6.5 Grendel, 6.8x43mm SPC and .300 AAC Blackout are the contenders for most popular alternate AR15 round. Don't get distracted with .308 as an alternate since the AR10 is a different animal. I also don't count rounds like .458 SOCOM as an "alternate" round; completely different niche.
What are some others we never hear about?
7.62x39mm is an obvious alternate. Unreliable magazines were its bane. Supersonic .300 AAC Blackout fully supplants it too.
5.45x39mm has a following. But since it's very close to 5.56 in performance most people don't bother. Cheap ammo is the siren call here.
.300 Whisper had (has?) a strong following in the reloading community, but I think since .300 AAC is so close (and in some cases interchangeable) poor old Whisper will go away. This includes other .300 Whisper trademark dodgers like .300-221 Fireball.
6.5 MPC. This round should succeed for all the same reasons that .300 Blackout does. Same bolt and magazine as 5.56; just a different barrel. Sectional density of most 6.5 rounds is good and they've pushed a 110gr bullet to 2,480 fps out of a 12" tube. Not bad at all. Trademark rears its ugly head again here. SSK does some great wildcat work and kills its spread by not letting just anyone make the guns. Perhaps it will be suborned like .300 Whisper was.
Those are just what I can think of off the top of my head. Have I missed your favorite?
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While it's another "different niche" round, I'm intrigued by Alexander Arms' .17 HMR upper receiver, especially since it's the only semi-auto .17 HMR solution I've heard about.
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