Is it 223 or 5.56?

Was just talking to Chad at Keltec . Your right on dead meat.Su16F is chambered for 5.56 but has 223 on barrel for export reasons.I know some suppliers in Canada are saying to use 223 only but they,re wrong
 
I agree with what your saying, always use what is stamped. Its a safe way to go, but not everyone follows manufacture specs. I for one interchange .223 and 5.56 with no problems. The weapon does't do anything different. Cylces the same and hits the target just as hard. I also interchange .308 and 7.62x51 with no different results. Always check and stick to what your comfortable with. Dont always take the advice from strangers, but if everyone is telling you the same thing..... Well maybe they are onto something.

Or hey can't figure anything out for themselves and simply repeat incorrect information.
 
If only I could turn back the hands of time , I was mixing and matching long before the internet came along , will the sins of the father surely be passed onto my sons ?
 
From all the comments'articles and phone calls,it appears to be ok to mix ammo in both caliber rifles.I do believe there are a couple 223 bolt action rifles that don't recommend using 5.56.My rifle is stamped 223 for export reasons only,after all the comments and phone calls I will have no problem using 223 or 5.56 in my rifle.
 
The only reason I started this thread was because one of the dealers on this site told me to use only 223 ammo in my Su 16 F.I am new to this and had to ask.Now I Know the difference .Thanks for all the input.
 
From all the comments'articles and phone calls,it appears to be ok to mix ammo in both caliber rifles.I do believe there are a couple 223 bolt action rifles that don't recommend using 5.56.My rifle is stamped 223 for export reasons only,after all the comments and phone calls I will have no problem using 223 or 5.56 in my rifle.

I dunno if you skipped my post , but as I said, I called Keltec, Savage, CZ, remington and Ruger, out of all of them, the Target mini 14 and remington bolt actions were the only ones of the brands mentioned That say to not shoot 5.56 with. All the others, even if marked .223 are good for 5.56
 
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Sorry I realized after I wrote my post ,that you had said exactly the same,only you checked more manufactures than me .Its alway good to call the maker.
 
Brian, some manufacturers stamp 223 on 5.56 barrels simply to indicate its for the civilian market, you won't hurt you keltec shooting 556 ammo. it can handle it just fine. In fact in Europe they are considered completely interchangeable. the problem with the norinco ammo is quality control, some projectiles are undersized, not sure but in NL you may have got a shipment with corrosive ammo, which has salts in the primer which can really accelerate corrosion in your barrel and action. don't shoot it, you will have more peace of mind shooting better ammo and right now peace of mind is more important than anything. really
 
There's so much wishywashy info on the differences between .223 & 5.56, you can read all you want but it will still come down to making a personal choice to run 5.56 through a .223 chambered rifle. It's very unlikely that the extra pressure in a 5.56 round would compromise the .223 chamber, since they are over-engineered to prevent this, but Norinco ammo is it's own beast... It is very hot ammo compared to average 5.56, and it's very prone to case failures, and many other freaky malfunctions...

If you do chose to fire this in your Kel-Tec that is labeled .223, you most definitely void any warranty on the rifle. Even though the bozo that sold it to you as .223, Norinco ammo is definitely 5.56. Nearly every retailer that stocks the junk seems to either be mis-informed, or intentionally labels it .223 to move more stock.
 
Industry members.

Any specific ones so I can confirm. I would like to confirm this for myself as SAAMI doesn't consider them interchangable (confirmed myself). And don't forget that European 5.56x45 is mearly their designation for .223 Remington and doesn't mean 5.56 Nato spec. ammo unless specifically noted as such. Maybe I'll try to find a CIP site to see what they say. Thanks
 
everyone can say what they like, they may get thousands of rounds of 5.56 through a .223 and be fine, but the rifle says chamber for .223, i also called keltec and talked to one of the smiths, not sure what his name was now... but he said they had to change the chamber for the canadian version to .223. plus if you put the two rounds next to each other you can physically see the height difference.. there is hardly any difference in price, i just prefer to play on the safe side lol.. check out this video its a good comparison! shoot safe all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9usnUq1iKU
 
We'll then Keltec is saying two different things,Chat who is their rep told me that it's chambered for 5.56 and only stamped 223 for export reasons. Anyway the only thing available here in 5.56 is norinco and that stuff looks nasty.So it's going to be .223 no matter what it's chambered for.
 
We'll then Keltec is saying two different things,Chat who is their rep told me that it's chambered for 5.56 and only stamped 223 for export reasons. Anyway the only thing available here in 5.56 is norinco and that stuff looks nasty.So it's going to be .223 no matter what it's chambered for.

You can get PMC 5.56 pretty easily, and it's not too expensive... I ordered mine from SFRC (http://www.theammosource.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_40_47&products_id=1175) Seems to be pretty good stuff, but I haven't tested it extensively. It will run you more than Norinco, but likely save your rifle (and possibly yourself) in the process.

By the way:

38987b3b-da56-42c0-9fbf-ac5053dddc02.jpg
 
I can norinco for 40 cents a rnd. I can get federal 223 for 45 cents a rnd. Problem is I do all my shooting behind my house . Therefore I have to use a cartridge for hunting coyote. I have access to federal 40 g at 80 cents a rnd or hornady zombie max at $1.50 a rnd. I purchased all the federal in town ...6 bxs. All that left around here are the hornady. Now if I could get my hands on some bulk hunting rnds that would be great
 
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