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

Hi guys new to this forum. Was reading this topic and decided to join. With the people asking bout the 308 and 7.62 x 51 I found this and it was pretty detailed..

http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f19/7-62x51-308-a-19141/

Don't know if that helps but makes me feel comfortable firing 7.62 in a 308
 
this question might be a lil off but has anyone shot any 5.56 nato in a Norc m4?if yes what was the differ .223 and 5.56?
 
jennis said:
I just got back from the range and fired 556 'nato' out of a 223 ( 700P ) and fired 7.62'nato' out of a 308 ( 700P ) and still have all my fingers and facial features.............again
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As a comparitive anecdote, there were plenty of warnings explanations ect prior to the Space Shuttle Challenger launch yet they proceeded anyways on the whim of many inputs along the lines of "we hadn't seen any failures yet...".
Famous last words for those with no deep insight into the working nature of Murphy's law.
 
I have never had a problem firing NATO ammo thru my .308 win rifle or vise versa. The only difference between the two cartridges is the wall thickness. reduce your loads by 10% as stated in all reloading manuals.
 
My beautiful ruger mini 14 will shoot both .223 and the 5.56 nato. Being designed as an assult rifle it was ment for the 5.56 but is marketed as a .223. As the .223 is a bit smaller ammo, if it is not a military type rifle and is designated a .223, don't use the nato stuff. How about the old 30-06 ammo marked only as .30 cal. A friend gave me some and told me it was .303. Turned out it's 30-06 armour piercing from the 60's, and shoots fine in my 30-06's.
 
zeebull said:
My beautiful ruger mini 14 will shoot both .223 and the 5.56 nato. Being designed as an assult rifle it was ment for the 5.56 but is marketed as a .223. As the .223 is a bit smaller ammo, if it is not a military type rifle and is designated a .223, don't use the nato stuff. How about the old 30-06 ammo marked only as .30 cal. A friend gave me some and told me it was .303. Turned out it's 30-06 armour piercing from the 60's, and shoots fine in my 30-06's.
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I'm assuming you mean FMJ as opposed to armour piercing. In any event if you're shooting old surplus it could be corrosive primed, so I'd review proper cleaning after shooting it or you risk serious bore corrosion.
 
Nupes said:
As a comparitive anecdote, there were plenty of warnings explanations ect prior to the Space Shuttle Challenger launch yet they proceeded anyways on the whim of many inputs along the lines of "we hadn't seen any failures yet...".
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There were lots of failures, only the last one was catastrophic.
 
What about magazines - can G3 be loaded with .307W for .307 changed Cetme C, can nato magazines be loaded with 222 and 223 munition?
 
[ 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.[/QUOTE]

They are both .224...I have reloaded hundreds of them.
 
I thought 5.56 cartridges were loaded with heavy 69 grain bullets thus the barrels have about a 1 in 7" twist. Where as .223 cartidges are loaded with lighter bullets so rifles chambered in that caliber have a 1 in 9" to 1 in 14" twist. As far as being interchangeable ive never had a problem and i know a guy who is working his way through a case of 1000 5.56 rounds with a ruger no.1 and last i heard he was still alive.
 
Society has become obsessed with making the world idiot proof,so we will be left with nothing but idiots. Common sense has become the most uncommon thing in modern society
 
Ghengis said:
Society has become obsessed with making the world idiot proof,so we will be left with nothing but idiots. Common sense has become the most uncommon thing in modern society
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I agree. They should start taking the warning labels off of obvious things like lawn mowers. Because really, if you didnt know it was dangerous to stick your hand in there while it was running, then you probably need to be weeded from the gene pool. Our old pool is just getting too full of dried leaves if you get my analogy.
 
In Germany 5.56x45mm NATO and .223 Remington are officially the same.
Have a look at this caliber synonym list which is hosted at the site of the German Federal Bureau of Administration. It is part of the future German national weapons register which will be established until end of 2012:

http://www.google.de/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDYQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bva.bund.de%2Fnn_2048112%2FDE%2FAufgaben%2FAbt__III%2FNWR%2FXWaffe%2FXWaffe__Kaliberkatalog__AnlageE%2CtemplateId%3Draw%2Cproperty%3DpublicationFile.pdf%2FXWaffe_Kaliberkatalog_AnlageE.pdf&rct=j&q=5%2C56mm%20mle%20f&tbs=lr%3Alang_1de&ei=hwk8TvjcE4rdsgbls-Up&usg=AFQjCNG1DC--1zyhYqaMPEY04SSI-BBmoA

The first 24 pages list all registered calibers with their "primary name"
Beginning with page 25 the synonyms are listed.
All caliber names that share the same position number (i.e. "24" for .223 Rem) are synonyms.

This whole controverse regarding the thesis .223 Rem=/=5.56x45 only derived from the US SAAMI, which is just a further spec alongside NATO and CIP spec.
Outside the US SAAMI is irrelevant, meaning .223 Rem=/=5.56x45 is a US only problem.
(Hell, even the American development teams called it .223 Rem in evalution for the new .22 cal. round.)
 
gunnie1983 said:
Read any reloading manual and you will find external cartridge dimensions the exact same.
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It's not dimensions of the cartridges, the chamber and throat dimensions of 5.56 NATO and .223 REM are different. I've ever seen signs of over pressure when shooting 5.56 NATO rounds in my .223 REM match chamber rifle, never again.
 
cdn7mm08 said:
I thought 5.56 cartridges were loaded with heavy 69 grain bullets thus the barrels have about a 1 in 7" twist. Where as .223 cartidges are loaded with lighter bullets so rifles chambered in that caliber have a 1 in 9" to 1 in 14" twist. As far as being interchangeable ive never had a problem and i know a guy who is working his way through a case of 1000 5.56 rounds with a ruger no.1 and last i heard he was still alive.
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I'll check the pub when I go to work tomorrow but, I believe that IVI 5.56 ball is loaded with a 61.9 grain bullet.

Checked the pub. 5.56mm Ball and Tracer are both 61.7 grains. The length of the two projectiles are different, but their weight are the same.
 
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I havent read all of these pages so forgive me if this is a repeat post of someone else, But another reason some of the chambers arent rated for 5.56 is because NATO chambers are proof tested for a higher chamber pressure thah .223 rem. the difference can be between 7000 and 20000 PSI.

I have also seen some 5.56 fired from civilian carbines (marked safe for both 5.56 and .223) and have seen no drop in accuracy up to 200 yds. I would say the difference is close to negligable.

So IMO, the ones that are marked for both 5.56 and .223 have probably been fired with proof rounds up to the NATO standard chamber pressure requirements.
 
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