapid-fire controllability.

A hunter is usually more concerned about reliability than controllability, and I’m pleased to report that the SFAR performs well in that category. I used three different bullet weights and styles during the course of my testing, and even with a suppressor and no adjustments to the gas block, the rifle never failed to cycle–with one exception.

These 165-grain loads from Sig Sauer almost always produced a malfunction on the last shot in the magazine. The rifle cycled perfectly on every other shot, but after firing the second-to-last cartridge, the final cartridge would get stuck moving up the feed ramp. I didn’t experience the same malfunction with any other ammunition, so I assume the issue is related to the shape of those Sierra GameKing bullets. Something about the way those bullets interact with the feed ramp and the magazine causes that failure to load, and I’m sure all that fouling being pushed back by the suppressor doesn’t help.

If I decide to use that particular cartridge on a hunt, my first order of business will be to clean the rifle and swap out the magazine. If that doesn’t solve the problem, and for some reason it’s important to reload quickly after the last shot, I’ll have to use a different load or bullet.

Despite that hiccup, I was overall quite pleased with the SFAR’s reliability. I shot hundreds of rounds over the course of my testing, almost all with a suppressor, and I never cleaned it once. It still ran almost flawlessly, which is about all you can expect from a rifle like this.

Accuracy was the final component I was curious to test. I generally hold AR-type rifles to a lower standard than bolt-action hunting rifles, but if you want to take this gun into the field, it still needs to be consistent enough to harvest an animal ethically.

I shot five, three-shot groups from 100 yards using bags to support the front and rear of the rifle. Velocities were recorded with a Garmin Xero C1 chronograph, and the barrel was allowed to cool between groups.

A few things stood out to me that might not be obvious from the table. First, part of the reason the average group size hovers around one inch for the GameKing and match bullets is because both of those bullets produced at least one teeny, tiny group alongside the other groups that measured between 1.1 and 1.5 inches. Those small groups aren’t meaningless, but from my experience with this rifle, they’re more of an exception than a rule. A more realistic average for all three bullets is something closer to 1.3 inches than sub-MOA.

I still think that’s pretty darn good. The SFAR might not be winning any long-range competitions, but it’s more than capable of taking a deer or a hog or an elk at the distances you’re most likely to fire a shot. Your maximum range will depend on how much you practice and how much risk you’re willing to take, but thousands of animals have been killed with far less accurate rifles.

Plus, the SFAR will maintain that accuracy even after a long day chasing pigs. At the end of my testing, I shot 12 or 15 shots in rapid succession and then fired another three-shot group with the Sierra GameKing bullets. That group measured 1.3 inches, which is right in line with its average and a testament to how well it will perform even while being hot and covered in carbon (which is, incidentally, the name of my upcoming heavy metal album).

Last Shot

Once relegated to the fringes of the outdoor universe, AR-style rifles have earned a place in the blinds, deer camps, and ATVs of millions of hunters across the country. If you’ve been thinking about joining them but want something with a little more power than the .223 Rem., Ruger’s SFAR might be a good option. It’s lightweight, modular, and easy to shoot; it offers a great suite of features and is accurate enough to get the job done.

The problem is, your gun store can no longer order one from Ruger. I reached out to Ruger to ask why they stopped making the SFAR, and I heard good news and bad news. The bad news is that since Ruger acquired Kentucky-based Anderson Manufacturing, they've moved their AR-type rifle production to that facility. They've released a few new models, but the lightweight AR-10 hasn't been one of them.

The good news is that they hope to resurrect the SFAR in the future. I wasn't given a precise timeline, but I predict it'll be within the next few years. It might look a little different, but it will feature the same small frame as the SFAR, and will offer many of the same benefits to the hunter.

It's also more than possible to find an SFAR before they're gone. New models are still floating around at gun stores and online, and you can definitely find them on the used market. Hunting with an AR might not be your thing, and that's fine. But if you like the platform, Ruger's lightweight model is—and will be—worth a second look.