Picking a single rifle caliber for a group

[Sgt Nambu]

^^^^ Yeah! Wouldn't it though!

 

[salmonriverjohn]

To be honest, and this will ruffle many a feather, the .556/223 is a milk toast and almost useless choice as an overall choice for anything other than two legged critters and smaller big game.
The .762x39 will do what it will plus more. It's recoil is tolerable by all but the wee ones and it's availability? Well, 6 billion Chinese and lord knows how many others can't be wrong.
An -06 or .308 other than that, bolt or auto, your choice. Just get to know the weapons well, be as proficient as you possibly can and pray that the time to use it offensively never comes.

 

[41mag]

30-30 has tons of advantages as well if we go into the concerns of 'just enough' ballistics to justify hauling it around;

where on the continent is it not available, missing magazines not an issue, and of course....somewhat downscale performance.

To further add confusion, the actual differences between people in 'your group' can be larger factor than anticipated.

My own buddy on the coast, is a certifiable OCD/CDO perfectionist. His thrill is extracting absolute maximal performance from whatever equipment he finds laying about.

About 10 years ago took a bottom/econo special 10/22 from big box store and turned it into primo highly accurate little carbine. He managed regular groups in sub .299 range at 100 yards, and had a list of high end target ammo producing various group sizes in his field notebook. He did a few upgrade the gear tricks, and buffed out certain parts. Made a fine shooting little bench rest quality 10/22.

Of course he tired of it and finally faunched me into buying it from him. I don't get the tiny tiny groups he did....but I get way better than I did with my Take Down 10/22. It also serves, with a few mods I made, a surprisingly fast speed steel 10/22....way faster than the best pistol time I can muster.

So his drive to 'excellence' has affected my own more relaxed notion of 'what really is needed' to accomplish my own goals.

Different strokes all working with the same racing platform still produces winners and losers.

 

[The Heretic]

To be honest, and this will ruffle many a feather, the .556/223 is a milk toast and almost useless choice as an overall choice for anything other than two legged critters and smaller big game.
The .762x39 will do what it will plus more. It's recoil is tolerable by all but the wee ones and it's availability? Well, 6 billion Chinese and lord knows how many others can't be wrong.
An -06 or .308 other than that, bolt or auto, your choice. Just get to know the weapons well, be as proficient as you possibly can and pray that the time to use it offensively never comes.

While the 5.56 is not my first choice, with the right loads it has been shown to work on humans and small game with enough regularity to be able to depend on it - bullet placement being more important than cartridge power.

There are some people who - for whatever reasons, including medical - cannot tolerate or do well with the recoil of the 7.62x39. This is one of the reasons why I have several defensive rifles in 5.56, another reason being the simple fact that ammo is more readily available than just about any other defensive rifle, even the 7.62x39 (which may be stored "deep" by a lot of private citizens, but the military stores the 5.56 even deeper).

I prefer 7.62x39 but I believe in ammo diversity and the firearms to use that diversity.

 

[Boboclown]

To be honest, and this will ruffle many a feather, the .556/223 is a milk toast and almost useless choice as an overall choice for anything other than two legged critters and smaller big game.
The .762x39 will do what it will plus more. It's recoil is tolerable by all but the wee ones and it's availability? Well, 6 billion Chinese and lord knows how many others can't be wrong.
An -06 or .308 other than that, bolt or auto, your choice. Just get to know the weapons well, be as proficient as you possibly can and pray that the time to use it offensively never comes.

Its more of a location thing between the two. Here 5.56 is good for just about everything, and its mostly under 100 yards so with the right ammo and a decent shot, can't really go wrong going 5.56/.223.

The only thing here that the .223 wouldn't be good for is black bear. Got the .308 for that.

 

[Certaindeaf]

A marked absence of the OP here.
It must be assumed that he/they already have 5.56's since he's wondering about .308 vs '06 for hunting.
But I agree, a person without any rifle would be well advised to get an AR in 5.56 first.. for just general use. and then get bigger stuff for hunting larger game like elk and whatnot.
Remember, the 5.56 is about between 2-6 times more powerful than most defensive and hunting handgun cartridges.. even the bigger magnums. and it's so much easier to carry any amount of .223 ammo compared to 30-06 (that ammo is heavy!) etc.. anyway

 

[Jamie6.5]

II think this is a futile endeavor.
Multiple guns, even from the same manufacturer, won't shoot even the same batch of ammo to the same point of aim, or even group the same.

 

[41mag]

how does the .mil accomplish 'acceptable field accuracy'?

 

[No_Regerts]

how does the .mil accomplish 'acceptable field accuracy'?

When you take .mil rifles and shoot them from supported rests, it can be less than inspiring.

 

[Certaindeaf]

how does the .mil accomplish 'acceptable field accuracy'?

Indeed.
It's a sound concept/goal with parts interchangeability (if they choose the same rifle), ammo, etc.

 

[Certaindeaf]

When you take .mil rifles and shoot them from supported rests, it can be less than inspiring.

This is why bayonets are issued. and tiny bibles.. lol (don't know about the tiny bibles)

 

[Boboclown]

how does the .mil accomplish 'acceptable field accuracy'?

Standard issue rifles are not precision rifles nor were they meant to be. They accomplish acceptable field accuracy by giving more room for error than they do for rifles used by snipers and marksmen.

 

[No_Regerts]

Standard issue rifles are not precision rifles nor were they meant to be. They accomplish acceptable field accuracy by giving more room for error than they do for rifles used by snipers and marksmen.

The truth is, a lot of guys who hunt will turn their back on a non-sub-moa rifle off the bench when they dont hold sub-moa in the field. If you arent a sub-moa shooter from field positions, the best rifle in the world wont matter.

 

[Boboclown]

The truth is, a lot of guys who hunt will turn their back on a non-sub-moa rifle off the bench when they dont hold sub-moa in the field. If you arent a sub-moa shooter from field positions, the best rifle in the world wont matter.

Yeah. There's a reason the .mil standard for accuracy isn't high. Standard issue rifles don't need to be really accurate, and most of the people lugging them around wouldn't be able to shoot it to its full potential even if it was.

That's another reason they just stick with fixed front sights and non-free floating barrels, they're more durable and most of them wouldn't be capable of shooting it to its potential under stress.

 

[41mag]

where does this leave our Mighty Band o'Buddies and whatever common firearm proposed by OP?

Maybe some of them really ARE 'minute of peach pit' shooters while others are 'minute of Hubbard Squash'...

who gets fed & who stands to post?

 

[Boboclown]

where does this leave our Mighty Band o'Buddies and whatever common firearm proposed by OP?

Maybe some of them really ARE 'minute of peach pit' shooters while others are 'minute of Hubbard Squash'...

who gets fed & who stands to post?

Means pick a rifle and round without having a really high standard for accuracy. Doesn't mean not having a special case with one or two having accurate rifles, just that unless they can all shoot sub MOA under stress accuracy isn't a standard to push a lot.

 

[No_Regerts]

Means pick a rifle and round without having a really high standard for accuracy. Doesn't mean not having a special case with one or two having accurate rifles, just that unless they can all shoot sub MOA under stress accuracy isn't a standard to push a lot.

I have a Ruger M77 stainless in 30-06 that serves as a backup rifle, but would be my SHTF hunting rifle. I can keep it on a 10 inch plate out to 350 yards and its bomb proof.