I think .300 Blackout is a good suggestion too. It's a 7.62mm bullet you can shoot with AR15 hardware. You just need the proper barrel
You can shoot it through a shorter barrel and it's easier to suppress with subsonic ammo too. Plus you can play gun Lego with AR15 accessories if you're into that
Downside is, ammo is more expensive than .223/5.56 but not drastically so. And you could always get a 5.56 upper down the road if you want to switch gears without having to buy a whole new gun.
I have been on pace with the group for probably 8 weeks this whole year, you're not alone!
I have really enjoyed it, but I'm happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel too. I started reading a few pages of Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend each day. I think this is the 2nd or 3rd non-Marx text I've read all year and I need a break lol. Maybe after a few more I'll come back and read Marx's other work... I do enjoy it but Capital is a lot.
Anyway, thanks as always for running things this year. I didn't really do any discussing, but these weekly posts and knowing other people were doing the same thing helped keep me on track.