No way no how, 1 the weight difference is not that significant 2 the size of the weapon system you are adding pounds AR10 vs AR15. 3 the barrel on a 223 will go 5 -10 X the round count of 243 easy.
Interestingly the Brits were experimenting with a .280 with similar power to a .243 around the same time as the US was working on the .223. Obviously the project got killed a. due to need for alignment with NATO on ammo, and b. because the British government was cheap and mildly inept (plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose).
Personally I think the .223 was the right choice though. Give a man an auto rifle and he shoots a lot of ammo, most of which hits nothing and is intended simply to suppress the enemy.
Better to give him a lighter, more controllable rifle with a bigger ammo capacity in that situation than trade up in calibre and have him run dry faster. .223 might not kill the enemy quickly in all situations, but a .22 calibre hole in his torso will certainly reduce his willingness to fight markedly... It might also slightly improve the hit percentages considering the recoil, velocity and trajectory advantage.
I guess we'll see how the new US cartridge does in field trials and see if that opinion has changed with time.
I own 6 Big Game Calibers. The newest one is now 34 years old. All of them in tremendous guns.
I can kill anything on earth with what I have.
Instead of spending money on the newest latest caliber introduced and having to buy new ammo & reloading dies...I am spending my money on hunts.
I mean...
.270 Win (100 Years old this year)
.30-06 (117 Years old)
.300 Wby (79 Years old)
.358 Win (68 Years old)
.375 H&H (113 Years old)
.416 Rem (the baby of the bunch at 34 Years old)
There is nothing on earth I can kill with those. Nothing.
Sure some of the newcomers will gain some FPS...but they don't kill the animals and more dead.
I will let all the new age hunters grab the latest greatest cailbers and be on the bleeding edge.
More ammo for me
.
Yup, pretty much.
I had a .270win, a 375H&H and a .44Rem Mag as my three hunting rifles.
I could've swapped the 270 for a 7mm rem mag or a WSSM or a weatherby or a creedmoor or whatever, but what would it do different? Stick a medium caliber bullet in the right place at sensible ranges, and job done, no matter what cartridge it came out of. Not like a modern design is
worse and on paper it's theoretically better, but in the real world, what practical difference does it make?
Honestly, in your situation I wouldn't have bothered buying a 300wby
and a 30-06
and a .270. Pick any one of 'em and you'd shoot all the same animals at all the same distances just as dead all the same.
Same story with all these wonder cartridges in that 6.5-8mm space. They all purport to be unique and special and magically impressive, but in reality, they all do exactly the same as a venerable 30-06.
They sell rifles though!