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.223 ammo

joecowboy98
Seemed to make sense that I start a fresh thread on this topic. I'm learning that there are apparently three types of .223 ammo. The civilian load, called .223 Remington, the military load, the 5.56mm used in the M-16 and it's descendants, and another one that is called something like .223 Winchester magnum. I gather that the latter is apparently a different round and is NOT interchangeable with the first two. But I also am learning that, while you can shoot the civilian rounds in a rifle chambered for the military cartridge, the reverse is not adviseable due to the greater pressures of the 5.56 round. But the military rounds are what make shooting the .223 caliber so much more economical. That being the case, what should you look for when buying a .223 rifle to make sure you can shoot both the military and the civilian rounds?
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • joecowboy98
    Is .223 (5.56x45mm) ammo interchangable with .223 (5.45x39mm) ammo.
    In particular, will they both fire safely and efficiently in a ruger.223 ranch rifle or a bushmaster .223??
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  • Wehrmacht_45
    They are slightly different.

    .223 will work in a 5.56mm chamber, but 5.56 will not work in a .223 chamber.

    The brass is slightly thicker in the 5.56mm ammo and it will not work in the tighter .223 chamber.
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  • catpealer111
    I believe he's asking about .223 vs. 5.45x39, the round that the AK-74 uses. If that's the case, the answer is no. The .223 and 5.56x45 are not interchangeable with the Russian cartridge 5.45x39.
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  • partisan
    American ammo. Russian ammo. Nothing aloke.
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  • Boomerang
    no
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  • Wehrmacht_45
    Yes my mistake. I misread.

    5.45 and 5.56 are nothing alike. Even the bullet diameter is off. 5.45 is a .21 caliber, while 5.56/223 is .224.
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