Viable 223 based cartridges?

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hardheart

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If I wanted to use the same mags, lower and bolt with a second upper with a different barrel, what are the most viable options? Of course there's 300 BLK, which seems to have leapfrogged all others. But what stacks up well for supersonic loads for distance shooting? There's so dang much, 25-45 sharps, 6x45, 277 wolverine, 243 mongoose, 20 practical, etc. I'm not even sure why so many exist, there's so much overlap in bullet diameters and weights - plus they all have the same parent and work on the same platform.
 
224 Valkyrie (with correct chamber) is reaching out to 1000 yards if it's paper you're after. For beasties of appropriate size, hard to beat the well established Grendel, so for your purposes, the Wolverine is pretty close.
 
If one was to go with the fast 20's, I would think hard about the 20 practical! Just because the brass is so readily available! A friend has one and man is it a lazer beam! Coyotes and smaller are dead meat out to 300-400 yds. with the right 40 grs. or heavier bullets. It is a 204 Ruger performer!
 
But what stacks up well for supersonic loads for distance shooting?

7.62x40WT!

It's basically a .300BO, but instead of optimizing case length and twist for 220gr subs through 1:8, it's optimized for 110-150 supers through 1:12.

Or another way, it's a .300HAM'R less the cool name an 1mm of case length. It ~duplicates the .30-30 at 150gr, or the 7.62x39 at 120gr, in .223 parent brass.

Guess who has a new one?:D
 
17 Remington is another. It works with a 223 Rem bolt and magazine.

Shilen used to make a barrel but mine is 15 years old and I have not looked at their web site recently.
 
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I use .223 mags for my 6.5 grendel, I put 4 grendel rounds in a 10 round .223 mag and it works fine.

the 30 round mags will hold more, I dont use the long mags because my bipod isnt very tall
 
It is difficult to beat 5.56 NATO spec heavy bullet loads in the .223 in a 1:7-8 twist. The Valk will slightly exceed the ballistics, but your rifle will need to be BUILT to realize any practical difference. They've come a long way in loading the humble .223 since the M16 A-1 was introduced. For paper punching, it is a realistic 1000 yard gun properly loaded, but that is stretching the limit possible in the unmodified platform including the Valk. If you really want to stretch the legs of the AR platform, you will need to burn more powder to launch a heavier bullet of 6-6.5mm and do the mods you specifically wish to avoid in the original post.
 
Same mags and same bolt lets a bunch of stuff go out the window. The ones I would look at are 277 wolverine for a heavier hitter and 20 practical or 204 ruger for the speed demon.
 
Yeah, 300. Just not primarily interested in subsonic, tax stamps, and shorter ranges. Just considering something for variety and to possibly cull hogs. Already have a bare upper so if I get anything else, would really like to only need a barrel, dies, and projectiles.
 
I've been considering a Mini-14 build in 300 Ham'r. Just that the crazyness has caused the used Mini-14s to dry up.

I passed on a 300 blackout about 6 months ago for a good price that would have made a perfect Ham'r build. Dumb me
 
300 Hamr in my AR-15 is a very good shooter. I like mine more and more everytime I shoot it. The .310 diameter 123 Speer Gold Dots that I size down to .308 shoot very well and should be an excellent performer on deer and hogs.
 
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