Armalite m15a2??

Canadian Psycho

Canadian Psycho

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I am looking at picking up an Armalite m15A2 carbine, but can't for e life of me get confirmation as to the clambering being 5.56 or .223. Can anyone confirm which it is? The seller cannot locate any markings on the barrel to show the chambering.
Also, does anyone know if Armalite uses mil-spec or commercial spec buffer tubes on the M15's?
 
What kind of project are you building? An actual Armalite fixed carry handle upper may be hard to find but they do occasionally come up in the EE.
 
I am planning to build as close a copy of a mil-spec M723 as possible. Hence the 5.56 and what not. I have been hunting the EE for the upper, but the ones I do find are either the large hole colt ones, or wildly over priced, like half the cost of a complete Armalite M15 for just a stripped upper.
 
I had a 20" M15A2 on order with Wolverine for a while till I got tired of waiting. I ended up canceling the order and getting an XCR-L, instead. It is still on my list of rifles to get, though, I'm torn between the look of the A2 and the versatility of the A4.

sunray said:
5.56 NATO and .223 Rem are the same thing despite the internet nonsense. Armalite M15A2's are advertised as such too. A 30 second net search would tell you that. www.armalite.com/
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The chambers are slightly different in the throat area.
 
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I figured you were going for a 723/old school C8. Always been my favorite. aluminum 2 posn buttstock, pencil barrel, original rear sight, and thin handguards.
I have an Armalite M15a4 with their super fat 14.5 barrel without M203 notch, but flattop upper with a Trijicon TA31rcoM4 on it.
Not an easy build these days. DLASK made some nice mock Diemaco lowers and barrels around 2006 for members here that guys made into some great C8 clones.
Armalite barrels are almost always the wrong profile for this. Piecing it together can cost as much as a Colt.
 
sunray said:
5.56 NATO and .223 Rem are the same thing despite the internet nonsense. Armalite M15A2's are advertised as such too. A 30 second net search would tell you that. www.armalite.com/
Click to expand...

RIIIIIIGHT! There's absoulutely no reason for SAAMI to state that firing 5.56 Nato in a .223 chamber is a unsafe combination. Stick to giving advice that's not potentially unsafe sunray.
 
Are any AR 15 makers offering rifles chambered in .223 (short leade) as opposed to the long leade of the 5.56mm? My wife's S&W MP AR 15 barrel is marked [5.56 NATO 1/9].

Ruger realized long ago that people were going to shoot surplus 5.56mm ammo in their Mini 14's and never posted any warnings about NOT using it in their rifles.
 
Sharps '63 said:
Are any AR 15 makers offering rifles chambered in .223 (short leade) as opposed to the long leade of the 5.56mm? My wife's S&W MP AR 15 barrel is marked [5.56 NATO 1/9].

Ruger realized long ago that people were going to shoot surplus 5.56mm ammo in their Mini 14's and never posted any warnings about NOT using it in their rifles.
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Apparently there are, but the situation is not that simple because of the differing manufacturing tolerances used by the various manufacturers. There's a list somewhere on the internet of .223 Rem/5.56 Nato chamber dimensions of some barrel makers. I'll see if I can find it.

Edit: Found it - see here: h ttps://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=571785

Also, if one believes there is no difference between .223 and 5.56, then a good reference is Hornady's reloading manual. They state that 5.56 in a .223 chamber can lead to excessive pressures, and in the case of .223 fired from a 5.56 chamber, reduced pressures and velocity can result.

Of course, it is the actual dimensions of your chamber that matter - if it is a nominal 5.56 chamber but due to manufacturing tolerances it is more like a .223 chamber, well you can figure out for yourself what can happen.

Don't even get me started on the whole "marking .223 for export purposes" nonsense - I think marking a barrel something it is not is, plainly, something that just shouldn't be done.
 
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My Armalite M15A4 is marked .223 Wylde. You can consult the Tech Note section on its website for more info regarding the model you have.
 
Sharps '63 said:
Are any AR 15 makers offering rifles chambered in .223 (short leade) as opposed to the long leade of the 5.56mm? My wife's S&W MP AR 15 barrel is marked [5.56 NATO 1/9].

Ruger realized long ago that people were going to shoot surplus 5.56mm ammo in their Mini 14's and never posted any warnings about NOT using it in their rifles.
Click to expand...

Some custom or semi/custom AR15's can be had with a true .223 chamber. Most are 5.56, but there is a 223 WYLDE chambering that is in between the 2 and popular in match guns.
 
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