I have a 300BLK with a standard daytime scope, and a 5.56 with a photon night vision scope. I'm tired of shooting pigs, watching them stumble, clearly hit, and run off with no blood trail. So, here's my thought. Re-barrel in another 300BLK, rebarrel in 6.5 grendel, or get a whole new upper in one of the various bigger than .223 calibers. What would you do? Night vision shots where I'm hunting are 180 yards and less.

6.8 SPC

I’d go 450 Bushy...with that said my 300 AAC Blackout does quite well on pigs

6.8 spc

I use a 300 BLK, but if your shots go out beyond 150 yards I'd start thinking 6.8SPC.

Hit em behind the ear ,,,they'll be laying right there.

As above- 6.8 SPC.

Love my 6.5 Grendel

The rifle is accurate enough to do that. However, the photon xt IR scope does not have the definition or zoom to be able to do that at 150+ yards.

If you cant hit them behind the ear with confidence, then you really don't know exactly where you are hitting them at all right? I kill a lot of pigs and more with a 223 than anything else. It will do the trick with good shot placement. Maybe just limit your range to where you can maintain the accuracy you need. Unknown bullet placement with a Grendel or SPC probably won't have much of a different outcome.

You have a 300 blkout and a 556....I'd be looking to rebarrel something that uses the same stuff to keep from having to buy more parts....less parts = more ammo.

I'm in a similar situation where I have a 16" 300 Hamr barrel that isn't playing nice OR the suppressor isn't playing nice but regardless they suck together. I've got an 11.3" Hamr that is fast becoming my go to AR. So I've been working down this list to determine what I want next, based upon your comments...I'd start at the 6x45 and work my way down:

17 Remington
.20 Tactical
.20 Practical
.204 Ruger
.221 Fireball
.222 Remington
.222 Remington Magnum
.223 Remington
.223 Remington Ackley Improved
6x45mm
6mm Whisper
25-45 Sharps
6.5mm Whisper
7mm Whisper
7mm TCU
.300 Hamr
.300 Whisper
.300 Blackout
.338 Whisper

Nothing wrong with a grendel or 6.8 but both will require bolt changes at minimum and most likely mag changes. Good luck!

What unclebubba is saying is that his equipment is not the best for long shot accuracy. He doesn't want to just limit his range as you recommend. Center mass with larger caliber will make a difference. Many hunters are capable of 150 yard behind the ear shot under ideal conditions. In the dark, thermal optics, less than ideal shooting position, wind, heart thumping and a pig that may not be a statue and that right behind the ear shot isn't money in the bank.

Thanks Ramhorn. If I took the Nikon off of my 300BLK, and put it on the .223, I could hit 'em behind the ear in daylight all day long out to 200 yards. The Night vision scope that I have does not have the fine definition of a standard glass scope. The reticle is probably a 3 MOA dot, not a .5 moa crosshair. 3 MOA with a larger caliber is just fine in the vitals, but not with a .223. However, 3 MOA in the ear just is not good enough for a 150 yard shot.

The .25-45 Sharps looks interesting! But then, I'd probably have to buy dies to go with it.
Part of me is leaning towards a .300BLK. That way, I don't have to change BCG or magazines, and I already have ammo for it too. No need to stock yet another caliber of ammo!

Unless you hit right behind the ear and the bullet just goes through neck muscle given that right behind the ear there is no skull. I have killed two with mostly healed behind the ear shots, like this one...

Rebarrel the 300 w/6.8 ARP barrel and matching bolt or buy complete upper and a couple of mags and load those mags with 120gr SSTs.
15 round mags loaded with 7 or 9 rounds feeds like butter and are short enough to not be obtrusive but allow followup shots if you hit a big sounder.
Keep the BCG for a spare for your 5.56 as the price of a 6.8 bolt to fit the 5.56 carrier is almost the same.
Sell or keep the 300 barrel....I kept wandering back to the 300 until I found the 6.8 and later, add a few parts and you have the 300 upper complete.
The 300 is pretty good at soft skinned critters out to 150 yards so it's just another tool for you to use.

I’d be inclined to go with the 6.8 SPC and that 90 gr (or is it 95 gr) Nosler Bonded Solid Base bullet. You should, depending of course on barrel length, get close to 3000 FPS. And penetration should be excellent.

I am not looking at re-barreling the 300BLK. My wife calls that "her" rifle. She would have a fit if I changed it. I am looking at re-barelling the .223. That or buying another upper for it.

Funny you mentioned the Sharps, that's the one that peaked my interest too. They are saying 3000fps with an 87grain....that would be salty...what I don't know is barrel length to get that speed. I've just started looking into it.

BTW - you need a Hamr, I've only shot one piglet with mine so I can't give full recommendation but look at the thread down in the rifle section. Guys are stacking stuff up. Check out Wilson's website and the Lee dies (only Lee die I've ever bought) are pretty well built and affordable....also while you are looking, check out the price of brass. It'll be hard to find something that is going to be that cheap to load for. You could buy 200 pieces of brass and dies for what a 6.8 or Grendel bcg will cost ya.

6.8 or The Grendel.

The two deer I have shot with the .223 were DRT. I have on several occasions tried to field test the .300 Blackout but the deer have not showed. Maybe they are scared of it lol.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

Could I shoot 330 BLK rounds in the 300 hammer to fire form cases, kinda like a 300BLK AI? that would make it cool!

No. I can take a picture tonite to show you the difference in the cases but if you took a BLK case and a Hamr case....they look very similar but the shoulder on the Hamr is where the case mouth is on the BLK....it's that much bigger. Also, you fill that case up into the neck of CFEBLK so you utilize ever single bit of case on the Hamr.

I built a 25-45 Sharps a few years back. They are very easy to load for as all you have to do is run a .223 or 5.56 case through the 25-45 dies. 3000 fps for the 87 grain data that Sharps shows is based on a 24" barrel. I shoot 87 grain Speer Hot Cors that I load and get around 2850 fps in my 18" barrel. That pretty well corresponds with what Sharps shows on their data sheet for the 18" barrel. The only other bullet I load is the 70 grain Sierra Blitzking. Out of my 18" barrel, my loads chrono at an average of 3001 fps. It is stupid accurate and I really like the rifle. The only drawback I see is fewer choices of .257 bullets vs .243 bullets. Since I only load the two rounds, It works fine for me. I've taken a couple of deer with the 87 grain Speers, the 70 grain Blitzkings are my go to coyote load.

I've killed lots of pigs with a 6.8 using the Speer 90 and115gr gold dots. I reload but if you don't Federal Fusion has both. Not to mention the Hornady 120SSTs do a good job too. AR Performance barrel and bolt is the way to go. I have one in 5R and 3R. Both are some MOA with my reloads and daytime scope. Sub moa with the thermal is a little tugger but doable