Another .223 / 5.56mm thread

[Scribe]

a couple of short, direct questions.
1) Can a Remington 700 in .223 safely shoot 5.56mm?
2) If not, is it worth rebarrelling or rechambering it to 5.56mm?

[4runnerman]

It's a 50/50 thing. The short of the answer is --No you should not. The long is.
I have 4 buddy's in the Guard. They have been shooting military rounds out of there Remmy's for 4 years now and never a issue. There is a increase in pressure,but not enough to damage your rifle. So take it as it is and make your choice. Myself- I would not do it as 223 ammo is cheap and until a while ago was very easy to get or reload.

[kraigwy]

Can a Remington 700 in .223 safely shoot 5.56mm?

Yes, the rifle I carried for LE sniper was a Remington 700 Varmint in 223. I used M193 Mil Ball (5.56) in it exclusively until I retired and had furnish my own ammo (reloads).

I couldn't begin to guess how many thousand s of rounds I thought through this gun.

I also shot a ton of M193 guard bullets out of my Colt SP1 223 AR.
Of course that was before the Internet told me I couldn't do it.

I certainly would go through the expense of re-barreling.

[Willie Sutton]

^^ What he said, however I'm guessing that he intended to put a "not" in the phrase "I certainly would (not) go to the expense..."

"Differences" in fact, not specification, are an internet myth. Pure and simple. The differences on the barrel is the stamp. Go to Brownells and see if you can find a different chamber reamer for .223 and 5.56MM.

They are the *same*..... any gunsmith that you brought this to to rebarrel and rechamber from .223 to 5.56 would laugh at you... unless he kept quiet and laughed all the way to the bank.


Willie

.

[a7mmnut]

Never had a problem in any of mine, nor the 7.62's, nor 9mm's, nor any number of tons of metric equivalents for pistols, rifles, and shotguns.. As a matter of fact, early Norma ammo in many other calibers was hotter than American SAAMI specs. It never hurt a thing in my house, and I shot 5 or 6 metric calibers back then. I don't know where this BS keeps coming from? If there was a problem, don't you think the lawyer-scared manufacturers would have warned you by now? Shoot away.

-7-

[geetarman]

^^^^ probably the same with 7.62/.308

[jmr40]

556 and 223 are interchangeable in most rifles. Same with 7.62 and 308. So what if the military specs call for slight differences. Look at a loading manual sometime. There are a wide range of different specs for every chambering in the books.

At worst you might find a load that may not cycle reliably in some semi-autos. You will find the same for 30-06, 270, or any other chambering. A box of Remington 270's may be loaded much differently than a box made by Winchester. Including minor differences in the chambers of the rifles.

[Scribe]

Many thanks to all who replied.getting a .223 / 5.56 on the cards now.

[hagar]

223 VS with 1 in 12 twist, definitely NO. I almost blew mine up. Remington 223 Police with 1 in 9 twist should be no problem.

[Gazpacho]

Ask the manufacturer.

The ammo oracle is your friend.
http://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/hist_diff.html

So long as the action is strong enpugh for the additional pressure, it would not be difficult to have the throat lengthened and the rifle perfectly safe for 5.56 nato ammo.

[Mobuck]

223 VS with 1 in 12 twist, definitely NO. I almost blew mine up. Remington 223 Police with 1 in 9 twist should be no problem.
__________________
I'd like to hear the justification of this comment. A slower twist generally reduces chamber pressure in every case I've seen.
I've had zero problems using M193 ammo in various .223 bolt actions but found an H&R .223 that showed signs of over pressure with the same ammo. I have not and probably would not(except under extreme emergency) try M-855 ammo in a .223 chamber.

[TMD]

Before there was the internet .223 and 5.56 were the same thing.

[madcratebuilder]

The only difference between a .223 and 5.56 chamber is the amount of leade. Leade is the space between the bullet and the beginning of the barrels rifling.

[Bart B.]

Hagar, regarding this 22 caliber 1:12 twist vesus a 1:9 twist. . .the 1:9 one presents a greater rifling angle to the bullet than the 1:12. A .22 inch diameter bolt with 20 threads per inch has a "twist" of 1 in 1/20th inch. Therefore, with all other things being equal, the 1:9 twist barrel will shoot the same round with a tiny bit more peak pressure. Not enough to be concerned about and very hard to measure.

Note that a 22 caliber 1:8 twist presents the same rifling angle to bullets as a 1:11 twist in a 30 caliber barrel.

[thallub]

In 1968 i had my beautiful .222 Sako re-chambered for .223. Since that time my Sako has been fed a steady diet of 5.56mm US military ammunition with no ill effect. It is now on its third or fourth re-barrel. My .223 guns have fired at least 200,000 rounds of M193 US military ball ammo with no problems.

What you knew about .223/5.56mm ammo may be wrong:


http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/5-56-vs-223/

[Carne Frio]

I shouldn't be too expensive to have your .223 chamber
reamed to .223 Wylde. Then you could fire .223 and 5.56.

[CurlyQ.Howard]

I just saw this today; it is perhaps more of the same as other links provided, but it was a good read, so I am providing it: http://www.gundigest.com/ammunition-...es/223-vs-5-56

[60DRB]

Now I have a headache.