AR Caliber Choices

[LJH]

Help me narrow my choices on a new AR build. The problem is I have too many choices and no direction.

I could go with a big bore AR, 450 Bushmaster, 458 Socom, or 50 Beowulf- just because. I am not really sure of what I would do with it. Not to mention WOW these are expensive to shoot.

6.something – I really like the ballistics of the 6.5 Grendel. My only reason to skip this is the longest shot where I shoot is well under 200 yards. It would be nice to have something that could reach out farther if I ever get a place with a longer range. As to the 6.8, from what I can tell doesn’t perform as well as the 6.5 at longer ranges. For me this is a moot point, not only that the 6.8 looks as if it won the popularity contest for 6.X .

7.62X39 or 300 Whisper- Cheap ammo is good. Here is where both of these appeal to me. I see some have had great success hunting with this. I like to hunt, so the commie caliber is gaining my favor. Then there is the 300 Whisper. Brass can be made from 5.56, slugs are plentiful and cheap in bulk. Not only that I really like the idea of picking up another suppressor platform. My research indicates that this is a super accurate round. When loaded to supersonic, it is on par with the 7.62X39. Of course running 220s sub through a can is very quite.

Or I can be patient and wait on the release of the 300 OSSM. (If ever)

So what do you think?

 

[Ranb]

I have an AR with 223, 300 whisper and 458 socom uppers, all suppressed. None of them, even the 300 whisper with subsonic ammo is quiet at all. They are all safe to shoot (the 458 is borderline) without hearing protection as long as they are shot out in the open.

The action noise by itself it just too much to call them quiet. From the shooter's position, my suppressed AR’s are louder than my suppressed 308 shooting supersonic ammo. When shooting subsonic with the gas port shut, then they are more comfortable to use without ear plugs.

Some people think their suppressed guns are quiet, I actually have most of my hearing left. I can hear sounds as low as 0-15 decibels even in the higher frequencies. I think some people who think powerful suppressed guns are quiet actually have significant hearing loss. The 22lr caliber rifles are an exception. I think they are genuinely comfortable to shoot without ear plugs.

Ranb

 

[LJH]

Thanks Ranb, I guess I should rephrase that to "hearing safe"

 

[DammitBoy]

I've been asking myself this same question for about a week and I think I've decided on .308 for my next AR system.

Now I just have to decide which one, although I'm kinda leaning towards the DPMS L308 AP4 at this point.

 

[Ranb]

LJH, do not get me wrong. I love to shoot suppressed, it is a real hoot. It is just that there are limits to what a small tube with baffles in it can do for the noise caused by propellant with pressures as high as 60,000 psi. A small 2"x8" can that reduces intensity by 30 decibels(factor of a 1000x) or loudness by eight times seems like a miracle to me. I enjoy making them and will try to suppress every gun in my 40 plus collection.

The AR platform is too flexible to limit yourself to just one caliber. Go for the extremes. 17 remington, 223 remington, 458 socom or 50 beowulf.

Ranb

 

[Acera]

50 BMG! Get them while you can.

 

[R.W.Dale]

I feel your pain

I now have ar's in 223, 7.62x39 and 30HRT

it looks like the HRT is starting to supercede the x39 the 223 is a super cool retro so it stays. Which leaves me trying to figure out what I wanna turn the x39 upper into

 

[tincanhunter]

I voted 6.x, not because it's what the cool kids are doing but because you said that you like to hunt. The 6.8SPC is a great round that will take down anything from groundhogs to whitetails to feral hogs. It's also pretty accurate out of a carbine. I have a couple of 6.8SPC loads that will shoot <0.7" at 100yds. As far as the big bores go, be ready to pay premium for ammo and if you choose the Beowulf, good luck finding reasonably priced ammo due to all the gougers out there. I'm in the process of building a Beowulf/wrecking machine and it's difficult to find brass for reloading....but damn it's a fun caliber to shoot!

 

[jkingrph]

I chose the 6.5 Grendel, because of its potential, and if you reload as I do it is so easy to make suitable cases by simply running 7.62x39 cases through a 6.5 Grendel resizing die, load and shoot(reduce load a bit for first firing). That way you can reduce the cost of cases from $0.85 ea to $0.18-0.20 ea.

 

[LJH]

Wow talk about a tie, at this point it is 7, 7, 7, and 5. I was going to start the build if this poll had any sort of “winner” I never thought having a extra lower and spare parts would be an issue until I started looking at my options.

I admit that I am shocked that the 300 OSSM is doing as well as it is with 5 votes.

Thanks everyone who had piped in! If nothing else I have learned to never mix a desire to use extra parts + boredom + unforeseen extra income.