Also, it's interesting to note that 5.56 rounds yaw after 4-5 inches or so- 7.62 rounds generally take 7-8 meaning they may pass through tissue before even yawing. They may not yaw at all through, e.g., legs, or with a full on frontal shot.
At the very best these wounds will leave a big ouchie, but won't yaw until after they have passed most of the real blood vessels in tissue in torso shots. Our lovely 5.56 does quite a bit of vessel damage, by contrast.
Now, turning to your friends favorite round- 7.62x39- copper plated jacket, lead and steel core and boat tailed (the ex-soviet version in any event), these rounds yaw after about 26cm in tissue. Generally they do a full 540 degree rotation (1.5 tumbles) and end up tail forward in around 75cm. Lots of overpenetration. Not very impressive.
Consider one author's view of this round:
This author observed, on many occasions, the damage pattern [of the round] while treating battle casualties in Da Nang, Vietnam (1968). The typical path through the abdomen caused minimal disruption; holes in organs were similar to those caused by a non-hollow-point handgun bullet. The average uncomplicated thigh wound was about what one would expect from a low-powered handgun: a small, punctuate entrance and exit wound with minimal intervening muscle disruption.
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No thanks. I'll stick with 5.56.
In addition, consider the difference in weight between 1000 rounds of 5.56 and 1000 rounds of 7.62. Modern militaries don't want to lug around less effective, heavier rounds that do lots of damage over 300 yards, where it really doesn't much matter anymore. (A target would have to be standing in an open field holding still and smoking a cigarette to realistically be hit at 300 yards by anything other than a very well trained sniper- and these units carry specialized weapons. (USMC's M40 for example).
The only advantage 7.62 might have is with respect to penetration and defeating heavy to medium cover. But that's what the SAW, LAW and the M203 are for.
As for accuracy? That's just noise. Most AR15s can do 1MOA without much issue provided a little effort is applied. The AK-47s I have fired are crude, strong, and reliable. (Big and Simple tech- hallmark of the Soviet era). They are not particularly accurate but are easy to manufacture in bulk and the factories are easy to pick up and move to Siberia quickly (in case the Germans invade again).
Rifles are tools. A sledgehammer is fine, as long as you're not installing drywall.