Which is the better long-distance round: 5.56 or 7.62?

wearethemighty.com ^ | June 28, 2021 | Alex Hollings

[ought-six]

The venerable .30-06. Obviously. :)

[Seruzawa]

Well, yes. There are so many variables that one could go on for hours about it. Barrel length, twist, type of powder (fast/slow), Bullet weight, air temperature, phase of the moon. So many things effect a firearm’s performance that it’s difficult to make blanket statements.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I remember reading the criticism of the 5.56 back in 1976.

Too light a bullet for hunting. Good only for varmints.
Too much flex in the AR rifle. A spread of hits on target was about 6 inches at 100 yds.
Icky Plastic!

The AR rifles often sat on the shelves for months. No one wanted them (except me).

Then Mel Tappan started his Survival Weapons in GUNS AND AMMO MAGAZINE.

Suddenly everyone wanted an AR-15! Even scrapped M-16 rifles were parted out and used in new AR-15s of various quality, some really bad. (Mine, [SGW brand] turned it’s bullets sideways at 50 yds.)

The AR-180 and Mini-14 filled the gap until new AR-15s came off the assembly line.

Now everyone wants one!

[PROCON]

Good grief people, talk about going off into the weeds.

The title to the thread is:

Which is the better long-distance round: 5.56 or 7.62?

It isn't; "What's the best military caliber for long distances" or "What round do you prefer to shoot at long distances?"

The author used his metrics and came to his conclusion.

Reading comprehension is important!

[Mariner]

The title simply posited two different diameter rounds.

After diameter, all that is left is shape, speed and weight.

Whatever .223 will do, .308 will do better.

[BipolarBob]

“For long range stuff I like my Savage .22-250 with 4,000fps rounds. “

I believe SkyDancer was the author of that statement.

[gundog]

445 SuperMagnum is a handgun round. US snipers use a variety of rounds. .50BMG is the big one.

Did your time in Oz influence your choice of the.22-250? I saw that the Brit and Aussie militaries had adopted it for urban counter-sniper use, minimizing ricochets and over-penetration.

[OKSooner]

Are these two the only choices?

[ChildOfThe60s]

Just another thread designed to go off topic immediately LOL

If there was an apocalypse and I had to gather all the numbnuts in my neighborhood and hand them a rifle, I would give each of them an AK.

Real world people, real world.

[PROCON]

Are these two the only choices?

For this thread, yes.

If you choose another caliber you are a bad FReeper like all the rest who went off on a tangent! 😆😎

[gundog]

SOCOM and DHS have adopted the 6.5 Creedmoor for some applications. I’d look for its use to expand. The shelves were heavy with it, locally, after the common military rounds disappeared in the current ammo drought.

[Big Red Badger]

It’s for fibbies.

[BipolarBob]

Don’t be a D B Cooper.

[Sirius Lee]

Of course there are other variables.

And other calibers. Has anyone tried the 6.5 Grendel? Asking for a friend.

[BipolarBob]

So we’re going to your house and you’re handing out Aks? Count me in.

[Rio]

Author picked the wrong 7.62

[gundog]

SKS barrel is 20”. I’ve shot at clay at 400 plus yards with an SKS and had the bullet penetrate about 1/2 its length.

[Openurmind]

Absolutely... “phase of the moon” Really? lol

[Seruzawa]

Effects the shooter. Hard to hit a target when you are morphing into a werewolf.

[throwthebumsout]

They both have their purpose. Saying that one is better than the other is silly.