Why did you choose .223?

Why did you choose .223

  • Ballistic qualities

    Votes: 43 30.1%
  • Cost of ownership

    Votes: 68 47.6%
  • Popularity

    Votes: 42 29.4%
  • Availability

    Votes: 81 56.6%
  • That's what GI Joe used

    Votes: 21 14.7%
  • Easy to reload

    Votes: 29 20.3%
  • Cost / availability of reloading components

    Votes: 63 44.1%
  • Magazine capacity

    Votes: 43 30.1%
  • Needed one for the collection

    Votes: 23 16.1%
  • Easy to customize / availability of parts

    Votes: 35 24.5%
  • Other

    Votes: 34 23.8%
  • Hunting / Varmint Control

    Votes: 24 16.8%

  • Total voters
    143
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forty_caliber

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Republic of Texas
Understanding that people have many reasons for choosing one caliber over another, what was your criteria for choosing this caliber?

I have always been a .30 caliber kind of guy. I've hunted and practiced with 30-06, 30-30, .308 over the years and it has become kind of an automatic choice with me. I've owned rifles in other calibers (including .223) over the years but have always "come back home" to .30.

I'm not trying to start a war or disparage the venerable .223 in anyway but given the obvious popularity of this round why did you choose it?

.40
 
Other:

I shot a friends Mini 14 many years ago when they first came out and fell in love with the rifle. It shot .223 so I automatically chose .223.

Why did I fall in love with a Mini 14?

Lack of recoil, super light semi-auto convenience and fun to shoot, beautiful lines....what's not to like.... a walnut stock under a stainless action and barrel......and just flat out fun to shoot that kind of easy on the body, fire power.........sort of a 10-22 (which I also love) on steroids.

IMG_0898.JPG

Today I also have an AR15 clone.......not nearly as satisfying to shoot. Uncomfortable black monster in comparison....but it is more accurate, not that a Mini 14 can't do what is was designed for.

BTW, the Mini 14 did take a lot of my shooting time away from my Winchester 30-30 lever gun......and just as well....it's a family heirloom. Hunting deer is no longer something I do, but if I need to, a little Remington 600 Mohawk in .243, or a much heavier Remington AR-10 clone can do the job.

AR's are efficient war tools.....not comfortable hunting tools.....but they work for that need too if it's all you got.

Is there a void at my gun safe......well that is, if I buy another, or a bigger one?;) Yes, I'd like a modern M1-A.......that's a fun 30 caliber....but alas not so mini.......not so cheap to shoot, comfortable, light.........
 
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Im a .257 and 7mm and 300 fan. But I shot AR and Galil (and eventually Tavor) for a long time and they were 5.56. eventually got a few bolt actions just because I had a ton of 5.56 brass and 22 bullets because of 220 swift.
 
I realized multiple needs for a 22 CF many years ago. My first solution to this problem was a 22-250, and it took me a few years to get into a 223rem. Anything I could do in the field with the more powerful 22-250 or 220 swift (or 22-243), I could do with the 223rem, and below the 223rem, brass availability AND ammo availability was scarce (22 Hornet, 221FB, etc). Then I started shooting AR’s for various pursuits and it all stuck. It does what I need in the field, does what I want for range practices, and has cost and availability advantages over literally any other rifle cartridge in the world.
 
1) Brass is free.
2) Bullets are cheap.
3) 24 grains of powder will get you 3000 fps.
4) Good 300 yd range toy.
5) Lots of rifles chambered for it.
6) Easy to load.
7) Good varmint cartridge.
8) Low recoil

It's Americas favorite CF rifle cartridge like baseball and apple pie.:D
 
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Had to vote GI joe and Cost. My only .223 is an NRA/CMP service rifle and the cost of components vs. .308 gave it the nod over an M1A.
 
I had bolt guns in .223 Rem. for years before I bought my first AR. Great varmint cartridge, easy to load great performing accurate varmint loads at low cost, and in a heavy barrel, you can see where your shot hits, the recoil is mild enough that you don't lose your sight picture. And since AR's started to become affordable, well, why wouldn't you choose .223 Rem. Everyone should have at least one AR, preferably one for each member of the household.
 
It's what I used in the Army; I actually shunned them for a while after that due to burnout on them. It was not legal for hunting where I grew up, (it is now) so I never though of it as a hunting round until my son bought an Axis in .223 and took 11 deer with it, then 4 more with the AR he replaced it with. He traded me the AR for the Axis I bought to hunt with after he took all those deer with his, and his old 870. (He missed the bolt gun.) Then I built an AR pistol, which I intend to take my next deer with, and remembered how fun it was to build them. (I was an Armorer, and I built an MX177E2 clone right after I got out.) I agree with 2ndtimer, it is America's rifle.
 
I selected that round for woodchuck, coyote and target shooting and glad I did. Component are cheap, guns are everywhere and cheap, free brass, and accurate.
 
I started .223 when I took up service rifle competition. I took up service rifle competition to become a better more ethical hunter. I got so hooked/obsessed with competition that I don't hunt as much anymore.
 
I was also a 30 cal fan and never even cared that much for 5.56. But leading up to the last presidential election I figured it was foolish to not invest in 5.56 just because it's so available with a variety of loadings and have since picked up an AR and AK in the caliber.
 
I voted other, as I got started in the 15s because the antis said I didn't need one. Good enough for me. :)
I just had to wait for the crazy prices to come down.
All the rest, low cost, easy to use, etc., just fell into place.
 
Other than 22LR I don't own anything smaller than .30 caliber. Never have and probably never will. Just my preference.
 
I really wanted to vote "almost all of the above", so I selected most of the options.

I fell into the .223 Remington by virtue of my dad having a Colt SP-1 in the 90s during the AWB. Which was followed by taking up shooting Service Rifle for a spell until about 2011-2012. Then I picked up a Colt 6920 because the majority party were saying common citizens didn't need one, and I wanted it. And recently I added my first bolt action .223 with a CZ527FS.

It's a common, inexpensive, easy to load, easy to shoot round that has great trajectory inside 300 yards. I've never had trouble getting at least good accuracy when reloading .223, with a number of different powders and bullets. Factory loaded ammo is inexpensive enough that many .223 shooters probably have at least a half-case stashed away somewhere.

And recently I've noticed that my .308 and .30-06 hunting rifles really aren't much fun to shoot more than 8 or 10 rounds at a time through. But I'll happily sit and burn up 50-100 rounds of .223 in an afternoon without developing a flinch or degrading my accuracy.
 
1) Brass is free.
2) Bullets are cheap.
3) 24 grains of powder will get you 3000 fps.
4) Good 300 yd range toy.
5) Lots of rifles chambered for it.
6) Easy to load.
7) Good varmint cartridge.
8) Low recoil

It's Americas favorite CF rifle cartridge like baseball and apple pie.:D

That about sums it up. I bought my AR shortly after the ban subsided and there werent a whole lot of other options at the time (I also bought my M1A around then).

Now? Easy to load, brass is free at my range every few trips and its fun to shoot.

I also enjoy .300 BLK for many of the same reasons.
 
I bought an AR as a political statement, but never really liked it and sold it. But had stocked up on lots of inexpensive ammo, so bought a Mini-14 which I do like.

So, inexpensive ammo, widely available (at this point), and low recoil for a center fire.
 
The first gun I bought was an AR15. Traded it away because I didn't shoot it. Later I bought a Sig P556 pistol in 223. I traded that one away too.

I realized I had no practical use for the cartridge at all, and didn't really care about AR15s much either. I just don't use it for anything and there's nothing I'd do with it that I couldn't do with a different cartridge.
 
Today I also have an AR15 clone.......not nearly as satisfying to shoot. Uncomfortable black monster in comparison....but it is more accurate, not that a Mini 14 can't do what is was designed for.

AR's are efficient war tools.....not comfortable hunting tools.....but they work for that need too if it's all you got.

er….sounds like the AR is not for you.

If is not comfortable than you do not have it set up right for you. That is the beauty of it's modular design.

They are commonly used for long prairie dog shooting. Prairie dog hunters I know love it's comfort when shooting long strings of fire. It is great for varmint control such as 'yokes and whatever decides to have dinner with my chickens.

I don't consider having one for self-defense as going to war although you may feel differently.

Everyone should have at least one AR, preferably one for each member of the household.

Yep. I am working on it. I have two builds in progress towards that goal. Builds are the only affordable way I am going to arm my family. The gun Santa in the family may be making a couple of adults very surprised and happy this year.

p.s. Don't overlook having plenty of magazines also.

I voted other, as I got started in the 15s because the antis said I didn't need one. Good enough for me. :)

Although politics are banned on THR it does not change the fact it is primary reason for owning a firearm. It is inconvenient for some folks when it is pointed out that the rebels during that little dust-up back around 1770 were equally as well armed as those fellas wearing redcoats.
 
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forty_caliber.

Your survey is too limited as you left out hunting which is a very common reason in my area of the country.

I don't consider it as a good deer cartridge but I am meeting more and more hunters that are using it. I will probably use a AR if I go hog hunting again.
 
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I wanted to build my own AR.

That was the reason I built my second AR. I wanted to see how good of a gun I could get using "budget" parts. It cost me $400.00 only because I used Magpul handguard, grip and buttstock instead of the military style. The results I have got out of this gun has made me a true AR-5 fan.

In fact I will probably build another AR in the future using military style handguard, grip and buttstock and budget parts just to see how inexpensively I can do it.

Maybe forty_caliber should have added "Addiction" to his survey. I have a 5th stripped lower that I have no idea what kind of build I am going to use it for.
 
That was the reason I built my second AR. I wanted to see how good of a gun I could get using "budget" parts. It cost me $400.00 only because I used Magpul handguard, grip and buttstock instead of the military style. The results I have got out of this gun has made me a true AR-5 fan.

In fact I will probably build another AR in the future using military style handguard, grip and buttstock and budget parts just to see how inexpensively I can do it.

Maybe forty_caliber should have added "Addiction" to his survey. I have a 5th stripped lower that I have no idea what kind of build I am going to use it for.
AR pistol.
 
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