[cc439]

You're right in that .223/5.56 is only useful for game up to your typical southeastern Doe or small Buck but milsurp rifles are a thing of the past. Not only is a decent Mosin ~$350 these days, they are awful, awful hutning rifles for a dozen+ reasons. A Savage Axis is the better comparison but it costs about the same as a budget AR-15 and either option is so cheap it's hard to argue against buying both.