5.56 vs 7.62

[Artful]

oops for got one

[Love Life]

All of those puny ballistic coefficients...

If just for target fun then a 6.5 or a 6mm would be legit. Actually a 5.56 and 7.62 would be legit as well. If this is your SHTF OMG gun then a 5.56 would be my 1st choice with 7.62 following. I would pick the 5.56 1st for me, but that is just for me.

There is something comforting about the 7.62. I know when we would talk back with the M249 SAW in 5.56 things tended to stretch on longer than necessary. When the pig started talking in 7.62 things usually ended pretty quick.

Good stuff.

[freebullet]

Lol, 7.62 is very comforting indeed. The first time I shot a deer with it and realized the heart was liquefied I knew I would always own one.


That table is neat but its not apple's to apple's. 130 grain from a 7.62 can go 3000fps vs. the 123@2600.

[BruceB]

Lol, 7.62 is very comforting indeed.

I was managing a trophy caribou camp in the Barrens of the Northwest Territories back in '91 and also '92.... we were on strike at the mine where I normally worked.

Barren-ground grizzlies were coming right into camp almost every night after the meat, and I had to try keeping them out.

I mounted a night watch each night, sitting on a Honda trike with its headlight trained in the direction of the meat shed bout fifty yards away. The light was "off" until a bear triggered the alarm we'd hooked-up on the shed.

The ground was soft sand, so the bears were noiseless..... I warned everyone in camp NOT to approach my position without making some "people noises"....at risk of drastic consequences.

My rifle was a TRW M-14, loaded with 180-grain Nosler Partitions, and equipped with a good flashlight which was "co-witnessed" with the point of impact at fifty yards.


Having twenty rounds of on-tap Nosler-loaded 7.62, with bears in the immediate vicinity in the dark, was just as you said...... "comforting".

[dragon813gt]

There is no way I would want to attempt that w/ 5.56. Or for that matter any round below 7.62.

[Love Life]

If given a choice for BruceB's duties then 7.62 would be the choice. However; if all I had was an AR 15 in 5.56 with 30 rd magazine, then I would still sleep soundly at night. It always makes me chuckle how the killing ability and power of the 5.56 almost gets relegated to the same class as a 32 short or 22 lr when in reality is a very good killer of many things.

If I was looking for a black gun for target/competition then I would buy a black bolt action rifle.

[smkummer]

For those that are worried that 5.56 might not be enough, remember that is when one compares one to one of 7.62. Multiple hits with a 5.56 are a whole different situation. So for the so few times when you think you are under gunned fire enough rounds to defeat the target. Simple isn't it?

[Old Ironsights]

Spray & Pray vs aimed hits? That's why there are ammo "shortages".

If all you ever have to.worry about is soft targets, then 5.56 is handy. But there is an awful lot of "cover" in this world that becomes simple concealment when you step up to a MBR...

[seagiant]

Hi,
I have always been a 7.62 kind of guy. I own Garands,FALs,M14,ect. I have just lately built a nice AR-15 and now glad I did! It's a wonderful rifle and I even now have a DPMS 7.62 w/20" HB!

All this to say I keep a 30 rd mag in my 5.56 for things that go bump in the night as it is probably one of the best urban combat weapons in the world today. Build your own rifle,it is not hard and will educate you on the working of your rifle!

[Groovy]

Coyote/groundhog rifle. Not much use for hunting larger game.