AR-15's what percentage of yours are in chambered in 223/556

What percentage of you AR-15's are chambered in 223/556

  • 100%

    Votes: 72 42.1%
  • 90+%

    Votes: 6 3.5%
  • 80+%

    Votes: 7 4.1%
  • 70+%

    Votes: 6 3.5%
  • 60+%

    Votes: 17 9.9%
  • 50+%

    Votes: 16 9.4%
  • 40+%

    Votes: 5 2.9%
  • 30+%

    Votes: 11 6.4%
  • 20+%

    Votes: 9 5.3%
  • 10+%

    Votes: 3 1.8%
  • <10%

    Votes: 1 0.6%
  • 0%

    Votes: 7 4.1%
  • I do not own an AR-15 based rifle/pistol

    Votes: 11 6.4%

  • Total voters
    171
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Basically, 30%, if you count the 223 Wylde.
1 5.56 10.5" sbr
1 223 Wylde 18"
1 300blk 16"
1 300 blk 8.5" sbr
1 6.5 grendel 18"
1 6.5 grendel 11" sbr
 
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I am familiar with a couple of those. The 450 Bushmaster will not feed from a magazine with more than five rounds. The 458 SOCOM will as it was designed with enough taper to feed from magazines. And neither of these rounds are particularly impressive. How much better are they compared to a 44 Magnum from a lever action?, probably a similar rainbow trajectory making them short range things at best. What I have seen for the 300 BLK is a lesser round compared to a 30-30. .300 Blackout pushes a125 grain projectile at 2,220 FPS, I am doing that with a 170 grain bullet in a 30-30 lever action around 35 Kpsia. I am not familiar with the rest, maybe they are flash in the pans, so to say.

A good test of staying power will be in 20 years. If brass for any of those rounds is still being produced, then the round could be considered a success. In the decades I have been reading about the latest and greatest rounds, almost all of the hundreds, if not thousands, that have been introduced, and you can't find brass or ammunition. I just remembered the 307 Winchester, another end of history cartridge. Click on the link and see if you can order a box. I am confident brass for the 223 Rem will continue to be produced for the next 50 years, along with the 30-06 and 308 Win.
Unless I am mistaken, which my ex-wife used to indicate was more often than I was right, all of the chamberings I initially indicated were built specifically to fit the confines (obviously some would say limitations) of the AR platform.
What others see as limitations, I see as the platform's greatest strength. I am by no one's estimation a great gunsmith. But within a couple of years I was able to learn by trial and error almost all of the in and outs of how to assemble ARs (AR22, AR9, AR15, AR10/308, et al) to fit any caliber, need, want, whim or folly I chose.

And while they may not match others' ideals of what the most powerful cartridge in a particular caliber should be, they more than exceed my wants/desires in a relatively low cost, interchangeable, ever evolving and eternally tinkerable platform. .300 BLK may not meet your expectations of what a .30/30 does, but that's not what I was measuring it against to begin with. I can't build a 5 lb., silenced, subsonic, side charging .30/30 that my mother can use for home protection (probably more accomplished people than me can), but I can and have built one in .300 BLK. And in .350 Legend. Even in 7.62x39. And next month if I decide I no longer need it for that purpose but want to take it pig hunting, I can swap out the barrel, put on a thermal scope and handload some 110 grain or 170 grain blacktips and go do that. And if I think that might be a little underpowered I can put on one of my dozen .450 bushmaster uppers instead.

As far as staying power over the next 20 years, if I'm still alive I'm pretty sure I will have more than enough brass for all the different calibers my family currently handloads for, which is well over a dozen. If the market decides it no longer wants to support my pet calibers, I've got plenty of extra bolts, parts kits, buffer tubes/springs, barrels, receivers and so forth to last me 50 years and then probably another 50 on top of that.

I don't have anything against non-AR style rifles or other chamberings that don't work in an AR. I have quite a few of those. Thankfully I still live in a state, for now, that let's me have both. My opinion, respectfully.
 
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1 in .204 Ruger
2 in .22lr
1 in .22 magnum
1 in 5.45x39
1 in 6x45
1 in 25-45 sharps
2 in .300 blackout
2 in 30 herrett (rimless)
1 in .45acp
1 in 50 Beowulf
1 in .410
The other 12 are .223/5.56
Awesome! What kind of system do you have on the .45acp? Regular DI system or blowback, delayed blowback, etc? I am interested in building a couple but have read they can be finicky to cycle.
 
There are many choices. I see no reason to use another caliber because I have seen the damage a 5.56 NATO and .223 can do. Although I have been seriously interested in a 6.5 Grendel and some form of 6 MM AR and I still may get one, I don't see a big need to spend the money since I prefer Bolt action rifles with hunting cartridges for hunting anyway.
 
There are many choices. I see no reason to use another caliber because I have seen the damage a 5.56 NATO and .223 can do. Although I have been seriously interested in a 6.5 Grendel and some form of 6 MM AR and I still may get one, I don't see a big need to spend the money since I prefer Bolt action rifles with hunting cartridges for hunting anyway.
Try out a grendel, it's like the 5.56s big brother.

I have had a lot of ar15s over the years, but 223/5.56 make up 20 percent of my current Ar's. 300 blk is just too much fun, the 6.5 Grendel feels like a whole order of magnitude more powerful (it's not, but it feels like it), 7.62x39 is so cheap to shoot, as is 22lr, and 458 socom is a cannon in a small package. I have had a few other calibers, and I have a few on my "to do" list, all of them are fun. I do prefer bolt actions and single shot rifles though...
 
I have a handful of 223/5.56 which were built for competitions which required such, which buoys my percentage a bit, but for most of the last ~18yrs, around 1/4 of my personal AR’s have been chambered in 223/5.56. However, somewhere around 3/4 to 2/3 of those rifles I’ve been commissioned to build or rebuild for others have been 223/5.56.
 
I haven’t shot an AR in years. I have 1 lower and 6 uppers. Let’s see:

204 Ruger (this was my first AR - DPMS and very, very accurate, this is my single lower)
223 Wylde
6x45 (bought used but never fired)
6mm WSSM (bought used and probably put a couple hundred rounds through it, but I’ve never spent the time to develop a really good load. Brass is a PITA to work with.)
6 AR 40 Turbo Improved (best 5 shot group of any rifle I’ve ever owned - 4 bullets through 1hole and a flyer - .25”)
6.5 Grendel (bought for hunting & shot it lots, but never hunted with it. I’ve since bought a bolt action 6.5G and the not touched the upper since)
 
50% .223, 50% 300BO
I like the 300 BO for deer/hog hunting, and my younger son likes to hunt with the .223
.223 is a lot more affordable to go to the range and have fun. Even reloading, 300 BO can get spendy.
 
So I will just say, I've got more than one and less than I plan to have this time next week.
I like that.


Try out a grendel, it's like the 5.56s big brother.

I have had a lot of ar15s over the years, but 223/5.56 make up 20 percent of my current Ar's. 300 blk is just too much fun, the 6.5 Grendel feels like a whole order of magnitude more powerful (it's not, but it feels like it), 7.62x39 is so cheap to shoot, as is 22lr, and 458 socom is a cannon in a small package. I have had a few other calibers, and I have a few on my "to do" list, all of them are fun. I do prefer bolt actions and single shot rifles though...
I agree. When you double or triple the mass of the bullet, without sacrificing much velocity, you're getting a significant gain in terminal effect. Plus there's just something magical about the sweet spot occupied by the 6.5's.
 
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I own only about 40% of my ARs are .223/5.56.
I have them in 5.45, 350 Legend, .300 Blackout, 7.62x39, .458 SOCOM & I may get one in .300 HAM"R if it takes off like they say.
 
1 in .204 Ruger
2 in .22lr
1 in .22 magnum
1 in 5.45x39
1 in 6x45
1 in 25-45 sharps
2 in .300 blackout
2 in 30 herrett (rimless)
1 in .45acp
1 in 50 Beowulf
1 in .410
The other 12 are .223/5.56
30 Herrett Rimless was known as 300 Herrett and built for the XP100. I didnt know they made AR barrels in it! I have a pair of contender barrels in 30H and one in 357 Herrett.

I have 2 ARs in 5.56
2 in 6.5 Grendel
1 in 7.62x39
1 in 50 Beowulf

Next one i want in 10mm
 
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