Good move. 17S everytime. Don't look back. I owned one when i lived in Montana. Dreamed about it. Bought it. Unreal. Almost never fired my 1911 handgun after that purchase. Sold because i made a great profit. If i ever want another, i'll just buy when there's a republican president lol.
I just never got the .223/AR-15 thing. It's really not a functional round for shooting anything other than targets and people. It's a close quarters long round.
You can hunt significant sized animals with the 17S. .308/7.62 is just a better round. I don't get why more people don't own battle rifle platforms. Fire less. Hit more. Hit hard. It's bred as a next-gen battle rifle from the SCAR-H. The only other semi-auto i'd own is a Springfield M1A. Springfield is so heavy though.
I had a Para Ordnance Full frame 1911, my SCAR 17S and my modded Remington 700SPS Tactial for years. I was never jealous of anyone's gun. I suppose I'd take a Barret MRAD .338 Lapua, but again, it is as outside the bell curve of function for me as a .223/5.56 platform.