What oddball AR-15 calibers you shooting?

I've had .204, 20P, 6x45, 25x45, .243 LBCx2, 6 ARCx3, 6.5 grendelx3, 6.8 SPC2x3, 350Lx2, and a dozen.5 various 5.56 guns.
 
6.8 SPC. Not really an oddball but less common than it was 10-12 years or so ago. But my .223 wylde build is my favorite still no matter what else comes and go’s.
 
Joelwill said:
I'm an AR guy that loves odd calibers in the platform. Give me inspiration to build another odd one.
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I have a .300 Ham'r on a S&W lower, Wilson Combat upper.
The Ham'r is virtually identical to the .300 Blackout, except for length. The Ham'r is the length of the neck longer than the BO.
With the same bullet, it picks up 300 fps, (2550 fps with 125 grain Sierra FB ) yet feeds from the BO magazine. Factory ammo and brass are available, but I load my own, and make my brass from .223 brass.
A useful round for me that has killed a few coyotes and 2 deer, so far.
 
.410 Shotgun, Daly (gas piston) upper.
Still trying to get the barrel ("shroud") cap nut loose.

410 is pretty much all I shoot except a few handguns. But I collect.
This is my first and Only AR- OK, second, if you count the Service (usaf, 66-70)
Why?
1, Don't hunt. Never have.
2, No need for distance beyond 10-20 FEET (hd).
3. 410 is cheap- 4me. I load/reload, enjoy the hell out of it, and am stocked for LIFE. I'm 81yo.
 
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Twangeezer said:
.410 Shotgun, Daly (gas piston) upper.
Still trying to get the barrel ("shroud") cap nut loose.

410 is pretty much all I shoot except a few handguns. But I collect.
This is my first and Only AR- OK, second, if you count the Service (usaf, 66-70)
Why?
1, Don't hunt. Never have.
2, No need for distance beyond 10-20 FEET (hd).
3. 410 is cheap- 4me. I load/reload, enjoy the hell out of it, and am stocked for LIFE. I'm 81yo.
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That would be a fun upper to have.
 
crapshoot said:
Does it work with a standard AR15 lower?
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Absolutely. (I have a BC billet)
And I got my Daly for 248 on sale.
(I didn't know it was a gas piston AR, and online info (AI) LIED,
I actually wanted a D.I. true AR.)

As to the much-touted shell length sensitivity,
I load/reload exclusively brass -drilled for 209 (shotgun) primers.
.444 Marlin fits the Daly .410 mags perfectly,
and with a barely protruding beeswax tapered ("overshot?") ~1/2"-3/8" plug,
functions 100%.
IMO the troublesome factory plastic .410 ammo is WAY too expensive- and limited.
My favorite load for home invaders and other varmints?
Tungsten #BB buck w./LS, homemade thin PTFE wrap and PTFE Nitro card.

Brass-for-shotshells leaving a slightly larger I.D. than commercial plastic,
is troublesome to those who want easily available commercial components such a cards and wads.
But the bigger shell I.D.. along with a thin wrap instead of a thicker commercial "wad"
allows #BB to stack Perfectly in the .444 brass by THREES! (hence my choice of #BB buck.)
-BUT DON'T TRY THIS until you've experimented with a very conservative start- especially with LongShot, which is really "way too fast" for 410. There are plenty of safer Lil'Gun loads listed for your chosen weight
ALSO: You may need to attach the PTFE wrap and card somehow,
to avoid FOULING -leaving the wrap behind (VERY dangerous!)
ptfe AIN'T CHEAP- but it's hella TOUGH, SLICK, HEATPROOF;
and considering the quantities sellers force, will last you forever!
 
popper43 said:
25-45 Sharps - how hard to get good 223 necked up successfully?
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I have always used once fired LC 5.56 brass or the old blue bag WIN 223 brass. I had a hard time early on with split necks and my first two batches had failure rates higher than 20%. I started annealing the cases beforehand and now rarely see a split neck.

The latest venture was trying some Starline 223 basic brass. That was way more work than I figured and the hardest part was probably putting the taper to the case since they are truly an unformed straight wall case to begin with. I annealed them twice while forming and they have produced my most accurate loads to date out of my custom bolt action.

The easiest tool to use while forming is time. Work the cases into the sizer slow and once your press handle bottoms out count to 5 or 6. That will help with spring back and make for a better piece of brass.
 
I started converting to 300BO, tried the 40WT, then 300Hamr (no, never shot WT or Hamr). Even annealed I got too many collapsed shoulders and split necks. Worst was 223 to 30 cal. Ballistics show 25 sharps with an extra 400 fps (over the BO) but a much lighter bullet. Benefit goes away for 100gr. + bullets. Probably OK for yotes but no 200# hogs. Guess I lost interest.
 
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