About a week or so ago, someone gave me an old Astra Cub chambered in .22 short. I haven't even seen a .22 short round in 30 years! I cleaned it up and can't wait to head to the range and shoot it!

I agree; the .22 mag is excellent for small game. There are so many different rounds available today for .22LR today that optimize the weapon's use for many applications. (e.g.,shot rounds for snakes and sub sonic for varmints in more populated areas)

Personally, I like a .22 mag for small game. Due to the velocity of the round, I find that the .223 does too much damage to the meat. Of course it has been a number of years since I hunted with a .223, and I'm sure they've made some improvements to the round. (I will say that a .223 will make a mess of a coyote, which of course is the desired outcome!). I'm told that it works well on prairie dogs as well.

Both of those are excellent, and better for medium game than the .223. My take from the article is that the AR platform (in .223) can adequately perform many tasks including some overlap with more potent rounds even though those more potent rounds may be a better answer for medium game in particular. Your .308 and 30-06 would be overkill to hunt small game for meat, but great for deer.

I had a Colt AR-15 HBAR (A1) and a Ruger Mini14 and sold both couple of years ago. I've truthfully never been too impressed with the .223 round. I have an M1 Garand US Navy National Match chambered in .308, and an original M1D with the M84 scope chambered in 30-06. For my money, that's the finest semi auto action on the planet.