Best Shorth Barrel AR Caliber

[nrakid88]

Fellow gunnies,

What do you think would be the best short barrel AR caliber.

.22lr
7.62x25mm
9mm Nato, Parabellum, 9x23
40 sANDw
10mm
45acp
.223
6.8mm SPC II
7.62x39
7,62x51mm, .308 Nato
.458 Socom
.50 Beowolf

I am split, and will have to vote, but heres my explanation.



Not that I have the money, nor will I for a while, what would you rather have, a 10'' 7.62x25mm AR-15 upper or a 11.5'' 6.8 spc II AR-15 upper. Btw my question mark is broken, so pretend they are there when they should be. I plan on getting one of these someday as an sbr. Hopefully California law changes befrore I have to move to get one.

The 7.62x25mm, to me, seems like the fun gun. Cheap ammo for practicing, stainless bbl, and if you spring for the good one, its DI not blowback, so recoil is smooth, and virtually not there. The stainless bbl means hot reloads with good bullets will do similiar damage to a .45, and be super accurate. Range would probably at least be 150 yards without having to compensate for drop that much. Would have less report than the 5.56mm

The 6.8, to me, seems to be the better gun, yet not as fun. It'll probably be so loud that even with double hearing protection it might get annoying. Fire it in hd, and you'll wish you hadn't, but it will also make those shots count with 90gr hp ammo, and to a farther range than the 7.62x25mm.

When it comes down to it, if you could have a suppressor, and hopefully someday we Free Californians will be able to, along with sbr's, the 6.8 SPC II upper seems to make more sense to me.

7.62x39mm also seems pretty sweet for a sbr too. if you wanted to go all out, I think 6.8SPCII is the best cartridge for such a task, ultimately. It will have relatively high speed from a short barrel, and have greater energy than a 5.56, with american bullets which will perform better than any 7.62x39mm russian projectile.

[sevensix2x51]

no .450 bushmaster?

[nrakid88]

If only I could list every caliber, but i hit the twelve max, and it wasn't on my mind. Why would you want an underpowered .45 .... The .458 socom will eat the .450 bushmaster for lunch.

[sevensix2x51]

oh. well, id go with 5.56 anyways. even though i have no experience with short barreled rifle/ar pistols.

[Dhena81]

I feel like a kid in a candy shop is this all for s***s and giggles or are you planing on a pistol or really have the opportunity to get a SBR.

[nrakid88]

Currently, I am about to start my last semester of four year. Hopefully, if I can get a job, I will pay off my school debt, and be able to finish acquiring the guns on my short list. I really want a short barrel ar, and a pistol would be sufficient, but I won't go my whole life without owning a normal sbr, without bullet button. So someday I may have to move to another state for one.

[Jpach]

What will be the purpose of this gun?

If its a fun gun, then 7.62x25 or 22lr will provide lots of cheap blasting. The 7.62 would obviously pack more of a punch.


If its a gun that will actually be used for hunting, shooting for groups, hd/shtf/teotwawki, and all around practical-ness, then the 6.8 would likely be the best all around cartridge for all those jobs.


So would a .308 btw....didnt see that at first. That might be the way to go. Youd definitely get more range than the 6.8 SBR but youd definitely get more blast as well. Go SBR .308 with a Battlecomp or suppressor.



How short is the barrel on this sbr anyways?

[nrakid88]

I am just thinking best sbr overall. Anything you would use a sbr for.

[jumbopanda]

7.62x39 will give you better ballistics out of a short barrel than 5.56, and ammo is cheap. Although 5.56 is never a bad choice.

[incredablehefey]

i think my next ar pistol will be a 7.62x39, 30 cal and big punch out of a pistol

on a side note if you hold your (alt) button and type 63 on your number pad you end up with a ? just like the one you get with the dedicated button ?

[Patrick-2]

I have SBR's in a few. I chose 6.8 even though I do not own it. It's really a dream caliber for reloaders...which ain't me right now.

So of what is left, the 5.56 is the best choice in anything 10" or longer. I have to remove 7.62x39 for one technicality: you asked about this specifically as an AR upper. The 7.62 round has a case taper that is non-conducive to an AR magwell dimensions. It fits, but expect jams, hangs and all types of excitement on a regular occasion. I know this personally, but you can search the net for more info. And this does not apply to just SBRs, but it dings for your choice of an AR upper. I know some people have tuned away to get well run configurations (as have I), but it still means you need to work it a lot.

Note that these 7.62 in AR platform issues dissipate in mags that hold ~10 or fewer rounds. So probably good in CA configuration, but you are posting a question that presumes the state gets a clue, so I assumed high-cap as well as SBR.

That said, I have a 12" AK build in the works and should have it back from the smith in about two weeks. It started as a Draco and is getting full NFA treatment to SBR. In a true AK configuration, the 7.62 does shine. Better at short distances than 5.56 in my opinion, but it drops fast past 200 or so.

So 5.56 would be my Everyman choice. The heavier rounds popular in some circles today, like the 77grn SMK, need something on the order of 8" just to stabilize. I just ordered a 10" upper last week and hope it works as others said it will.

Another great choice for a fun gun is the venerable 5.7x28 in a 10.6" PS-90. The Stargate gun. Technically a pistol caliber, it was built for the short PDW mission with 50 round mags. I am not embarrassed to say it is one of my favorites. But ammo runs $.40 a round, so you are looking at $20 per mag.

But it still beats $.80 per round for decent factory 6.8.

[Patrick-2]

Oh, and another round that might be on it's way up is the 300BLK (Blackout), AAC's revision of the 300 Whisper. Remington's parent picked up AAC and as a result we're seeing a push for 300BLK from the conglomeration of firms associated with Remington's parent. What is hurting the round now is the fact people are still upset that Remington developed the 6.8 and then abandoned it. They basically turned 6.8 into a wildcat round, which angers certain manufacturers to no end because they built actual production lines for it, only to have Remington walk. They are not in a hurry to get burned again.

The 300BLK is also a subsonic round, which automatically subjects it to scorn from armchair operators. But it was designed by AAC for suppressed fire at short range, where it does well from what I have seen. It also shares case dimensions with the 5.56, so you can actually use standard PMags to load it. So no magwell issues like the 7.62. If Remington and others actually pump out rounds in an affordable package, I would try an upper because I do shoot suppressed.

But until then, forget it. I still have 6.8 mags in original plastic that I am not using because I saw Remington run from their round before getting a matching upper.

[pyro3k2]

If only I could list every caliber, but i hit the twelve max, and it wasn't on my mind. Why would you want an underpowered .45 .... The .458 socom will eat the .450 bushmaster for lunch.

the .450bm, .458 socom, and the .50bw are very close ballistically in a SBR configuration that saying one would eat the other for lunch would be an incorrect statement. One could very easily note the less recoil and ammo cost as putting the .450bm leaps and bounds above the rest, since remington and hornady are making the ammo and not just one company.

but to answer your question, I would have to go with the 5.7x28 has a good track record in the SBR area and a 50 round mag is nothing to laugh at either.

[slomofo]

If going anything less than 9 inches, I wouldn't suggest anything other than pistol calibers.

[762.DEFENSE]

Go with .50 beowulf and run a 7.5" upper