.223 And 5.56 Compatability
Can a gun chambered in .223 still shoot military surplus 5.56 without any damage being caused to the gun?
"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long..."
"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long..."
0
-
That's actually a very good question. Commercial ammunition manufacturers use the guidelines set forth by bodies such as SAAMI in the US and CIP internationally. SAAMI & CIP set forth minumum and maximum dimensions of cartridge cases, projectiles and loaded ammunition. They also set out guidelines for maximum allowable chamber pressures for each cartridge. With these guidelines, ammunition from any manufacturer should work safely in any gun chambered for that particular cartridge. European companies tend to load their ammo to the higher end of the power spectrum while US companies are quite a bit more conservative to avoid potential law suits. MILITARY ammunition is a completely different story. Military ammo is loaded to specifications that suit the needs of the host military country. There is little standardization between countries using the same caliber ammunition. For instance, while 7.62 NATO from any country will function in the guns of any other NATO country, not one country loads this ammo with the same weight bullet or to the same power level. While .223 Remington is generally considered interchanegable with 5.56 NATO, they are not the same. The 5.56 NATO round is loaded to higher pressures and is designed to shoot in a slightly different dimensioned chamber. SAAMI warns against shooting surplus 5.56 in any .223 chambered sporting arm. Another example is 7.62X25. Chinese ammo is loaded rather sedately, while Czech and Bulgarian ammo is loaded very hot. Bullet diameters cary greatly even within the same caliber. For instance, you will find 7.62X39 with bullets ranging from .308 to .312 in diameter. Buying surplus military ammo can be a gamble, and sometimes you will encounter ammo that is not safe to shoot.
I married a Moonshiners Daughter and I Love her Still0 -
We had a recent thread regarding the same concern.
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=99228
The link in the thread, goes into detail regarding the difference between SAMMI & Military chamber dimensions.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
2 comments