AR .223 vs. 5.56 question

[Scott in Houston]

Gang,

I've been reading about, and asking questions about (on this forum, and others) AR's for a while. I've got a pretty good handle on them now. I've gone back and forth between what my first AR would be, and I was very close to getting the Sig 516.

I've finally settled on getting a Colt 6920 or 6940 depending on the deal I can find. So far, this is the best deal and leading candidate:


http://www.knesekguns.com/commercial/Ri ... _info.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyway, my next question, that I haven't seen addressed is this:

Do you site in your rifle with 5.56 or .223 ammo? I'm guessing it depends on what you're going to shoot the most, but I guess that begs the question, "why do I see so much discussion on .223 and not 5.56?" Is it cost and ammo availability?

When one of these Colts gets a new home in my household, I plan on stocking and shooting 5.56 more... but is that worth it? Is .223 close enough so that cost isn't worth going to 5.56?

[The Annoyed Man]

Any AR chambered in 5.56 will safely shoot both 5.56 and .223. But, because of slight differences in the headspacing and case wall thickness, it may not be safe to chamber 5.56 in your .223 weapon because of higher pressures.

The 5.56 chamber may not shoot .223 as accurately as 5.56, but truly, for most applications, your 5.56 chambered AR will be fine with either. Some manufacturers, Rock River Arms for instance, chamber their ARs with a "Wylde" chamber, which is designed to handle .223 AND 5.56. My son's RRA varminter is the most accurate rifle we own, and he usually buys or loads match grade .223 ammo for it.

In any case, as long as your rifle is stamped "5.56," you don't really have anything to worry about.

[Scott in Houston]

Thanks TAM.

Yes, I'll have a 5.56 chambered rifle. That Colt is for sure a 5.56 chamber, but I guess the root of my question was "Is 5.56 ammo worth the extra cost over .223."

Based on your answer, I'm inferring that it isn't.

[Dave2]

Thanks TAM.

Yes, I'll have a 5.56 chambered rifle. That Colt is for sure a 5.56 chamber, but I guess the root of my question was "Is 5.56 ammo worth the extra cost over .223."

Based on your answer, I'm inferring that it isn't.

5.56 is specced for a higher max chamber pressure than .223, so it might be worth it if you need a bit more power. (Oddly enough, it's the other way around with 7.62/.308 -- the .308 civilian cartridge has a higher pressure than the military's 7.62.)

[The Annoyed Man]

Thanks TAM.

Yes, I'll have a 5.56 chambered rifle. That Colt is for sure a 5.56 chamber, but I guess the root of my question was "Is 5.56 ammo worth the extra cost over .223."

Based on your answer, I'm inferring that it isn't.

What brand are you buying? In my experience, it's the other way around...if you're comparing apples to apples. By that, I mean that premium brand NATO ammo tends to be less expensive than premium brand .223. For instance, Federal XM193 NATO ball ammo costs less than Federal "hunting" ammo in .223.

Whatever you buy, I strongly urge you to shy away from the steel cased foreign import cheap ammo.

[Scott in Houston]

Thanks TAM.

Yes, I'll have a 5.56 chambered rifle. That Colt is for sure a 5.56 chamber, but I guess the root of my question was "Is 5.56 ammo worth the extra cost over .223."

Based on your answer, I'm inferring that it isn't.

What brand are you buying? In my experience, it's the other way around...if you're comparing apples to apples. By that, I mean that premium brand NATO ammo tends to be less expensive than premium brand .223. For instance, Federal XM193 NATO ball ammo costs less than Federal "hunting" ammo in .223.

Whatever you buy, I strongly urge you to shy away from the steel cased foreign import cheap ammo.

Thanks. I haven't bought anything yet because I still don't have my rifle. I'll be buying some soon because I expect to buy my rifle in the next couple of weeks.

I hadn't shopped enough to notice that the premium .223 is more than the 5.56. I find that amazing. Is that .223 more consistent than the premium 5.56?

[The Annoyed Man]

Thanks TAM.

Yes, I'll have a 5.56 chambered rifle. That Colt is for sure a 5.56 chamber, but I guess the root of my question was "Is 5.56 ammo worth the extra cost over .223."

Based on your answer, I'm inferring that it isn't.

What brand are you buying? In my experience, it's the other way around...if you're comparing apples to apples. By that, I mean that premium brand NATO ammo tends to be less expensive than premium brand .223. For instance, Federal XM193 NATO ball ammo costs less than Federal "hunting" ammo in .223.

Whatever you buy, I strongly urge you to shy away from the steel cased foreign import cheap ammo.

Thanks. I haven't bought anything yet because I still don't have my rifle. I'll be buying some soon because I expect to buy my rifle in the next couple of weeks.

I hadn't shopped enough to notice that the premium .223 is more than the 5.56. I find that amazing. Is that .223 more consistent than the premium 5.56?

5.56, even from companies like Federal, is a mass-produced military contract product. As such, the price is brought lower by the quantity in which it is manufactured. Ground forces in Afganistan probably burn through more 5.56 in a couple of days than civilian shooters in the U.S. expend in a month or more. Also, with the exception of match type ammo, almost all 5.56 is some variation of an FMJ or possibly a penetrator bullet, and it's almost all either 55 or 62 grain bullets. Compared to that, commercial market manufactures produce .223 in a large array of bullet weights and bullet types, from 40 grain to 80 grain, and from FMJ to solid copper hollowpoints to ballistic tips to soft points, to boat-tailed hollow points, to frangibles, etc., etc., etc. Consequently, production runs are smaller. Plus a lot of the bullet types are more expensive to manufacture than mass produced ball.

As far as consistency goes, I recently read an article in Gun Tests magazine that quoted several studies which showed that American made military contract ammo tended to stay closer to specs for headspacing etc., than commercial ammo. I don't know if it's true across the board or not, but I can say from experience that I've never had either the Lake City or Federal XM193 ball fail to fire in my carbine. I can't say that for the cheaper commercial stuff. It's not a huge problem or anything, but a couple of times I've had cheaper commercially produced cartridges fail to fire after a good solid primer strike. On the other hand, I've never had any issues with good quality commercial ammo like Black Hills Red box .223 or their remanufactured blue box in .223.

All of that said, I generally feed my carbine whatever I can find, in either .223 or 5.56, with the stipulation that it must be brass-cased ammo with copper jacketed bullets. The cheapest ammo I'll run through that gun is the Monarch 55 grainer, available both as a FMJ and as a soft point. Currently, it seems to be going for about $9.95 a box of 20, but I've seen it on sale occasionally for less than that. I believe that it's manufactured by Prvi Partisan. I consider it to be decent plinking ammo. Currently, Cheaper than Dirt has the Federal XM193 ball (manufactured at Lake City Arsenal) for sale in 5.56 for $8.19 per box of 20 (LINKEY). Given my choice, I would generally pick the Federal over the Monarch—partly for reliability reasons, and partly because it seems to burn noticeably cleaner than the Monarch.

But that's just me. Your mileage may vary.

[Scott in Houston]

Wow... great info!
I think you're right about the Monarch and its manufacturer. I believe all the Monarch Brass is made by the same company. The steel... is not good stuff. Fine for a Glock, but I'd never buy a rifle caliber in steel.

I'm going to go out and start loading up on all the 5.56 I can find. :)
I don't see it sold at Academy, but sometimes Walmart and there's a local shop that has it for decent prices.

I can't wait to get my new rifle. We're currently making two house payments, and my old house is about to get sold. When that happens, I'll make 1 more 'payment', but it will take the form of a Colt 6940! ;)

[The Annoyed Man]

I don't see it sold at Academy...

Your local store may be temporarily out of it, but here it is on their website: http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=c ... +.223+AMMO. You could try asking them when they'll get more in.

But I do recommend giving the Federal XM193 a try, from Cheaper than Dirt or wherever you can find it. It's pretty good ammo.

[Scott in Houston]

I don't see it sold at Academy...

Your local store may be temporarily out of it, but here it is on their website: http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=c ... +.223+AMMO. You could try asking them when they'll get more in.

But I do recommend giving the Federal XM193 a try, from Cheaper than Dirt or wherever you can find it. It's pretty good ammo.

What I meant was that Academy doesn't sell 5.56. I do see that .223 there a lot. I've been happy with Monarch ammo for handguns, so I'm guessing it's decent target ammo for an AR.

I will look into that Federal. Thank for the pointer!

[LittleGun]

This is a very interesting discussion. The barrel of my AR-15 is stamped 5.56 NATO. I'm going to try it. Gander Mountain carries Winchester 5.56.

[Toadstone]

It is also better to have a 5.56 mm chamber because when the world ends, you may find yourself scrounging or trading for ammo and only be able to find 5.56. My "emergency" stockpiled ammo is all m193, which I think is pretty common. That reminds me, I need to buy some more of that...

[Beiruty]

It is also better to have a 5.56 mm chamber because when the world ends, you may find yourself scrounging or trading for ammo and only be able to find 5.56. My "emergency" stockpiled ammo is all m193, which I think is pretty common. That reminds me, I need to buy some more of that...

when the world ends? I am interested in knowing when that happens. I guess i am short on ammo..this however is the least of my problems when ice age winter is the here

[Dave2]

this however is the least of my problems when ice age winter is the here

This is Texas... It'll still be 120 in the summer.

[Toadstone]

when the world ends? I am interested in knowing when that happens.

I wrote "when the world ends" because if you type the abbreviation for "stuff hits the fan", the forum automatically changes the 4 letters to the words "when a problem arises". I guess I could have typed "TEOTWAWKI", but that's just too long.