What is your second choice?

[Bzcraig]

What would be your choice for a second caliber? Here are the assumptions:

You already have an AR chambered in 223.
You are building another AR platform.
You can only make a barrel change.
You will be making your own boolits exclusively.

I didn't know there were soooo many choices. I bought a 80% lower and am having a hard time making up my mind which caliber, though I'm leaning heavily toward 300aac.

:confused:

[R.Ph. 380]

I spent 2 hours on the range this afternoon with my 300 BLK. Wouldn't trade it for any other caliber. The rounds are especially easy to convert.

Bill

[starmac]

do they come in 30/30???

[Harter66]

starmac
Not yet .

A .25 of some sort . I'm working a 7x6.8 SPCII , it'll clock 130gr boolit right through 2300 . I had 1 nominal load almost 2400 .......it ate the paper patch and leaded the bbl, but its a work in progress.

[RoyEllis]

I'm not all that fond of the AR platform, but I'd auction off some body parts for a M14E2 redone in .358 Win:bigsmyl2:
Ya know, just in case I was ever attacked by a herd of buffalo, or flock of pterodactyls, etc!

[338RemUltraMag]

Well my choice was the 7.62x40WT it is still only a barrel change has more horespower than a 300 BLK and the barrels come with a 1-12 twist. What more could you ask for?

[runfiverun]

300 blackout.

[wch]

6.5 Grendel

[Oreo]

I've been mulling this over for myself as well. There's a handful of good answers but I think the 300 blackout is the clear winner right now.

Its a common sized bullet so there's lots of commercial options, but its also especially cast-boolit friendly with plenty of mold options. It uses brass converted from regular old 223 / 5.56 brass which is cheap, plentiful, and most importantly uses the same bolt (which I think is not the case for the grendal.) Same mags even, I think.

[hardcase54]

6X45 is my choice.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I shoot the 300ACC when up north there. You will not be dissapointed. I do not run a silencer so I do not need subsonic. A 130 grainer at about 1700 fps will take care of alot of needs and imagined thoughts.
Easy cartige to load. I have numerous caliber .310 molds handy. Brass will never run out. Dies are not expensive. No special mags to get. No special powder or primer to mess with. Very accurate. Easy to cast for. On the fun story goes !
Mike in Peru

[NSP64]

It uses brass converted from regular old 223 / 5.56 brass which is cheap, plentiful, .
I haven't seen any in weeks.

[blademasterii]

50 beowulf is what I was recently looking at. :D You need a new bolt, but the bolt carrier group is the same.

[perotter]

Given the rule of barrel change only, I'd go with the 300 Blackout. If changing the complete upper out, I'd go with .50 BMG.

[Fishman]

I made my choice and it was a 300 blackout. The 6.5 Grendel is very cool but requires more than a barrel change. In the interest of full disclosure I haven't shot it yet but am happy with my choice so far.

[KYCaster]

do they come in 30/30???


Welllll.......kinda.

They call it a 300 Blackout.

The tacti-cool guys get a snit on when I compare the two cartridges.

Jerry

[x101airborne]

For pure power, destruction, kill anything in North America, take no mess off anything living or not with the power to punch through vehicle engines, brick walls, and throw the anchor out on any charging grizzley, moose, International 5500 etc...
50 Beowulf.
Uses a 7.62x39 bolt head and requires modifying the size of the ejection port. The ejection port cover can be kept if you are careful. Brass is made by starline and used to be readily available. I havent looked recently, so couldn't say. H-110 is your friend, and NOE can cut you some molds that will cast wonderful HP's or solids.

[shdwlkr]

Me I can take or leave the AR platform so if I was going to go for another rifle it would be M1A trained on something similar decades ago and loved it then we got those dang M16A1 and then the A2. Went almost 30 years before I had another in my hands and yes they are different now by a long shot.
Personally if I had one in 5.56mm I would look for one in 22 LR as I see them as just something for fun to have.

[Bzcraig]

Welllll.......kinda.

They call it a 300 Blackout.

The tacti-cool guys get a snit on when I compare the two cartridges.

Jerry

Great response........appropriate answer, but still humorous! But the first thing that came to mind is: are the ballistics close? Dang something else to have to learn!

[runfiverun]

I think you can launch a 150 to about 1900 fps in the blackout, so fairly close to a 30-30 but not quite the same.
if 400 fps is close.

[km101]

Me I can take or leave the AR platform so if I was going to go for another rifle it would be M1A trained on something similar decades ago and loved it then we got those dang M16A1 and then the A2. Went almost 30 years before I had another in my hands and yes they are different now by a long shot.
Personally if I had one in 5.56mm I would look for one in 22 LR as I see them as just something for fun to have.


My thoughts exactly! I own and operate an AR or two, but if I had my choice, I would definitely rather have either of the NM M-14's that I shot while on a military rifle team in the '70s. Probably one of the most accurate semi-auto firearms that I have ever had the pleasure of shooting.

As to the original post. I went with the 300AAC as the most versatile and powerful conversion.

[Coonazz]

Have to be the 50 Beowulf. It puts very large holes in almost everything

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'm not all that fond of the AR platform, but I'd auction off some body parts for a M14E2 redone in .358 Win:bigsmyl2:
Ya know, just in case I was ever attacked by a herd of buffalo, or flock of pterodactyls, etc!

Yeah, I guess I'm in this boat as well.
my choice? A bolt action rifle in 257 rob.
Jon

[Bzcraig]

I think you can launch a 150 to about 1900 fps in the blackout, so fairly close to a 30-30 but not quite the same.
if 400 fps is close.

I'm thinking 400 fps fits the Well............kinda

[TheGrimReaper]

6.5 grendel

yep!!!

[john hayslip]

Am currently playing with the Blackout. I think a 7mm TCU would work and not require anything other than a barrel change. Not going to it - just thinking about the possibilities raised by the question.

[felix]

Any one wishing for a Blackout, PM or email me. ... felix

[Moonie]

I have 2 AR's, one in 6.8 SPC and the other in 300 BO, the 300 gets alot more use and is more cast friendly.

[jonp]

300 blk because I could use the 223 brass I had to make brass for it

[Artful]

Another vote for 300 blk - actually mine is older than 300 blk it's a 300/221 fireball - similar to 300 whisper which is pretty much identical to 300 blk in performance -

300 blk is similar to 7.62x39 in performance which is similar to 30-30 in it's performance.

It was the best choice for cast boolit use and just get an extra 223 barrel if you need to consolidate calibers.

[BD]

My second choice was the .450 Bushmaster, kind of along the lines of first, a .22 rf pistol, and then a 1911 in .45 acp. I'm thinking on the AR platform, the 6.5 Grendal/ 6.8/.300 blackout is really the "third" choice. An intermediate chambering just for the simple joy of shooting.
BD

[starmac]

I know exactly nothing about the 300 blackout, but if it is 400 fps slower than the 30/30, it is not very similar in my somewhat limited mind.

[Gliden07]

I think I would go 7.62X39. Nice round use to be cheap to shoot! Love my Chinese SKS too!!

[Bzcraig]

I know exactly nothing about the 300 blackout, but if it is 400 fps slower than the 30/30, it is not very similar in my somewhat limited mind.

I agree with you.....it was a tongue in cheek comment based on the looseness of the "well.......kinda" from an earlier comment.

[KYCaster]

Allow me to go into a bit more detail about my 30-30 comment.

It surprised me to see some comments that appear to be trying to defend the 30-30. Usually when I have this conversation it's with the tacti-cool guys trying to defend the Blackout.

The simple fact is the 300 Blackout is nothing more than a wimpy 30-30 in a "Modern Sporting Rifle".

I'm amazed by the number of people who have "discovered" that a 200 gr. RN bullet moving at a sedate 1100 fps will actually kill a white tail deer. These are the same guys who, previously, had to have the latest .387 SUSFM (Super Ultra Short Fat Magnum) to kill anything bigger than a groundhog.

Our members here have been pointing out the advantage of boolits at moderate velocity since this site got started.

My point is.....the same boolit at the same velocity has been doing the same job for 120 years! And these guys are just now beginning to see the light. They're just not willing to admit that it's all been done before.

Don't get me wrong.....I love my AR. They'll take it from my cold, dead hands. I also love my Win. '94.

The thing that fascinates me about this whole discussion is the wide variety of cartridges used on the AR platform. Just from memory, I recall....
.22 RF
.223 Rem.
6.5 Grendell
6.8 SPC (I keep wondering how that worked out for Remington)
7 TCU (Don't know how well that one works)
30 Whisper
300 AAC Blackout
7.62X39
454 SOCOM
500 Beowulf
I may have missed a couple and I know there are others that haven't been mentioned.

Other than the single shot Handy Rifle types, I can't think of any other system with this kind of versatility.

Jerry

P.S. One more comment and I'll go away..........

I saw an old friend at a 3 gun match. He's always been experimenting with weird stuff.

He showed me a cartridge and said, "Take a look at this."
It looked kinda odd.....I asked, "What is it?"
Him, "It's a 30 Grindell."
Me, "Huh?"
Him, "It's a 6.5 Grindell necked up to .30 cal......I just built an AR for it."
Me, "Uhhh.....is that like a 7.62X39?"
Him, ":confused:"

[starmac]

I have never warmed up to the ar platform, just not my thing. I am around a lot of the tacticool crowd on a regular basis, and when they start talking guns, i always ask if that comes in thutty thutty, just to get their goat. They always tell me that they wouldn't have a worthless thutty thutty, so I had assumedthe 300 blackout and whisper that I kept hearing about was some ballistic whisbang, far superior to the worthless 30/30. lol

One of these guys is a dealer and took a ranch hand in on trade. He just couldn't believe that I wouldn't buy it off him at even a very reasonable price, because he knew I was a lever guy. lol

[Liberty'sSon]

My first choice was and is 300 BLK have one and love it. Second choice, planning on a 20 Practical. A 5.56 necked down to a 20 cal, very accurate and flat shooting. I know it dousnt meet your cast boolit requirement, but even during all this mess, 20 cal j words have remained available. I wonder if anyone makes a 20 cal swage die, hmm?:idea:

[wlc]

To meet the the requirement in the OP the obvious choice is the 300BLK. I've just started playing around with the upper I put together. So far I like it. I still think I'll enjoy my 22 upper more.

[x101airborne]

I know some havent yet and may never warm up to the AR platform, but if you ever use one as a combat rifle (for wich it is only marginal for, but mainly due to caliber, not rifle design) or use one as a high capacity varmint / nuisance rifle, they do fill the bill quite well. Lots of calibers to choose from and pretty much infinately customizable for any shooter. I did get to shoot my Dad's H&K 22lr / AR platform and was really impressed! I mean that thing was smooth and accurate and slick! 600.00 for a 22 that doesn't have Anschultz stamped on the side is a little steep, but dang I like that 22 AR!

For those who say the 30-30 is dead, I have standing offers to buy your "Dead" rifles! I love the 30-30 and couldn't imagine life without one. The AR 15 will always have a hard time matching the energy of the 30-30 and will probably only do so with a larger diamater round to make up lost energy. Now the AR-10 can do it easily, but will outweigh most 30-30's and does not carry as well as a graceful 30-30.

[starmac]

I have played with several of them, including a fully auto (3 shot burst) the sheriffs dept had on loan from the air force. They are just not my thing. I have always likes wood and blue steel, pretty much needs a lever under it to get much attention . lol

[TXGunNut]

Most times, most places, I won't admit to owning a Modern Sporting Rifle. My brother is toying with having a suppressed MSR in .300 Blackout built to deal with surplus hogs on his deer lease. I did a bit of research on the subject and decided that if he'd have the guy build me an upper assembly I'd do a little load development and even loading for him.
300 Blackout looks like a pretty capable hunting cartridge for the MSR. Seems to be a very CB-friendly proposition as well. Last time I checked I had no need (or even a strong want) for another hunting rifle but must admit this combo intrigues me.

[starmac]

They are just not my thing, most everybody I know owns one or a dozen. lol I even have one in the closet, it just isn't mine.

[Copper75]

Barrel change only- 300 Blackout.
Otherwise AR in .308.

[Artful]

I know exactly nothing about the 300 blackout, but if it is 400 fps slower than the 30/30, it is not very similar in my somewhat limited mind.

Yes and No - you can find that much velocity difference just changing boolit weights. - 300 BLK is a smaller case designed to work in the AR - 30/30 won't work in the AR platform...

Comparison for cartridges of similar Velocity loads
30-30 WINCHESTER 150grain: 2390 fps / 1902 ft lbs energy @ Muzzle
At 100 yards . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2018 fps / 1356 ft lbs energy
vs.
300 AAC Blackout 123 grain: 2315 fps / 1462 ft lbs energy @ Muzzle
300 AAC Blackout 123 grain: 1907 fps / 993 ft lbs energy @ 100 yards

So yes the old 30/30 still is better if you don't have to have it work in an AR.

[bucklind2]

You can get almost all of the 400 fps back with the 7.62x40. Also uses the 5.56 brass like the 300 blackout. Only a barrel change is required and uses the same mags and bolts.

[LynC2]

You can get almost all of the 400 fps back with the 7.62x40. Also uses the 5.56 brass like the 300 blackout. Only a barrel change is required and uses the same mags and bolts.

I agree, that's why I chose it over the Blackout ctg. Also I didn't care for the 1x7" or 1x8" twist used in the Blackout. Now I need to run some lead through my new NOE .311 155 gr. FN mold and try them out. If they shoot half as good as the mold looks, they will be fantastic! :)

[gofastman]

243 wssm

[10-x]

I'll stick to the old saying, If you're going to a gunfight bring a rifle that starts with 3 and a pistol/revolver that starts with a 4.............so 30.06 to .308.......45ACP to .44 Mag.