I just found the following review of AR-15 hunting rifles on military.com. Even though it is slanted towards hunting I found it gratifying to see recognition of the black rifle on a website with a military theme.
http://www.military.com/entertainment/outdoor-guide/hunting/predator-ar-15-round-up.html?esrc=mr.nl
http://www.military.com/entertainment/outdoor-guide/hunting/predator-ar-15-round-up.html?esrc=mr.nl
Predator AR-15 Round Up
The evolution to legitimate hunting rifles.
by Mike Schoby
It was close to 15 years ago when I first carried an AR-15 afield for coyotes. I got some strange looks from local ranchers and even stranger questions from my hunting partners. There were many doubts regarding the accuracy, reliability, looks and overall function of a semi-auto rifle as a hunting tool. Today those questions have pretty much been put to rest. Those that have used AR-style rifles realize that they are very accurate, on par with most bolt-actions, are very reliable, and are unsurpassed in terms of ruggedness.
It is no secret to the predator hunter that the AR-15 style of rifle makes for a near ideal predator rifle. Callers have been using this rifle and extolling its merits for quite some time, but it hasn’t been until recently that the "rest" of the world has caught on. Now it seems everyone is realizing, simultaneously, that this family of rifles are great for hunting. Possibly the biggest "legitimizer" of the AR as a hunting rifle came about from an unlikely source: Big Green. When Remington unveiled its newest centerfire offering, entitled the R-15 VTR, it was a shock for many to learn that it was a hunting colored AR variant.