5.56 AR vs. .308 AR

[FluorideInMyWater]

narrowing down my selection to a Stag Arms AR....i'm a lefty.

looking at the 15L 3gun elite and the 10L .308

does anyone see an advantage of having a 5.56 AR vs. a .308 AR?

i guess 5.56 is lighter, more ammo, cheaper rifle and ammo

i don't know if .308 has more of a punch to it, or if the effective range is greater

any one prefer one over the other.......if you have both.

TIA!
JOHN

[NIKSD]

As a first AR, I would choose AR15- cheaper to practice, good learning platform. If bench long range shooting- AR10 is better. And yes, more punch, longer range.

[Cnynrat]

Why have just one?

Seriously, probably depends on your intended use.

Yes, 308 will be a heavier gun, ammo is more expensive, probably more felt recoil, and longer effective range. For those reasons it's a different gun for different purposes IMO.

For a range toy I think the AR-15 is a better place to start.

I do have both, and I shoot my AR-15s more often. Mainly that's down to cost of ammo.

ETA: I am not subject to CA's laws anymore, so I'm not sure how that might impact your decision.

Dave

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[NATO762]

+1 Get both!

Really depends on what your intended target is. Rabbit? Boar? Paper?
AR-10 can shoot 6.5 Creedmoor (magic bullet) with a upper/barrel swap
AR-15 can shoot 300 AAC Blackout with an upper swap. There are several other (less popular?) calibers that can be used on an AR-10 with an upper and/or BCG swap as well.
I have both, like them both for different reasons. The AR-10 is bad-*****, but also a bit of a beast compared to the AR-15. Everything is bigger/heavier/costlier. You can tell by my username which one is my overall favorite.

[vintagearms]

Ar for .223/5.56. Bolt gun for .308.

[tabascoz28]

I have an MP15 and a PSA 10. I see lot of people with AR10 issues as the parts are not as easy to match up. My creedmoor upper needed a different buffer spring to work with both 308 and 6.5.

But as others have said, Ar15 are very standard (parts) and cheaper to own both short and long term. AR-10, LR308... not standard, parts are more expensive, you should probably get a good muzzle brake and more expensive overall.

Unjamming a stuck 308 or 6.5 case is harder than pulling hard on the charge handle.

I liked using the 300blk on close range steel because it feels like 556 but doesn't dent the steel. Hated setting up a completely different powder for 1 caliber.

[SR514]

Regardless of what you get first, you will get the other in the near future

[Mandingo27]

5.56/223. Cheaper to shoot and the ar15 is fun to customize. Ar10 is cool but the ammo is expensive and has way more recoil which you will feel. I had both but I had scars. I got rid of the scar 17 before the 16 and chose a 6 5 creedmoor bolt action rifle for long range precision

[NapalmCheese]

i don't know if .308 has more of a punch to it, or if the effective range is greater

How did you get this far in life without knowing that .308 > 5.56?

For equal length barrels the .308 will have 'more punch' and greater effective range than the 5.56 at the cost of additional recoil, noise, and expense.

[ECG_88]

How did you get this far in life without knowing that .308 > 5.56?

For equal length barrels the .308 will have 'more punch' and greater effective range than the 5.56 at the cost of additional recoil, noise, and expense.

Maybe cause he is mixing Units of measure so its hard for him to see... should have been 5.56 vs 7.62 or .223 vs .308

[jimmykan]

i don't know if .308 has more of a punch to it, or if the effective range is greater

The .308 definitely has more punch to it. About twice as much punch.

AR-10 can shoot 6.5 Creedmoor (magic bullet) with a upper/barrel swap

I have an Aero Precision M5E1 upper in 6.5 Creedmoor, 20" barrel, rifle length gas system. The upper is accurate and reliable, but its operation is very hard on the brass, even after I installed an adjustable gas block. I think ARs in 6.5 Creedmoor would benefit from an extended (12"+) length gas system.

[FluorideInMyWater]

Why have just one?

Seriously, probably depends on your intended use.

Yes, 308 will be a heavier gun, ammo is more expensive, probably more felt recoil, and longer effective range. For those reasons it's a different gun for different purposes IMO.

For a range toy I think the AR-15 is a better place to start.

I do have both, and I shoot my AR-15s more often. Mainly that's down to cost of ammo.

ETA: I am not subject to CA's laws anymore, so I'm not sure how that might impact your decision.

Dave

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+1 Get both!

Really depends on what your intended target is. Rabbit? Boar? Paper?
AR-10 can shoot 6.5 Creedmoor (magic bullet) with a upper/barrel swap
AR-15 can shoot 300 AAC Blackout with an upper swap. There are several other (less popular?) calibers that can be used on an AR-10 with an upper and/or BCG swap as well.
I have both, like them both for different reasons. The AR-10 is bad-*****, but also a bit of a beast compared to the AR-15. Everything is bigger/heavier/costlier. You can tell by my username which one is my overall favorite.

Ar for .223/5.56. Bolt gun for .308.

yes, yes, and yes.
interestingly, i'm having to buy a whole new "modern" new gun collection.
i moved to Mexico and couldn't take NATO rounds to i sold everything but my M1 garand/carbine collection (12 guns) but i got those mostly for collecting purposes. i have one that is to shoot.

i ordered my handgun. close up and personal
next was going to be my mid-range....AR (5.56...or i thought)
then finally i will want to buy a long-range target either in .308 or .338 lapua.
so i had some reasoning to my purchases....
"but why just buy one?" very true
my pistol is a 9mm full sized HK. now, i'm not in cali. i moved to las vegas recently so i plan on getting a CCW. i was thinking about a glock .40 compact or subcompact. a bit more stopping power i'm told, but i don't know what that would feel like in a subcompact, so maybe just a compact...

that is sorta how i got to the question of .308 AR. do i want or need that stopping power for 400 yards? i was thinking SHTF scenario. yeah i might want that, but i had read somewhere that the accuracy for the 308 ARs is less impressive and there are more jams. i can't verify this.....this is just by doing key word searches on message boards on the internet and gun boards but nothing that was an actual topic about pros/cons of a .308 AR.

i just found out about the 3-gun-elite competitions which sounds fun and interesting. probably the 556 would be better suited for that; but other than a 3GE, i don't see a situation where i'd have my AR off the bench other than a SHTF scenario...

[deckhandmike]

How far does your range go? For most places you can max out the distance with an AR-15. I’d definitely start with the 5.56. You build better habits and can learn to control the gun and wind better with the lighter round. Especially since ammo is like half the price. I have a AR10 and honestly it’s kinda useless. It’s too heavy for anything but bench shooting and for that I’d rather use a bolt gun and a flatter caliber like a 6.5 Creedmoor.

And as a fellow lefty the last thing I’d do is buy a lefty AR. I had one and sold it at a huge loss. They hold about half the resale value of a normal AR and that’s not much these days. I’ve found the AR to work perfectly fine in RH configuration and no need to have a lefty one. I actually prefer to use AR’s in RH as it makes it easy when I switch between guns. For bolt guns go lefty. AR’s are lefty friendly as is and AK’s seem like they were designed for us.

[357manny]

Ar for .223/5.56. Bolt gun for .308.

this

[Cnynrat]

I have my AR-308 for similar reasons to what you anticipate: A potential SHTF scenario where I need to reach out further than my AR-15. Still, I suspect I'd make much more use of my AR-15 in that event. The ability to carry more ammo on my person would be a strong argument for reaching for the .223 over the .308.

If you want an accurate long range rifle in some caliber that starts with 3, you can't beat a bolt action rifle. I look at the AR-308 as a more specialized gun, and I own one largely because I am fascinated by the idea and process of being able to build your own rifle.

Bottom line for me is that if I had neither I'd definitely buy the AR-15 first. Whether the bolt action or AR-308 comes next is a tougher call.

Dave

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