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I was talked out of buying an AR-15 and build one by suggestion from a fellow member of the forum, from my hometown. I like the AR-15 platform because you can change the upper receivers from .223/5.56mm, 6.5 Grendal, 6.8 SPC, .458 SOCOM and .50 Beowulf with the pull of two pins. I wanted to use the rifle for home defense but I would not mind switching upper receivers and going after hog, elk and moose. For a happy medium at the house I decided to go with either .223/5.56mm or the 6.8 SPC calibers for home. I know that I can find .223/5.56mm anywhere but I like the extra punch of the 6.8 SPC. Anyone have any thoughts about this?

SigOperator02 wrote: I know that I can find .223/5.56mm anywhere.......... Anyone have any thoughts about this?

Depends on how much shooting you do, there is a lot of 5.56 around.

I shoot about twice a month. Yeah, that is one of the plus of going with .223/5.56mm is that there is tons of ammo for it. The only downside to that round is that it lacks the punch to like a 7.62mm.

SigOperator02 wrote:For a happy medium at the house I decided to go with either .223/5.56mm or the 6.8 SPC calibers for home.

Well the 6.8 SPC develops 44% more energy than the .223/5.56 NATO. with that extra energy and a bullet that weighs twice what a .223/5.56 bullet weighs, I don't think it would make a good home-defense choice. I keep a .223 AR carbine (you've seen the pictures) near my bed, along with a pistol. But an AR is almost too much round for inside a house, particularly if you have loved ones in other rooms. Really, a shotgun would be a better choice, but I don't own one.

If you want to get two uppers, one in .223 for CQB, and the other in 6.8 SPC for hunting, that would make some sense. That said, one of my good friends who has a large lease bags at least a couple of his deer every year with an AR15 in .223. His other hunting rifle is a custom built bolt gun in .264 Winchester Magnum which pushes a 140 grain BTSP at 3,200 fps.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

SigOperator02 wrote:For a happy medium at the house I decided to go with either .223/5.56mm or the 6.8 SPC calibers for home.

Well the 6.8 SPC develops 44% more energy than the .223/5.56 NATO. with that extra energy and a bullet that weighs twice what a .223/5.56 bullet weighs, I don't think it would make a good home-defense choice. I keep a .223 AR carbine (you've seen the pictures) near my bed, along with a pistol. But an AR is almost too much round for inside a house, particularly if you have loved ones in other rooms. Really, a shotgun would be a better choice, but I don't own one.

If you want to get two uppers, one in .223 for CQB, and the other in 6.8 SPC for hunting, that would make some sense. That said, one of my good friends who has a large lease bags at least a couple of his deer every year with an AR15 in .223. His other hunting rifle is a custom built bolt gun in .264 Winchester Magnum which pushes a 140 grain BTSP at 3,200 fps.

Yeah, I think your right about it being to much for home defense. I think I'm gonna go head with building my .223/5.56mm upper. I will think about the 6.8 SPC later. As for the shotgun, I use to own one and was an avid duck hunter until April 27, 2010. My second youngest brother was killed in a violent crime with a 12 gauge pump to the face. The next day all 6 six of my semi auto shotguns went to the gun store for sale. So, shotguns are never going to be an option.

http://www.gunsandammo.com/tv/pdtv" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
scroll down in the 'All Episodes' box and watch the video titled 'All About Ammo'. The .223 demonstration surprised me!

If this is your first AR15 then the priority will be on something that is cheap to practice with (since you will need to shoot quite a bit to practice). While 22LR is cheap it is inadequate as SD weapon. .223 (or ideally 5.56 chambered AR15) is what you want.

Realize that 6.8 and 6.5 ammo costs $1+ per round. There is no cheap 6.8 or 6.5 ammo. .308 costs about .40$ per minimum for surplus. You can get .223 Brown Bear for .20$ per and $.30 for brass now (the prices have been falling last few months).

I built a short AR recently as my new "go-to" rifle and went with .223/5.56 purely because of logistics reasons - .223/5.56 ammo is available everywhere, but simply getting the the rather pricey 6.8/6.5 and other rounds may be problematic.

I got a 1:7 twist chrome lined barrel so I can shoot heavy-for-caliber bullets and get them to stabilize.

And though it's undeniable that the larger rounds hit harder, a .223/5.56 is more than enough for serious social work, especially since I'm not constrained by military regulations to FMJ ammo.

HankB wrote:I built a short AR recently as my new "go-to" rifle and went with .223/5.56 purely because of logistics reasons - .223/5.56 ammo is available everywhere, but simply getting the the rather pricey 6.8/6.5 and other rounds may be problematic.

I got a 1:7 twist chrome lined barrel so I can shoot heavy-for-caliber bullets and get them to stabilize.

And though it's undeniable that the larger rounds hit harder, a .223/5.56 is more than enough for serious social work, especially since I'm not constrained by military regulations to FMJ ammo.

Good point. The bullet type is very important depending on what you are doing with it.