.223 remington versus 5.56 x 45 mm NATO - is it safe to interchange???

Good to know. I read a plenty of information online stating that 0.223 can be used in 5.56 NATO chambered rifles but not vice versa due to the difference in muzzle pressure between them. A lot of sources are claiming 0.223 to be a "civil" version of 5.56 N and thus putting significantly lower stress on firearms.
 
PrimipilusXIII said:
Good to know. I read a plenty of information online stating that 0.223 can be used in 5.56 NATO chambered rifles but not vice versa due to the difference in muzzle pressure between them. A lot of sources are claiming 0.223 to be a "civil" version of 5.56 N and thus putting significantly lower stress on firearms.
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Very hard to find load specs for actual 5.56. The only ones that I've found are from Western Powders and for any given powder and bullet combination the 5.56 max loads are about 8% higher give or take. A while ago I loaded a bunch of different powders using that +8% figure and had zero issues in an AR and a bolt gun both stamped 5.56. No signs of excessive pressure, no primer blow outs, nothing. Personally I would not try that in a gun stamped .223 but as in all things, your results may vary.
 
PrimipilusXIII said:
Good to know. I read a plenty of information online stating that 0.223 can be used in 5.56 NATO chambered rifles but not vice versa due to the difference in muzzle pressure between them. A lot of sources are claiming 0.223 to be a "civil" version of 5.56 N and thus putting significantly lower stress on firearms.
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Muzzle pressure? No.
The primary difference between 5.56 and .223 is in the specifications for the chambers, primarily in the throat/leade area.
 
Tempest in a Teapot

'Meh'...I've fired lots of both in all three of my ARs with no issues.
Only difference is that the .223 usu came in boxes of 20 as hunting HP ammo at Cabelas, whereas
I can get the 5.56 'ball' in bulk from CGN vendors.
More recently, I've been shooting "Remington .223 Freedom Buckets" lol :rolleyes:
from Cabelas and it's all good.
I've used enough of both types to quit worrying about it.
And, "Stay safe."
 
Wow, I thought this issue was settled decades ago. I have fired both types of ammo in the same gun since forever, IIRC the NATO does have a minutely modified jacket to allow for ideal auto fire but blessed if my guns could tell the difference, although I suppose if I wanted supreme accuracy in a .223 chamber, I would shoot that. But the question is moot these days, since NATO designated ammo is no longer on the market thanks to Putin.
 
Big Bad said:
Oh for pete's sake, this ain't supposed to happen.
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Zombies are hard to kill and this is why this post has been revived. I've never had trouble shooting these ammo types in any of my guns that are modern manufactured, say last 20 years 2000, older stuff I would try a couple of shots to be sure otherwise good to go. Beating this zombie rifle cartage has the zealots up in arms saying doom and gloom will happen, not likely. My 40 years experience has taught me there are a lot of people who are clueless. Just my 2 cents on this topic.
 
Obviously "Zombie THREADS" are 'hard to kill. Trixie doesn't like Barbie guns but Zombies love'em. Sorta tickles ? Those (and other 'old news' threads) s/b Locked. A New Thread is easy to start.
 
CanadianReich said:
From what I remember military rifles designated for NATO ammunition can use the NATO ammo and their civilian counterpart but the opposite is NOT true (5.56 VS .223 and 7.62 VS .308).

IE You can fire a .223 in a NATO 5.56 safely, but you can not fire a nato round in a civilian chambered gun (you cant fire a 5.56 in a .223). The nato round is slightly larger, .224 i believe, so the gun could explode.

As the civilian ammo is ever so slightly smaller then the nato ammo there is a small loss of accuracy when firing .223 in a 5.56 Nato chambered gun.
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You can fire 5.56 out of a .223 rated barrel (not advisable, but not the determent some make it out to be). It's not size. It's pressure. Most .223 barrels don't have much of an issue firing both.
 
DVX said:
You can fire 5.56 out of a .223 rated barrel (not advisable, but not the determent some make it out to be). It's not size. It's pressure. Most .223 barrels don't have much of an issue firing both.
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Pressures are almost identical, sizes are almost identical. Both cartridges are fully interchangeable from a safety standpoint. You may experience diminished performance (cycling, reliability, accuracy, stiff extraction or bolt closing) using 5.56 in a tight .223 chamber, but you'll never run into a safety problem.
 
Blastattack said:
Pressures are almost identical, sizes are almost identical. Both cartridges are fully interchangeable from a safety standpoint. You may experience diminished performance (cycling, reliability, accuracy, stiff extraction or bolt closing) using 5.56 in a tight .223 chamber, but you'll never run into a safety problem.
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what do you base that position on? have you done internal ballistics testing? just curious
 
Boltgun said:
what do you base that position on? have you done internal ballistics testing? just curious
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It's based on the fact that billions of rounds of .223 and 5.56 have been fired out of millions of different .223 and 5.56 firearms, and there isn't a single reported and verifiable instance of that causing a problem, beyond the aforementioned performance concerns. However those concerns can develop by just changing bullet weight or brands, so they're not very solid.
 
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