What is a .223 Wylde?

[1BadF350]

Noticed the varmint rifles on Rock River's web site say they are chambered for .223 Wylde. What is this? Can a standard .223 work in this rifle?

[Jim Watson]

Yes.
The Wylde chamber kind of a cross between .223 Remington and 5.56 military so as to handle surplus crap ammo reliably, but still close enough for good accuracy with match ammo.

[tarheellefty]

I don't have the particulars, but a Wylde chamber is made for competition . It has very short(almost no ) throat so that the bullets don't jump much or at all before they engage the rifling. It can seriously raise pressure, esp if you are already pushing the limit. this is done w/ several calibers . I think the TUBB 2000 does this in any caliber .
12/19/05 -my information here is wrong. I edited this in case somone didn't / doesn't read the whole thread (see below).

[Jim Watson]

You read the darndest things on the internet. The Wylde chamber has the second longest throat freebore listed at http://www.radomski.us/njhp/cart_tech.htm
and substantially more than Bushmaster and Savage factory chambers.

I have one of the short Kriegers in the shop right now to be lengthened for longer OAL for single shot target shooting.

[gfen]

I read alot.

I mean _alot_, so when I decided I was going to drop what I classify as a "large" sum of money on an AR15, I damned well did plenty of reading going into things to pick what would be the best rifle for me.

One of those things is dirt cheap ammuntion, coz I don't reload and have no interest in chasing brass around the range, so I took some time learning the differences between .223 Rem and 5.56 NATO, and how .223 Wylde fit into it.

Everything I've read backs up Jim's first response, its a compromise between the two to let you enjoy both chambers.

[1BadF350]

Thanks everyone. So basically there is no such thing as a .223 Wylde round, it just refers to the chamber which allows both .223 and 5.56 to function reliably? Does this negatively affect accuracy? I was looking at getting one of Rock River's Varmint EOP rifles, but I am torn between that and the DPMS Panther Bull 24. The Rock River has a 1 in 8 twist and the panther is a 1 in 9.

[gonziii]

I think it was in shooting times recently where they had a comparison between AR-15s. The RRA Varmint held under 1 MOA out to 500 yards and was the most accurate out of the bunch. I was considering one myself but decided to go with a bolt action for now.

[Bullet94]

I’ve got a Rock River Varminter with a Wylde chamber with a 1/8 twist barrel. The Wylde chamber is not as big as my Colt’s (5.56) by measuring fired cases. It will easily shoot 1 MOA out to 300 yards. I let my stepson shoot it (he had never shot a rifle). The first time he ever shot at 300 yards he had (5 shot) groups that measured 2 inches. Since at my range the farthest you can shoot is 300 yards the 1/8 twist is fine, but if you want to shoot farther you might want a 1/7 twist to shoot heavier bullets.

If I had realized that it would shoot as good as it does I would have bought a better (higher magnification) scope. Mines a 3x9 Leupold, plus the crosshairs are thick.

[SavageSniper]

Question- just what is the differance between the .223 and the 5.56

[Abominable No-Man]

Question- just what is the differance between the .223 and the 5.56

Dimensionally the rounds are the same.

However, 5.56 NATO is loaded hotter than .223 Remington, so there is a chance that firing 5.56 in a .223 chamber could result in something bad. A 5.56 NATO chamber has a longer throat, too, and IIRC, a little more headspace.

In a nutshell, you can almost always fire .223 in a 5.56 chamber safely, but not necessarily the other way around.

[SavageSniper]

Cool thx. Was the 5.56 round in the M16A1 a true .223 round? I know when the M16A2 came out it was a hotter load with a green tipped bullet and we could not us it in the A1

[Bullet94]

1BadF350

If you decide you want an RRA you might look here –

http://www.rbprecision.com/

Real nice to deal with.

[Abominable No-Man]

Cool thx. Was the 5.56 round in the M16A1 a true .223 round? I know when the M16A2 came out it was a hotter load with a green tipped bullet and we could not us it in the A1

It was 5.56 in the M16A1 as well, but it used a 55-grain bullet vs. the green-tipped AP used in the 'A2, which is 62-grain.

The A2 has a 1-in-7, which was determined to be optimal to stabilize the heavier bullet. The heavier bullet was designed to punch through Soviet body armor, supposedly, and it was determined that the M16A1's 1-in-12 twist wouldn't give the same accuracy with a 62-grain bullet.

[tarheellefty]

Well I followed Jim Watsons links And have to agree with him. Looks like I remembered wrong(i need to quit relying on my memory ) . I apologize; I am glad someone cared enough to research before posting......

[1BadF350]

Bullet94, thanks for the link. Prices look good, I'll have to compare with my local FFL shop. Now I just need to decide if I want the elevated optical platform or the standard? What do y'all think? I really don't see a major benefit of having the EOP do you?

[Bullet94]

Mines the Varmint A4 upper. I put an ArmaLite Scope Mount on mine. Link to scope mount –

http://www.armalite.com/sales/catalog/optics.htm

My scope mount is like the one in the picture. Works great.