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OT/gun question

M

mb58

Member
Not a tractor question but I know a lot of you are knowledgable gun lovers. Question: What is the size difference between a 223 and a 5.56 round.
 
There is no difference. .223 is the U.S. civilian designation for the round, while 5.56 mm is the military's metric designation for the same round.
 
None, 'cept units of measure, 5.56 mm is military, in metric, .223 is the equivalent in SAE or ASME or what reference standard applies and I assume has a nato designation, like the 7.62 x 51 which is a .308

With the 7.62, there are differences in case thickness, between reference standards if you really want to get into that, so a .308 round manufactured for civilian use vs 7.62 mfr'd for military use appears different, I've noticed when reloading cases, mil. cases seem to have less room. No gunsmith or expert on this, just from reading and some reloading.

5.56mm = .223, and say you have a ruger mini 14 or ranch rifle like mine, military 5.56mm chambers correctly and fires safely.
 
The 2 are very close to each other BUT and this is the important thing. If you own the one and I do not remember which it is but any how. If you own the one you can shoot either but if you own the other you can only shoot that one. I know a guy who owns the one that will shoot both but do not remember which it is that he has so you need to be careful so as to know which one you maybe looking at
 
.223 IN A 5.56 is no problem. 5.56 in a .223 can be. There is a difference in how the throat of the chamber is shaped. The difference in shape can allow the 5.56 bullet to engage .223 rifling before firing which can cause high chamber pressures. Minor differences in headspace, and diameters, but nothing worth being concerned with.


Then there are all the hybrid chamberrings. I have cut all mine for .223 Wylde, which is sorta hybrid of the two.
 
223 Remington and 5.56 NATO cartridges have the same external dimensions, but 5.56 NATO chamber pressure is higher. The chambers are not cut the same, as the 5.56 NATO has a longer leade or throat. So, you should not fire 5.56 NATO in a 223 Remington chamber, but the other way around is safe with a slight loss in accuracy due to the longer throat. Some rifles, such as the Ruger Mini 14, are marked 223 Remington, but the chamber is cut in a manner so the use of 5.56 NATO is safe.

So it is not the size of the cartridge, but the size of the rifle's chamber that matters in this situation.

Josh
 
RGMartin Has it correct.
The reason for the slightly larger chamber in the 5.56 is to allow dirty ammo to feed properly without jamming.
Generally only a problem with the heavier (longer) bullets.
To test your chamber, close the bolt on a round then extract it. If there are marks on the bullet from the rifling, it could cause problems.
 
O.K. My father-in-law just passed and we found three boxes of shells marked 7.5X55 but only a 30/06 rifle..Whoud that be the case on these shells ?
 
(quoted from post at 13:13:46 03/22/12) O.K. My father-in-law just passed and we found three boxes of shells marked 7.5X55 but only a 30/06 rifle..Whoud that be the case on these shells ?
Click to expand...

Totally different cartridges. 30/06 is 7.62 x 57 iirc.
 
(quoted from post at 11:13:46 03/22/12) O.K. My father-in-law just passed and we found three boxes of shells marked 7.5X55 but only a 30/06 rifle..Whoud that be the case on these shells ?
Click to expand...


30.06 converts to 7.62X63 and 308 is 7.62X51. It's basically a Swiss military round that is no longer in thier inventory and they are selling it off like mad. Was your FIL a real tight wad? Certain people were claiming that both the 308 and .06 could shoot it so a lot of people ordered some to have some cheep shooting and got stuck with it. Or maybe a friend gave it to him. Or picked up at auction in a box with other ammo in it??? When my dad passed I went through his ammo box. It was amazing.There was ammo for guns in his box I know he never owned. But he was a shooter and gunsmith for the 5th Army rifle and pistol team when I was a kid. Everyone who knew him gave him ammo when they wound up with some that they couldn't use.

Rick
 
You need to make sure of what you have, a lot of brass can be re-sized to shoot in other caliber guns. I have a 25.06 and when reloading I used a lot of 30.06 brass and it works fine in my 25.06.. not sure what would happen if it was fired in a 30.06.
 
There is a good write up on this.
Type in .223 or 5.56 ammo on the yahoo search engine.
The quick response is that the 5.56 has a higher chamber pressure then the .223 round. All modern A/R rifles should be able to accept the higher pressure 5.56 round. The article is a few pages long.
 

I agree with this as well. I have used both in my AR-15 builds. For example most AR-15s are 5.56 except those built for long range (i.e. varmint rifle) and competition
 
no difference...5.56 military term & .223 civi....I reload both for PD shooting & have a 700Rem. varmet that I've put over 15,000 rounds through & it will still put 5 in less than 1/2in. at a 100yrds....killed one at 965yrd. around Dalhart ,TX....29grs. of H335, BR primer & 50gr. Nosler B.Tip running 3850fps.
 
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