Amount you can carry

Fighting between the big-round and small-round groups reached a peak in the early 1960s, when test after test showed the .223 Remington (M193 5.56×45mm) cartridge fired from the AR-15 allowed an eight-soldier unit to outgun an 11-soldier unit armed with M14s at ranges closer than 300 meters. U.S. troops were able to carry more than twice as much 5.56×45mm ammunition as 7.62×51mm NATO for the same weight, which allowed them an advantage against a typical NVA unit armed with Type 56-1s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.62%C3%9751mm_NATO#Adoption_in_battle_rifles

Interesting chart there too about how much ammo you can carry in a 10kg load of magazines.

260 rounds of 762 NATO

620 rounds of 556

360 rounds of 762 Soviet.

Long Range Effective Accuracy

On the other hand, once you get out to like 300 yards/meters, lighter rounds will get tossed around by the wind, but personally I was having success with very heavy 85gr Open-Tip Match 5.56. But that's premium stuff, and standard 55gr and 62gr projectiles were very hit or miss shooting prone at a 8-inch target.

Recoil and Quickness of Follow-up Shots

.308 out of an AR-10 feels like twice the recoil of 5.56 out of an AR-15. It's not fun. The gun weight too feels like twice as much. If I'm lugging something around I know which I'd prefer.

What are your thoughts? Also, is the new larger US military rifle/caliber contract won by SIG Sauer dead in the water? I think it is, except maybe for specialized roles like DMRs.

  • Sickos [they/them, it/its]
    ·
    1 year ago

    I probably wouldn't want to shoot a 308 continuously all day, but it's far from hard shooting. Nothing on a shotgun or anything. Like I wind up with some red marks on my shoulder after a couple of hours and a couple hundred rounds through an AR10 with a rock hard stock.

    • Vingst [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      To be fair, it could have been a gas tuning issue, and a lack of familiarity on my part. I was shooting other ppl's AR-10s. If one could tune the system so the buffer isn't slamming the back of the tube, it would be nicer, but I'd prefer an overgassed AR-15 to an AR-10, and it's what I would go for in a fight or even a survival hunting situation.