5.56 ammo

[Hoot]

Wish I could shoot 5.56, .223 only in my rifle

What kind of rifle? Barrel swap out of the question?

Check your manufacturer's specs closely or call them. Many ".223" barrels made for an AR platform, actually have a Wylde chamber to accommodate both 5.56 and .223. It reduces their liability, so they just do it as a matter of course and possibly don't mention it in the specs. If you can't get the answer from them, the only way to know for certain it to slug the chamber with some Cerrosafe. It's not hard to do or overly expensive(~1 box of ammo). Plenty of youtube "how-to" videos out there and you can reuse it.

Hoot

[MaryB]

Savage Axis bolt action, barrel says 223 only on it. Sure I probably could get away with 5.56 but I don't want to chance it.

[DoxaPar]

I've shot several hundred rounds of their 9mm stuff through my Glock. Never had an issue. But.. It's 9mm and a Glock.

[Hoot]

Savage Axis bolt action, barrel says 223 only on it. Sure I probably could get away with 5.56 but I don't want to chance it.

I did some googling and read that the lower priced Axis does not have a Wylde chamber and Savage officially does not recommend 5.56 in it. Conversely, I found anecdotal reports of .223 Axis owners using 5.56 with no issue. Until more long-term reports come in showing that shooting 5.56 as not deteriorating the rifle, you are making the safe choice with shooting only .223 in it.

Hoot

[OldmanFCSA]

My son shot some 5.56X45 thru my Howa 1500 223Rem rifle and stuck first cartridge fired, broke the extractor, and had too use a cleaning rod to tap case out.
He paid for repairs at factory. Factory pissed me off by chambering it as 5.56X45 with the longer leade than the 223Rem has.

[Hoot]

My son shot some 5.56X45 thru my Howa 1500 223Rem rifle and stuck first cartridge fired, broke the extractor, and had too use a cleaning rod to tap case out.
He paid for repairs at factory. Factory pissed me off by chambering it as 5.56X45 with the longer leade than the 223Rem has.

If someone at the factory changed my chamber leade without my consent, I'd be spitting nickels mad.

One of the reasons I've never sent a gun into the factory, knock on wood. Twice, I had grounds to, under warranty, but it's like going to the doctor. Hate doing it until it's absolutely necessary. My 450 Bushmaster had an ever so slightly non-concentric chamber. You could see it in the fired brass under the stereo microscope. I did not send it in because the large caliber is incredibly forgiving of factors that would drive smaller caliber owners batty.

With the right handloads, it tosses repeatable 5-shot, 100 yd groups like this:



Needless to say, I'm not shipping it anywhere.

38gr Lil Gun (most accurate charge)
Hornady 225 FTX
Rem 7 1/2
2250fps
1.5X TKO of a .30-06 on an AR15 platform and that's with accuracy loads. If you are willing to tolerate 1.5 MOA, you can increase it to 2x!

ETA: to include link to TKO calculator