300blk or 5.56

[Jason_W]

This stuff isn't too expensive.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/54...62x35mm-115-grain-full-metal-jacket-box-of-20

 

[rjrivero]

This stuff isn't too expensive.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/547...cket-box-of-20

It's also not in stock.

The cool thing about this round is that you can use just about any 308 caliber bullet to reload it. You can form the brass out of .223 or 5.56 parent brass just by trimming and sizing. It only uses some 16gr of powder (depending on load) and you can load lighter faster or heavy slow depending on what you want to do with the rifle.

It's really a nice versatile round, especially for handloaders.

 

[Jason_W]

The cool thing about this round is that you can use just about any 308 caliber bullet to reload it. You can form the brass out of .223 or 5.56 parent brass just by trimming and sizing. It only uses some 16gr of powder (depending on load) and you can load lighter faster or heavy slow depending on what you want to do with the rifle.

It's really a nice versatile round, especially for handloaders.

That's part of why I'm interested.

That and how many loads for it are ballistically very close to the .357 mag carbine. I see it as having a lot of potential for a light kicking multi-use round.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I recommended 5.56 above. FWIW I have a 300 Blackout upper and think it's wonderful, but again, for a FIRST AR, and for hunting coyotes (not deer or hogs), I think 5.56 makes a lot more sense.

Stay old school for now, The 300 may fall to the waste side one day.

I think you mean "way side". And not very likely given that you can easily make the cases from .223 empties and reload it with almost any .30 cal bullet.

 

[Panzercat]

What's with the either/or thing? Even if you choose 5.56, .300blk is only a barrel swap away as I understand it. Heck, that's the entire draw of it. You swap the barrel and everything else is compatible.

Get a 5.56 and when you have some more money, get the .300 blk barrel. Done.

 

[Captains1911]

What's with the either/or thing? Even if you choose 5.56, .300blk is only a barrel swap away as I understand it. Heck, that's the entire draw of it. You swap the barrel and everything else is compatible.

Get a 5.56 and when you have some more money, get the .300 blk barrel. Done.

You make it sound as though it's quick and convenient to swap barrels back and forth on an AR. It's not. What's more practical is buying an upper in 300 BLK.

 

[helotaxi]

I have several .223 uppers and a .300 BLK as well. The .223 shoots flat and is cheap to shoot. Definitely the superior choice for a coyote round. The .300BLK is not very forgiving of misjudging the distance to the target. The trajectory has too much arc to it. Coyotes don't pull up at exact, even distances and usually don't give you time to use a rangefinder and then figure holdover or dial come-up. The difference in point blank zero between a .308 110gn VMax from a 300 BLK (2300 FPS) and a .223 with a 55gn VMax (3300 FPS) is nearly 100yds. The 300BLK has uses and is fun to shoot, but coyote hunting isn't its niche.

 

[68wj]

I have several .223 uppers and a .300 BLK as well. The .223 shoots flat and is cheap to shoot. Definitely the superior choice for a coyote round. The .300BLK is not very forgiving of misjudging the distance to the target. The trajectory has too much arc to it. Coyotes don't pull up at exact, even distances and usually don't give you time to use a rangefinder and then figure holdover or dial come-up. The difference in point blank zero between a .308 110gn VMax from a 300 BLK (2300 FPS) and a .223 with a 55gn VMax (3300 FPS) is nearly 100yds. The 300BLK has uses and is fun to shoot, but coyote hunting isn't its niche.

Oh how that post made me yearn to take my 6.8 out to call come yotes. I have some 100gr soft points waiting for a trip to the range to run a ladder, or my standby 110gr Noslers.

 

[Hammerhead6814]

This stuff isn't too expensive.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/547...cket-box-of-20

It's also .60 cents (.5995 if we want to nit-pick) a round. For those of us who are not suppressor people, and are looking for a caliber up from a .223, .308 is cheaper (or these) and .308 caliber guns (be they AR-10's, CETME's, or even FAL's) can be had for roughly the same price as an assembled AR-15 (yes I know if you assemble it yourself AR-15's are anywhere from $100-$300 cheaper).

Don't get me wrong, I like the concept. But I jumped onto 6.8 SPC bandwagon only to get shot down when it was obvious my AR-10 was almost half the cost to shoot. .300 BLK will follow the same path if someone doesn't find a way to bring the cost of shooting it below .40 cents.

 

[68wj]

It's also .60 cents (.5995 if we want to nit-pick) a round. For those of us who are not suppressor people, and are looking for a caliber up from a .223, .308 is cheaper (or these) and .308 caliber guns (be they AR-10's, CETME's, or even FAL's) can be had for roughly the same price as an assembled AR-15 (yes I know if you assemble it yourself AR-15's are anywhere from $100-$300 cheaper).

Don't get me wrong, I like the concept. But I jumped onto 6.8 SPC bandwagon only to get shot down when it was obvious my AR-10 was almost half the cost to shoot. .300 BLK will follow the same path if someone doesn't find a way to bring the cost of shooting it below .40 cents.

Yes, you must define what type of shooter you are and choose the tool for the job. If you need berm fodder, .223 is hard to beat (.22lr is about it). If you are hunting or looking for "premium" loadings, the cost between cartridges starts to be nominal. Good .223, 6.8, .300, or even .308 win aren't so cheap when you aren't comparing Russian or mil-surp.

 

[helotaxi]

I can still reload .223 for about 2/3 the cost of .300BLK and that's not counting the extra time spent forming the brass for the BLK. .308 cal bullets are expensive.