Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Coolest Caliber

What is the coolest caliber for a defense/assault type AR-15? Is it the .458 SOCOM? What a hog stopper!

223

OK, I would say the 5.7X28

223AI

those ackley rounds just are plain cool!

The 50 Beowulf has definite cool factor. Anything with a half inch bore can't be anything but cool.

I would second that !

I should say... I already have the. 223. I have two stripped lowers to use and I would like to make one of them into a version of the DPMS Arctic Panther. The second, I would like to do something like the SOCOM or the Beowulf.

well ya know you can swap uppers... so I'd personally skip building the lowers, and build the extra uppers first, then you can go back and build the lowers.

For defense I'm just not sure, there is a difference between defense and cool IMHO. I would not want to use my 50 beowulf as main defense gun.

Actually I'd probably think really hard about an AR in 7.62x39 or the 6.8 SPC. Although I'm totally confident in the 223 as is.

After a day of defending the Hacienda, I think the 6.8spc would be a fan favorite over any of the three big bores, both from recoil and carrying ammo. Anyone/thing hit is gonna be just as dead from 120 grains at close distance as 250 grains.

Rost495,

Now that C Products seems to have the bugs worked out of their 7.62x39 magazines, who makes a decent upper in that caliber? I'd love to find a pre ban Colt, but the only ones I've been able to locate are made by Model 1 Sales with the E.R. Shaw barrels, and Bushmaster. Sabre Defense made one for a short time, but have since discontinued them. Any suggestions?

I'm going to be different and say the 6.5 grendel.

After I made that post I did a google search and look what I came up with..

6.5 grendel

And in reality as dead as from a 77 also...

Mike

Nope, I don't have a clue honestly.... I do know the more I shoot my nephews Model 1 upper, the more I like the round. That happens to be a solid MOA shooter and with 125 BTs its just about right.... Even knocked off a yote around 500 or so with it by accident.... I mean we didn't know the distance, his dad had missed it closer and it came back out and sat down, so I grabbed his gun, guessed the complete shot and rolled it.

Of course when I get that far I'll be trying to see if anyone would chamber a barrel for it.... Dtech maybe?

I've always thought a 300 whisper with a can would be cool.

I take it that the Model 1 is a .308 diameter barrel vice a .311. I'll have to research this some, as the appeal is that I have a boatload of 7.62x39, and would like to be able to shoot it out of my AR.

I think the 243 WSSM is pretty cool on the AR platform, but then, I'm prejudiced.

Considering you want to be able to stockpile a LOT of ammo and will be primarily concerned with eliminating people, a 22 LR conversion with lots of magazines is my choice.

His does not shoot surplus ammo well. His AK shoots surplus better. I suspect the answer is there.

Sounds like the reason. Thanks. I'll call Bushmaster today and find out.

Just got off the phone with Bushmaster, and they didn't know off the top of their heads whether it is .308 or .311, but he said the engineers had designed the upper around the cartridge, so he suspected that it was .311, which is good for my purposes. He did say that he would contact me with an answer ASAP. He did also confirm that the barrels/chambers ARE hard chromed, which is also good for my purposes. I will advise when I get a definitive answer from BM.

edited for update

Would be good info to know... just in case I do one eventually. A man could have 2 barrels, one for junk, and one for good accurate deer ammo..... easy enough to spin off and on...