5.56 NATO vs. .223

[TexGun]

Alright folks, I need the low-down on 5.56 NATO vs. .223.  Are they truly interchangeable?  When I buy my AR which cal do I buy?

-TexGun (utility rifle newby)

[DonWorsham]

5.56 is loaded to a higher capacity than the .223. If your barrel was made for the .223, do not shoot 5.56. If your barrel was made for the 5.56, you can shoot both.

[TexGun]

Any issues that you are aware of with the action clycling using .223 in a 5.56 AR?

[DonWorsham]

.223 cycles fine in my 5.56 AR.

[Rastus]

.223 cycles fine in my 5.56 AR.

Same here.  No problems with either.

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

My DPMS eats .223 like sunflower seeds - It takes everything you put in its mouth, spits out the waste, and keeps asking for more.  I bought the 5.56 based on it being a heavier action, and it has never failed on anything I've run through it.

[Rastus]

Same here.  No problems with either.

Best web page I've ever seen on 5.56 ammo:

http://www.ammo-oracle.com/

Includes short answer(s) on differences on .223 & 5.56.

Enjoy.

Ken

[2HOW]

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Similar but not the same…

5.56mm v. 223 Remington
Deconfusing the issues of a couple of differences…
Summer 2007 Advisory: With the increased demands for ammunition… check ammo prices (and availability) lately?… by the U.S. Military and the multi-national "war on terrorism," the regular suppliers of small arms munitions have gone to maximum capacity (double and triple work shifts, etc.) and new resources have been brought on-line. In some instances, Quality Control and Quality Assuance (QC/QA) has suffered, and the issue of 5.56mm v. 223 Remington has taken on a greater significance.

Not to unduly alarm anyone, but as always, "ya pays your money and takes your chances."Almost a quarter of a century ago, SAAMI recognized potential problems with shooters assuming that the 5.56mm cartridge was identical to the commercially available .223 Remington round. Here is their 31 January 1979 release, with some minor errors corrected:

With the appearance of full metal jacket military 5.56 ammunition on the commercial Market, it has come to the attention of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI) that the use of military 5.56mm ammunition in sporting rifles chambered for Caliber .223 Remington cartridges can lead to higher-than-normal chamber pressures and possible hazards for the firearm, its user and bystanders.

Tests have confirmed that chamber pressures in a sporting rifle may be significantly higher in the same gun when using military 5.56mm ammunition rather than commercially loaded Caliber .223 Remington cartridges, according to SAAMI.

SAAMI points out that chambers for military rifles have a different throat configuration than chambers for sporting firearms which, together with the full metal jacket of the military projectile, may account for the higher pressures which result when military ammunition is fired in a sporting chamber.

SAAMI recommends that a firearm be fired only with the cartridge for which it is specifically chambered by the manufacturer.
In Rifle Chambered For Do Not Use These Cartridges
223 Remington 5.56mm Military
222 Remington
30 Carbine
Additionally, SAAMI's Unsafe Arms and Ammunition Combinations Technical Data Sheet page states:

The .223 Remington is rated for a maximum of 50,000 CUP while the 5.56mm is rated for 60,000 CUP. That extra 10,000 CUP is likely sufficient to cause a failure in a chamber that's only rated for the "sporting" .223 Remington.

The .223 Remington and the 5.56mm NATO, when checked with a chamber ream from a reliable manufacturer of each, also have discernable differences in the areas of freebore diameter, freebore length (leade) and angle of the throat.

SAAMI
Technical Office:
P.O. Box 338
Branford
CT 06405-0338(Ironically, given the nature of the on-line confusion exhibited by .30 caliber shooters, no similar SAAMI advisory is given concerning 7.62 NATO beyond the fact that those who have rifles chambered in "308 Winchester" shouldn't attempt to shoot cartridges marked "7.62x39" or "300 Savage." Well, duh!)

However, the estimable Clint McKee of Fulton Armory, has thoughtfully provided a brief monograph, The difference between 5.56mm and .223 Remington chambers in the AR-15®-type rifle, which explains this issue in greater (but quite readable) detail.

Olin's Winchester Ammunition site, in 2001, addressed this matter as well, in a concise monograph by Paul Nowak, and Randall Rausch has a number of excellent technical documents, with graphics displaying the differences between the two cartridges, available at AR15barrels.com. Of particular interest are headspace and reamer dimensions.

Further Views on "Differences"
At the October 2001 IALEFI Conference in Reno, Nevada, Giles Stock, retired from Phoenix Police Department after 20 years service, discussed the differences between the .223 Remington/SAAMI and 5.56mm/NATO rifle chambers. The long-time range master for handgun, rifle, carbine and shotgun at Gunsite and developer of the acclaimed Giles Tactical Sling suggested that, as a general rule, recreational rifles have the former, and military rifles the latter… but there is some overlap, most notably in the popular Sturm Ruger Mini-14 which has been offered in both specifications!

NATO chambers have a long leade1. SAAMI chambers are tighter and have a short leade. SAAMI chambers are designed for increased accuracy, but will yield dangerously high pressures in guns using military ammunition and/or which are subject to high volume shooting. Under such high pressures, a primer may back out completely, drop into the action and cause the firearm to stop working.
It has been suggested that an autoloading rifle utilizing a SAAMI-spec chamber may increase risk of overpressure due to the tighter, shorter leade which retards the projectile somewhat as it is attempting to exit the case. Leave the SAMMI chambers to the a bolt action and single-shot rifles.

ArmaLite, not the original, but the Eagle Arms pretenders, has its own views on the subject.

Winchester "White Box" Confusion
This has been making American shooters nuts for a number of years now… particularly in the immediate aftermath of 11 September 2001 when there was a major run on 5.56mm ammunition. Winchester's "generic" or "budget" USA, or "white box," brand of ammunition actually has two different 55-grain FMJ rounds, and one has to look closely at the "small print" to discern the difference.

For openers, in addition to the ATK-operated Lake City plant2, Winchester is also a primary supplier of M193 to the U.S. military. That particular X223R1 round is commercially available in the white USA box product encoded "Q3131." What few realize is that Israeli Military Industries (IMI), the sole supplier of ammo to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), also supplies their M193 as a subcontractor for Winchester; that round is often made available in the USA white boxes marked "Q3131A." By most reports, qualitatively, it is the same round and performs virtually the same as the home-grown variant.

1.- Leade is the distance the projectile of a chambered round must travel upon ignition before it enters the bore of a barrel. It is measured in thousandths of an inch, and is a datum of considerable interest to benchrest shooters.
2.- The government-owned, contractor-operated Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) in Independence, Missouri, is the largest (458 buildings on 3,935 acres) small-arms manufacturing plant in the world.

Founded in 1941, "Lake City" manufactures and proof-tests small arms (5.56mm - 20mm) munitions. It was initially operated by Remington Arms Company until 1985 when Olin Corporation bid and was awarded the contract to operate the facility. In 1999, Alliant TechSystems (ATK) in conjunction with Federal Cartridge Corporation won a ten-year contract to assume the operations. ATK subsequently acquired Federal Cartridge from Blount Sporting Goods Division.

[justbill]

Just to throw a curve ball into the mix, there's also the .223 Wylde. It's a combination of 5.56 and .223 Remington dimensions, allowing safe NATO-spec cartridge use but designed to give improved accuracy with commercial-spec ammo. I believe the main difference is a slightly long throat compared to the 5.56x54mm specification. Think of it as a best of both worlds situation. A lot of the Rock River models come in .223 Wylde.

[2HOW]

your right justbill, the main reason for the difference was the chamber a little larger for automatic fire, using some of the escaping gas to help in the ejection process, where the 223 is tight to give better long distance accuracy. The wylde is an either or chamber. I prefer the 5.56 chamber in 1 in 9 twist. Twist is important also