Can You Shoot .223 in a 5.56 Ar 15

Kwhatever shooters view the .223 and 5.56 equally identical or at least interchangeable rounds. Well, listed case dimensions are the aforementioned, and each will chamber in barrels bored for the other. But that's not the full story.

Do you own an AR like this SAINT? Do you know what ammo to load in it?

Hornady engineers tell me the .223 Remington is stoked to 55,400 Cup (Copper Units of Pressure), a level specified by SAAMI (the Sporting Arms and Armament Manufacturers Institute). Service loads for the v.56×45 NATO generate 58,500. Chamber dimensions and rifling twist vary among the myriad AR-15south and bolt rifles barreled to .223, simply the 5.56 commonly gets a longer throat. "Roughly .125 more than freebore," say the white-coats bearing micrometers.

Tin Yous Shoot .223 in a five.56 Rifle?

It is by and large accepted that commercial .223 Rem armament like the Norma Tactical .223 tin be safely shot in any firearm chambered for the five.56 NATO cartridge. However, given common differences in loads and throats, it's a proficient thoughtnot to apply five.56mm ammo in a firearm with a dedicated .223 chamber.

In 1979, SAAMI cautioned that five.56 chambers differ from those in .223 sporting rifles, and that use of v.56 ammo in .223 rifles could jack pressures to dangerous levels. The reverse – .223 in a five.56 chamber – doesn't take the aforementioned pressure level concerns.

And then what does that mean for your firearm?

In the case of Springfield Armory's SAINT .22-bore rifles and pistols, they are described every bit "multi-caliber", meaning they're designed to function well and safely with both .223 and five.56mm rounds.

Are they the same? Here the v.56'due south crimp distinguishes it (at left).

.223 vs. v.56: Fraternal or Identical?

The lineage of these enigmatic twins dates to 1957, when the .223 popped up as an experimental cartridge for what would become the M16 infantry rifle. Working with Gene Stoner, Bob Hutton atGuns & Ammo magazine paired a 55-gr. bullet with a case a tad longer than a .222's cartridge instance. The tiny missile exited at 3,250 fps and met a retained-velocity spec of supersonic flying to 500 yards.

Adopted in 1964 as the five.56mm Ball cartridge, M193, information technology was issued to U.S. forces in Vietnam, and after that tour until 1984. In 1980 it earned the approval of NATO nations, which substituted an FN-designed 62-grain SS109 gunkhole-tail bullet. The SS109 left the gate at 3,100 fps. Its superior ballistic coefficient ensured harder hits at distance. Faster one-in-7 rifling twist maintained accuracy. The U.S. Army called this load the M855. By and then, case length in millimeters had joined the moniker. So was born the 5.56×45 NATO.

Popular 55-gr. loads tin can shoot well from a one-in-12 twist. A faster spin helps with longer bullets.

Information technology was before long recognized that the round had a lot of merit for use in sporting rifles. Naturally. The .223's design owed much to the popularity of the .222 Remington round that had been introduced in 1950. The "triple deuce" cleaned up at Benchrest meets and bumped pelt counts for fox hunters. The .223's i.76″ case is but .06 longer than the .222's. Merely the .223 has a shorter cervix and holds 20 percent more pulverisation.

As rifles and loads were developed for the new .223 round, a shorter throat and steeper leade (ramp angle of the lands in forepart of the throat) was employed. A tiny rodent behind the crosswire demanded fine accurateness not required on the battleground. An infantry burglarize's priority waspart, often in trying conditions hunters didn't endure. No matter the weather condition, the grit and debris and egg-cooking butt temperatures, mayhap long-nose tracer bullets awaiting their hazard to jam, a soldier needed the bang!

The .223 is a relatively curt cartridge designed for more than compact rifles. It is shown here with the larger 6.5 Creedmoor.

As a consequence, M16s got generous chambers. Bolt-activity rifles enjoyed tighter tolerances, shorter bullet leap and slower 1-in-12 rifling for pop 40- to 55-gr. varmint bullets. But, today's AR's in the civilian market have proven to be extremely capable of impressive accuracy as well.

No Looking Back

The .223 has piled upwards a mountain of commercial loads as compared to relatively few of the 5.56 NATO. Winchester alone lists xviii! Remington has xiii. Then does Hornady, from a 35-gr. NTX bullet at 3,760 fps to a 75-gr. Superformance Match BTHP at 2,930. Federal catalogs a dozen .223 loads, including a lx-gr. Nosler Partition at 3,160 fps and a 62-gr. Trophy Bonded Tip at 3,050. Swift loads a 75-gr. Scirocco. Black Hills Ammunition rips tons of ballistic gelatin refining .223 loads (15) and 5.56 (8), as it supplies U.Due south. troops with mil-spec 5.56.

Tiny groups like these are very possible with quality ammo and a good rifle.

The .223's credentials on prairie dogs and coyotes hardly need defending. Merely where it's legal for deer, hunters contend. Two-two-three acolytes dig out ballistics charts. "The .44-40 has laid depression endless deer with 200-gr. bullets that bring 450 ft-lbs to 100 yards. Winchester's 64-gr.Power-Point — inappreciably the frothiest .223 load — delivers 1,000 ft-lbs in that location and trumps the bullet weight/animal weight and bullet energy/animate being weight ratios of 175-gr. 7mm Magnum bullets on elk!" The advent of stoutly congenital .22 game bullets like Remington's Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded, Nosler'south Partition, Hornady's GMX and Swift'due south Scirocco debate in favor of the .223's use on deer.

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A counterpoint: Bullet weight and bore bow to velocity in energy calculations, simply can figure heavily in killing effect. Arguably, precise shot placement matters most with small bullets.

The wide range of .223 loads begs sifting earlier you specify rifling twist. Nosler advises a 1-in-12 spin for bullets no longer than its 60-grain Segmentation. In my tests, 1-in-12 bores kept groups tight with bullets as heavy as 62 grains only spun 69-grain BTHPs too slowly. A 1-in-viii spin is claimed to stabilize BTHPs to 80 grains, and shoot bullets as low-cal every bit 50 grains accurately. As always, test out your preferred load in your gun to cheque results.

Black Hills Ammunition tests five.56 loads for final performance in gelatin, as well as for accuracy. Image: Black Hills Ammunition

Conclusion

Then there you have it, the story of the .223 vs v.56, going back to the nascence of the 5.56mm M16 all the way up to today'due south top .223 loads. Patently, the round and the AR philharmonic is one of the nigh pop in American today, due in no pocket-sized function to the infrequent operation of both.

Much similar the 7.62 and .308 rounds, there is sometimes confusion over what each cartridge designation ways. Are they the aforementioned, or are there significant differences.

The .223 has grown beyond its M16 roots to become a popular round for other platforms such as bolt-deportment and more than. And now you know what yous tin can shoot in which!

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