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What chamber would you pick if you had a free barrel: .223 Wylde, .264 LBC, or 6.5 Creedmoor?

I have big and small frame guns so it's just a matter of building an upper. My current .223 Wylde is a 16" set up for 3-Gun and my .308 Win is a 20" gun for PRS Gas Gun. I shoot 6.5 Creedmoor in a bolt gun so I'm looking at it over .260 for the ease of buying one type of case. The only reason I am looking at the 264 LBC is because I really don't like the big gassers and I have an unopened 500ct box of Sierra 123gn Match King on the shelf.

I will use this for the PRS and 3Gun Nation LR matches which only go out to 800yds. The last match I finished 5th with the 308, the team in first shot 223, and all the top five were TAC so I'm not sure I need the Creedmoor and the Grendel doesn't offer a huge advantage over 223 and won't beat my .308 load.

I am not an expert but I don't like the big gassers either, I have had a half dozen of them and never seem to keep them. I have built 6.8's, 300BO, have a 9 pound bolt gun with NF on it now that shoots very well in 6.5CM, but the little 223 is hard to beat. Does anyone build a lower that takes a special longer magazine in order to load the long amax bullets?

I didn’t find the large frame AR platform to be all that “handy.” I’ve got too many .223 barrels as it is so I’d probably go with a 6.5G and build a lightweight AR with hunting in mind.

My uses are probably different than most but my AR's are 223. I don't care for the large platform of the 10 and don't like searching for brass in the grass so the 223 wins for me.

I currently am shooting a 20" 223 wylde and really like it for hunting yotes. I am in the process of building a 22" 6.5 creedmore as a fun gun and seeing if I can start hitting yotes at 1000 yards instead of 800. I have built a couple of 308's but never really warmed up to them. Nothing wrong with them, just was not what I was looking for. The creedmore may be the same story.

I'd say it just depends on whether you really want a small frame gun or another big gun...................winners on both sides & just whatever fits your want list.

MM

I'm just trying to round out my gas guns to cover all my match rifle needs. I'd like 243 LBC but you can't buy ammo for it and I won't traveling with something I can't get ammo for. That's my biggest concern with a Grendel also. I don't particularly want a 20" barrel on a 6.5 Creed but some matches require a carbine to have 20" or less of barrel. I'm leaning towards the Grendel but a .223 Wylde makes the most sense.

if you think the Grendel doesn't have an advantage over the 223, then I think it won't matter what you pick for a barrel.

And there is not a 223 wylde barrel, wylde is simply what chamber is cut into the barrel.

As to traveling with non factory ammo, I've done it all my life, though I"m only 52. I've yet to have an issue.

And if I had to buy ammo to win a match, well its very likely the ammo may not shoot well enough to win anyway...

I think your question is MUCH better suited to the folks that are winning the matches you compete in. I"m not being negative, just saying we always went to the winners of whatever we were shooting to learn... it served us VERY well over the years...

I can say I've never asked the questions you ask on a general forum. I've just asked top shooters whats working and then formed my own opinion and went from there. I think you would be much happier doing the same.

The Wylde chamber doesn't get you any additional performance, just more flexibility in that it can safely shoot both high pressure 5.56 ammo as well as 223 Rem ammo.

Have it custom throated & use ASC magazines to allow a longer COAL, & with heavy bullet handloads, you'll get a little more performance.

MM

Hail rost495, praise be his name. That is a pretty condescending answer but I'll lend you some perspective.

Firstly, I said there is not a huge advantage had by the 6.5 Grendel/.264 LBC (firing 6.5 Grendel ammo) over the .223 Rem/Wylde/CLE/5.56x45mm (firing .223 Rem or 5.56x45mm ammunition). The Grendel pretty much mirrors my .308 Win in regard to exterior ballistics and neither has a huge advantage over the .223 with 73-77gn bullets. I would assume guys in your former shooting sport chose the .223 for the same reason since you don't see too many guys shooting the .308 in service rifle any longer.

Secondly, I get that .223 Wylde is a chamber design but when you buy a barrel stamped .223 Wydle you then have a .223 Wylde barrel because someone cut a .223 Wylde chamber into that barrel. I was specific about it because the barrel is free because I won it at a match, and CRA only offers a .223 Wylde chamber. I was trying to prevent the "get a custom throated Krieger from whoever, or by a Compass Lake with CLE chamber, etc." All of those are great ideas but I'm not doing it because it's not an option with this cert. Of the choices I have I can shoot .223 Rem/5.56x45mm ammo in a .223 Wylde barrel, or 6.5 Grendel ammo in a .264 LBC barrel, or 6.5 Creedmoor ammo in a 6.5 Creedmoor barrel.

Thirdly, the first team match I ever shot my ammo did not show up but luckily my partner had twice the ammo needed and we both had rifles chambered for .223 Wylde: same brand guns, same brand barrels, same chamber design, both shot the ammo he had well and we knew that from testing weeks before even though I was shooting a handload as my. Standardization saved the day. I was one of the first teams to field the XM2010 chambered for .300 Win Mag (guess what, doesn't use a .300 WM SAAMI chamber but I call it a .300 WM just like I call a .223 Wylde a .223 because everyone knows what I mean and vice versa) and nearly all MK248 Mod 0 was being sent overseas so we did all our train up with FGMM. One of our guys liked the bolt gun so much that he didn't even want to take the .308 gas guns when we decided what to take and what to leave. When we landed in Afghanistan and started drawing ammo, MK248 Mod 0 happened to be really rare there also and we got 200 rounds between three rifles. Luckily, I brought all the gas guns and we were swimming in .308 ammo. You'll have to forgive me if I don't want to travel with a gun that has a goofy chambering and limited (to impossible) odds of securing ammo locally.

That said, I have found that Hornady Match and FGGM both shoot well enough to be competitive in my guns. I have also shot matches using M118LR and Mk316 Mod 0. Using a MagnetoSpeed for MV and Litz BC values one could absolutely be competitive if they had to fall back on good factory ammo. That's exactly what I did for the match at Clinton House about two months ago because I had just been really busy at work and when I went to verify drops on the power-line there were Mexicans bailing pine needles. Scaring them off by sending rounds by them is a good way to lose access to my power-line range just like telling them to leave could do the same thing since it's how the landowner makes his income. Instead I strapped on the MagnetoSpeed and cracked off 10 rounds into the berm, loaded the truck, and drove until nearly midnight to get to SC. I finished in 5th place but it wasn't the ammo's fault. I shot one stage poorly (failed to see a pistol target past the dump bucket as I ran through the woods), shot another very mediocre and that is all it takes to lose a practical match.

Fourthly, I wouldn't exactly say I'm sucking dick for nickels in these matches. I've finished between 1st and 5th all year except where I had a catastrophic fail on a stage and finished 12th. In two matches the guys that won shot .223 gas guns, in several guys shot .308, and in all the rest they shot either 6mm Creed/Dasher/x47 or 6.5 Creed/x47. I've got a .308 so I think I'm in the ball park with my prospective choices being .223 Wylde and 6.5 Creed on the practical side and 6.5 Grendel as a consideration because it's popular enough you can find ammo at big box stores in a pinch. I would consider the 6mm Creed but until very recently it was a handload proposition only. I'm asking if there is something I'm not considering here since I'm not a gas gun aficionado and I don't REALLY need another upper. The other option is I just get another .308 barrel to replace my current barrel but it has less than 800 rounds on it right now.

I'm sorry I wasted your time by asking a stupid question on a general forum, and I'm equally sorry you took the time to type a response that didn't really address the question but I find you do that often.

I have a BHW 1-8 Wylde barrel, I need to get it in an upper receiver and try it out.

Sure seems like with your level of winning, you should be the one to answer the question.

You've posted a lot of info and I thank you for that. But its not relevant unless we know what you are after.

That said, I was not trying to be arrogant or condescending, but the keyboard doesn't convey that and some folks are more high strung than others etc... so lets just ignore that for a minute.

IF I would ask such a detailed question, it would be of my mentors( you will have them even at your level) or other folks in the competition you were competing in. Asking it here, any answer you get may be really irrelevant. I could give you the answer that fit my idea or my sport, but where would that get you in your sport? Seriously? YOu have to know if a bit IE an inch or two or three of wind drift is more important. If recoil is an issue, if flatness of trajectory is an issue. etc. I'm hoping you get that part of it.

As to factory ammo, well I get that I guess, I don't fly to matches, never did. Probalby never will. When we fly to AK and are bringing something with us, we have backups. IE shipped ammo ahead of time, or carry it in multiple pieces of luggage or have someone buy what we need ahead of time. Even to the point of having someone with a backup gun there already. I'd do the same if I was forced to fly to matches.

I"m glad you have guns that shoot factory ammo or your brothers ammo well. I actually left my ammo at home once at 3am... after a 4 hour drive get there and have to borrow ammo. It did cost me the match. Every offhand round that I shot never made it to the target. The bergers puffed coming out of the barrel. Cost me that match easily as what I'd have had to shoot offhand was well below my average to be able to win... not a big deal though. it was still fun shooting.

Sure hope you get this sorted out. A free, chambered barrel would never be ignored by me. At least until I had some range time with it to see...

I think you did note why do competitiors not shoot 308 in service rifle anymore? Because of recoil, and the fact that 5.56 bullets have come a long way, such that they equal the 308 ballistics. Its something that I dont even have to ask. I would not shoot a 308 service rifle these days and thats known facts from top competitors. Not something I"d mull over.

Best of luck, sorry if my answer came across other than what I intended.

what barrel did you wind up with?