Kenny D

With all the fuss over the 5.56/.223 round, what is the most powerful rifle round in your opinion?

Go Sig or Go Home

P225sig

338 lapua

bohner69

Other than the .50? .460 Weatherby strikes me as being pretty powerful. Also Ive never shot one, but a friend of the family went on safari hunts in his younger years, he says the .458 Winchester Mag will take down anything.

buck chartowski

Rifle round in what sense? There are rounds our there that will make the rifle want to jump out of the shooter's hands, but power without control isn't very useful. The .50 BMG is a stout round that is effective to a mile out; that's pretty powerful. The .338 Lapua magnum is also an incredible long-range round given it's size. There are many that will say that a 30-06 is probably better suited for hunting versus those more powerful rounds, because it will likely do better at closer distances.

I find that the fuss with the 5.56 is that it is a light-weight round that is still effective for its application - carbine rifles. It doesn't pack the punch of a 7.62x51, but long-distance isn't it's strong suit. It is a battle rifle round that allows the user to carry considerably more ammo at the same weight as larger rounds while still remaining effective for the task. Not to mention the availability and cost play a roll in that the 5.56 is plentiful, which means that you won't have to hunt too hard for ammo in a pinch. If you're buying the stuff, the costs are actually pretty reasonable compared to other rounds.

There are so many choices of rounds out there, and some are better than others, but when choosing the "best" round, it's a matter of finding the cartridge that suits what you're going for. I can't think of anyone that would choose a .50 BMG round for use in a building-clearing situation; it's just too potent and reacquiring the target between shots takes a bit too long when you're shooting from the shoulder and not using a bipod or something similar.

Hope that makes sense.

Boomer2094

The most powerful rifle cartridges I have found so far is the .950 JDJ. It propels 3600 grains solid copper bullets at about 2200 f/s. producing muzzle energy of 38685 foot pound force (52450 j). By contrast, .50 BMG send 800 grain bullet at 2895 f/s for energy of 14895 f.pf. And 338 Lapua Magnum send 300 grain bullet at 2750 f/s for energy of 5020 f.pf.

However, Buck is correct, Power is nothing without control. and choose the bullets for whatever task you wish to do. Most people that said 5.56/.223 round too powerful have no idea what they are talking about.

just my two cents,

Boomer

Whisky

.
while in the Army I had the opportunity to fire a 105mm recoilless rifle..

pretty dagnabed powerful :

SauerSig

I'd say 50 BMG or 338 Lapua

buck chartowski

haha, 105mm?! Downright beastly. Was it the M40?

sonja

There are a lot of VERY powerful rifle cartridges. The 50 BMG has been adapted to rifles, but is not usually carried in the field. When looking at rifles meant for African dangerous, big, game you have things like the 700 Nitro Express, 577 Tyrannosaur, 600 Overkill, etc.

Some of these monsters are carried by professional hunters as backup, in case their clients miss, freeze, or just don't function very well. They feature heavy monolithic bullets meant to stop a charging ANYTHING.

There are more powerful cartridges but they are usually not shoulder fired from a standing position

Whisky

can't remember for sure, was 1963, Infantry Officer Candidate School - Ft Benning, Ga - twas mounted on a jeep (yikes, that was 50 years ago !)

Kenny D

Wow, thanks for all the quick replies. I was fishing for some info to have in my arsenal when anti gun people start yacking about how powerful and deadly the 5.56 round is.
When folks ask me why I have an AR and what do I need one for, I just reply "Because I can".

Sgt Ed

There is all kinda BIG stuff that is ridiculous but for hunting in North America I'd vote for the 30-06 or 300 short mag. Ya kinda want something left to eat.

hwarang54

This