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AR 15 - 2.23/5.56 vs 300 Blackout

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 12:16 pm
by Texasbud
Would you rather own a Daniel Defense AR 2.23/5.56 or a 300 Blackout? Please tell me why you would select one over the other.

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 1:54 pm
by bigfatdave
I don't handload, so I'll take the cartridge I can (normally) find anywhere.

But 30carbine is my real round of choice, so another 0.3" bore appeals to some degree.

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 6:11 pm
by charlesb
I'd go with .223.

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 1:13 am
by bgreenea3
I've been pondering the 5.56 vs .300 blk question a while now also.

I like the 5.56 for the usual abundance of ammo flat trajectory and all the stuff 5.56 os good for.

I like the 300Blk for the larger boolits hence, the ability to shoot heavy loads (like a 200 gr ) and the novelty of it.

I would go with what you can actually find right now.

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 10:17 am
by Hakaman
I would go with what you can actually find right now.
Which one is that, Mr. BGreener?

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 12:22 pm
by Texasbud
I actually bought the 300 Blackout. I think that I should have just bought the 5.56 due to cost of ammo and it doesn't come in bulk. I didnt understand that the 300 Blackout had a different barrel and wouldnt shoot the 5.56 round. I bought it on a spur of the moment at a gun show from a dealer. He didn't say anything about what a 300 actually was and I didn't have time to do any homework. I'm new to the AR world and I have had all kinds of problems, including being scammed buying on Armslist.

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 12:31 pm
by Hakaman
Texasbud wrote:I actually bought the 300 Blackout. I think that I should have just bought the 5.56 due to cost of ammo and it doesn't come in bulk. I didnt understand that the 300 Blackout had a different barrel and wouldnt shoot the 5.56 round. I bought it on a spur of the moment at a gun show from a dealer. He didn't say anything about what a 300 actually was and I didn't have time to do any homework. I'm new to the AR world and I have had all kinds of problems, including being scammed buying on Armslist.
Nothing saying you can't buy an AR as well, except for having the money, or the availability of AR's these days. To me, AR's are great to own because of ease of getting parts and repairs. Sort of like owning a 1911 because it is such a popular platform. Best of luck to you,
Haka

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 1:05 pm
by Texasbud
I am running out of money and my wife just looks at me funny when I talk about buying another gun. I think that I will go back to the dealer and just tell him I want the 5.56. I even thought about buying a DD 5.56 upper but it's around $900-$1,000. If I get the 5.56 then maybe some day I can buy the 300 upper? I want a nice pump 12 gauge next though.

Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 2:04 pm
by bgreenea3
The ammo for the 300blk is fairly close in price to 223 when its available. It does not come in bulk, yet. The 300blk is a fairly new round and isn't as prevalent as 223, but it becomes as popular it may.

I'm guessing that you are new to firearms in general not just the ar15 world, since you didn't realize that a barrel chambered for on cartridge won't shoot a different cartridge. If you are new to guns, welcome ! If you are not new to guns, welcome to the forum! Feel free to ask any questions you have on running, feeding, maintaining, or customizing you guns here, there are whole bunch of good folks willing to share there knowledge with you.

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 7:02 am
by Bullseye
What is possible is a round of .300 Blk can be accidentally chambered in an AR with a .223 barrel and fired with catastrophic results. Since the .300Blk uses a casing from the .223, with the same external diameter, but is shorter in overall length, it will fit into a .223 magazine and chamber. The 30 cal bullet will not fit into the smaller caliber barrel and this is where the problem would happen.

R,
Bullseye

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 7:17 am
by Texasbud
I'm new to the AR world but not firearms. I own a Glock .40 and a Beretta 9mm. There are several guns that will fire different rounds and since the 2.23 and 5.56 are so close to the 300 cartridge, I didn't think that it was such a large jump to fire all 3 cartridges. Like I said, I should have done my home work before purchasing this rifle. I have read so much about the AR and watched a lot of videos, but I had not heard of a 300 Blackout. I know all about them now. I contacted the dealer and we are going to work out a swap. Hopefully he won't try to charge me a lot to swap the rifles.

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 9:12 am
by Hakaman
Hopefully he won't try to charge me a lot to swap the rifles.
Good luck with that. It's hard to resell a brand new firearm as new.
I would be interested hearing how it works out. Good luck.

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 10:06 am
by bearandoldman
Hakaman wrote:
Hopefully he won't try to charge me a lot to swap the rifles.
Good luck with that. It's hard to resell a brand new firearm as new.
I would be interested hearing how it works out. Good luck.
Got to agree with you Haka, once a transfer has been made, fired or not it its a used firearm.

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 2:15 pm
by charlesb
OTOH, there should be no trouble selling an AR online for what you paid for it, including tax, etc..

I'd try selling it locally first though. Put an ad in the paper, or pin up a notice on local bulletin boards ( the wall-hanger kind ). See if there's BB at the break room at the police station, sheriffs office, or the gun range for example.

I wouldn't run the price up - but I wouldn't think twice about recovering every penny spent either, for an unfired weapon with the box, etc..

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 8:13 am
by greener
Texasbud wrote:I am running out of money and my wife just looks at me funny when I talk about buying another gun. I think that I will go back to the dealer and just tell him I want the 5.56. I even thought about buying a DD 5.56 upper but it's around $900-$1,000. If I get the 5.56 then maybe some day I can buy the 300 upper? I want a nice pump 12 gauge next though.
You can try "What? This old thing? I've had it for ages, simply ages." It works for me when I try it. I think "Right" followed by eye rolls means she believes me. :lol:

Uppers are listed at less than you are quoting. For example, http://www.dpmsinc.com/223-Rem-556-NATO_c_168.html. DPMS has them listed around $500. The trick is finding one because the two I looked at were out of stock. If you keep looking, you can find one. the advantage is you have two calibers.

You can also try the hand loading route. Not hard, but availability of cases, bullets and primers might be tricky right now.