[Travis McGee]

Great post, and Yon is outstanding, but 5.56mm is a great caliber.

One of the greatest things about 556 is that ammo and magazines are abundant and available.

300 blackout has its uses, especially if you hand load, but if that’s the only AR upper you have, you will be alone and out of ammo when everybody else is still shooting the most common calibers: .22LR, .223/5.56, .308, 30-30, 7.62X39 etc.

[Blueflag]

M-

OPTION B: Spent .223 cases can be collected and cut down to 300. But then there’s the primer and bullet inventory thing.

See option A: common calibers means not only available ammo, but available guns and spare parts.

.223 and 7.62x51/.308 remain compelling choices.

[BereanBrain]

actually lately 300 blackout is a LOT easier to find than 30-30....I own both. Also 30-06 is very pricey still.

[Larry - Moe and Curly]

“Great post, and Yon is outstanding, but 5.56mm is a great caliber.”

Yup. If someone thinks I’m a child for having (or should I say “had” - ATF did you get that?) a 5.56-based weapon, I’m okay with that. Would not want to be on the receiving end of any caliber.

Opinions about the best gun/caliber are about as ubiquitous as oh, say, ... opinions.

[OKSooner]

One will find that one's limitations change with age, and then change again with shoulder surgery. All the macho talk about calibers is entertaining but is still just talk.

Those of us whom Shaka Zulu would hold back in reserve are actually thankful for 5.56 caliber and other common rounds... even a Marlin .22wmr "coyote" rifle with a good scope has pragmatic value for social work involving coyotes.

[Myrddin]

300BLK does have the advantage of being able to use .223 brass to resize and load a common .308 caliber bullet. I keep some Speer Plinkers (100 gr .308) to load on my 30 caliber brass...300BLK, 30-30, .308, 30-06, 7.62x39. Great velocity, low recoil. The 7.62x39 is officially a .311, but my Armalite upper is .308. Nicely pairs with Boxer primed brass.