Hey all, I'll be stationed at PMRF Barking Sands and have been researching island hunting.  As far as I can tell, there aren't any medium-sized game on the island, so I'm going to build a field rig that will do solid against pig/goat/blacktail. 

I've been shooting 6.8spc for a long time in Virginia and Texas with no problems anything smaller than black bear.  I want a light rig for those long hikes in... 14" barrel w/pinned muzzle brake and everything else as light as I can manage.  What do you all think? 

Also... how about ammo availability?  Should I bring a couple hundred rounds with me, or is that caliber going to be available to me in a local store?  I normally shoot Hornady 120sst factory out of a 20" barrel, but with the shorter 14" that I'm gonna build, maybe something lighter?  How do the lighter Barnes TTSX do out there?

Anybody hunt Unit A on the west-side?

Thanks, really looking forward to my tour there!
-Sam

Welcome to the forum.
I do not know too much about that island, but there is a dealer that posted his business here a few years ago.
Check the vendor section.

Bring your own ammo,  and lots of it.
Ammo is super super expensive.
Bring extra ammo of different calibers too,  it could easily be traded.
I'm not sure about 6.8spc but I would build/ get a rifle in a more popular caliber.  243, 270 and 3006 is popular.
I personally would stick to 3006 with 3030 a close second. 
Especially if hunting in dense areas.

I live on Oahu. I like 6.8 spc II and have taken several pigs using factory Hornady 120 SST. As far as hunting ammo in 6.8, I've only found the Hornady SST and V-Max locally for about $25/box. I have not seen any TTSX locally and I'm gonna guess you won't find any 6.8 on Kauai. From meeting other AR15 hunters, they like to use, 300blk or 7.62x39. The later calibers might be your best bet if you want to continue MSRs or take a ton of 6.8 with you. Otherwise, most popular rounds in Hawaii are 243, 270, 308, 3030, 3006

Thanks for the info Shoboshi... factory 120SST's have been my go-to round for years.  I never fell into the 300blk craziness because I just didn't see enough of an increase in performance over heavier dedicated .223 hunting loads to justify a new caliber, and I don't shoot subs. 

I definitely want to stick with the MSR platform and jumping up to an AR10 to get into legit short-action calibers means a much heavier gun.  When 6.8spc gained popularity, I jumped all over it and have never been disappointed.  I reloaded for the caliber for awhile, but found I couldn't get any more accurate than out-of-the-box Hornady.  I've also had great luck with a few SSA rounds, but I keep coming back to Hornady.  With the expected distances and max size of the animals on Kauai, 6.8spc is plenty of cartridge.  Looks like I'll be buying  a couple hundred rounds and bringing them with me.  I just wish somebody made a pencil barrel... the search continues.

For pencil barrels have you tried looking at http://ar15performance.com/6_8___cats. ARP barrels are nice and priced right. The scout profile barrels are 1lbs 13.6oz.  I want to say the guy ran ar15performance.com barrels was in the process of moving to Florida or the Keys and that area just got hit by Irma. Also he was going to pass on his barrel templates to someone else? I thought I read these things on 68forums.com.

Make sure you take only 11lbs of ammo on your check in luggage if you plan on flying with it.

Make sure you understand owning and registering firearms in Hawaii because it sucks so much D!!! You register all firearms you bring in with the local PD and you also get put into "rapback" which puts you in the FBI Database. Welcome to Hawaii. There are a few topics about rapback in the General section.

Thanks for the heads up... I read about the pain.  I've lived on military bases for awhile, so the Gov't knows all about my guns already.  I'll have to register them with PMRF security and they'll go in yet another database.

I've got a 20" ARP barrel now that has taken 100 or so deer over the years, so my first thought was of them, but they don't have a 14.x listed in stock.  I've got a classified WTB on 68Forums and have had one guy with a PSA 14.7 contact me.  I'll email Harrison and see if he has any "laying around" that just aren't advertised.  If not, I'll go with a 16" and a single-chamber brake to keep everything as light and short as possible.