I don’t dispute the advantages the 7.62 has. In fact, you can get a .458 SOCOM to work with your 5.56 lower and magazines for some real CQ punch. The initial debate, however, was over the soundness or the AR family design an the effectiveness of the 5.56 round. My point was, at ranges within 250 m, I believe the 5.56 performs well enough to be regarded as something other than a hot 22LR due to its yawing, spalling, and fragmenting characteristics.
I can agree with that.
As a friend once said to me, “you can always build a better mouse trap”. I’m a fan of the M4 and 5.56. I think so much of this debate and I think the gist of the article is, there’s better stuff out there. Even if we’re talking about modifying the existing platform, with better triggers, operating systems(mid length - pistons), and better ammo.
At the end of the day, the best thing about an AK is the operating system, which was copied from the Germans and used in the M14 and other .308 battle rifles back in the day.