Kentucky Armory Club

Why are the majority of rifles that are chambered in .223 ONLY chambered for .223 and not 5.56/.223??

I have a Savage Axis in .223. Have called Savage on it when I saw that Bud's advertised it as 5.56/.223. Savage told me that it is .223 only.

I'd like to have a Ruger American and here is where it gets odd. They offer the RAR Ranch in 5.56/.223, but none of the other RAR models are offered as such, only in .223.

While I am not versed in ballistics I do understand that the 5.56 round is slightly different in its shell casing and also generates higher chamber pressure than the .223.

Is it possible to have a bolt action rifle that is currently chambered for .223 ONLY to be altered/reamed to accept and safely use 5.56 ammunition??

Thanks,
BK

I don't think reaming would make a difference... unless I'm thinking of it wrong.

It's more of a pressure issue....

Never understood why manufactures don't make more bolt guns that are rated 5.56 though

Also know there's a lot of folks that swear there's very little difference in most 5.56/223 rounds...


Edit: when it comes to pressure on chamber, ballistics etc

Paging Cranky

JustShootIt wrote:I don't think reaming would make a difference... unless I'm thinking of it wrong.

It's more of a pressure issue....

Never understood why manufactures don't make more bolt guns that are rated 5.56 though

The reason I mention reaming the chamber is this tool for AR-15 chambers offered by MICHIGUNS:

http://www.m-guns.com/tools.php

The case size difference in the two calibers (5.56 and .223) is in the "leade" (?), throat and neck of the case (am I correct here??). Wondering if a tool like this could be used to modify a bolt-action .223 only chamber to accept 5.56 ammo (safely)??

BK

If you want to shoot 5.56 in your bolt rifle either pick one that already has a 5.56 chamber (there are a fair amount of options, but I forget most) or buy whatever you want and have the chamber reamed to true 5.56 dimensions. You can absolutely do that safely, and many people have done it before.

Or just shoot .223
Or shoot 5.56 in the .223 , you will know with one or two cases if you have a pressure problem.

The 5.56 has a longer throat than .223 same case size more or less.

5.56 is loaded to high pressure so belt feed machine guns will cycle with the same ammo as used in rifles.

BK Meyers wrote:

JustShootIt wrote:I don't think reaming would make a difference... unless I'm thinking of it wrong.

It's more of a pressure issue....

Never understood why manufactures don't make more bolt guns that are rated 5.56 though

The reason I mention reaming the chamber is this tool for AR-15 chambers offered by MICHIGUNS:

http://www.m-guns.com/tools.php

The case size difference in the two calibers (5.56 and .223) is in the "leade" (?), throat and neck of the case (am I correct here??). Wondering if a tool like this could be used to modify a bolt-action .223 only chamber to accept 5.56 ammo (safely)??

BK

Yes but I have used throating reamers for several decades in rebarreling bolt guns.

guncrank1 wrote:Or just shoot .223
Or shoot 5.56 in the .223 , you will know with one or two cases if you have a pressure problem.

So are you suggesting that I run the risk if damaging the rifle and possible bodily injury to myself with this statement?? How would the pressure problem manifest itself if not thru damage??

Not trying to be an ass here, but I'm confused by this "try it and see if it blows up" testing method.

BK

A .223 chambered firearm that would catastrophically fail when firing 5.56 isn't a firearm I'd consider safe regardless of what you shoot through it. The differences between the two aren't so great that firing a 5.56 round in a .223 chamber will cause the gun to catastrophically fail. Instead you'll see signs of higher than ideal pressures, the same symptoms (like cratered firing pin marks on the primers, flattened primers, or popped primers) you'd probably see working up the maximum safe charge in a hand load.

Your best bet is going to be ensuring you have a 5.56 chamber... that said, and though I can't recommend it, test firing 5.56 through a .223 chamber then observing for signs of over pressure probably isn't going to result in damaged guns or appendages.

I'm sure I'm missing some, and some of these can be caused by other things. I'm not an expert.

Flattened primers
Bulging primers
Popped primers
Firing pin causing cratering
Extractor/ejector marks

Whootsinator wrote:A .223 chambered firearm that would catastrophically fail when firing 5.56 isn't a firearm I'd consider safe regardless of what you shoot through it. The differences between the two aren't so great that firing a 5.56 round in a .223 chamber will cause the gun to catastrophically fail. Instead you'll see signs of higher than ideal pressures, the same symptoms (like cratered firing pin marks on the primers, flattened primers, or popped primers) you'd probably see working up the maximum safe charge in a hand load.

Your best bet is going to be ensuring you have a 5.56 chamber... that said, and though I can't recommend it, test firing 5.56 through a .223 chamber then observing for signs of over pressure probably isn't going to result in damaged guns or appendages.

Thank you for the clarification(s). Very good info and much appreciated.

BK

Many manufactures use an in between chamber spec to avoid problems and commonly use a proprietary name for theirs though Wylde is commonly used by many.

As YGG pointed out , your rifle could shoot 5.56 with no problem as it could have a longer throat or none.
It is up to you but one round of 5.56 will not cause a KAboom
It may prove you have a high pressure problem.
If you reload , you will know the signs
A sticking bolt on extraction
A primer that flows back in firing pin hole
Flatten primer
Cratering of primer pocket in case. Just like the picture in Whoots post.

If you are Have little tolerance for expermitiation , I continue to suggest you stick to .223 or reload the 5.56 to .223 levels and modify the case.

If you desire a throating effort , renting a throater is much cheaper.
And a word of caution , it can be done but you should have experence to use a throater.

oh go on and let cranky ream it out...worst it could be would be 30-06

In a bolt gun I would not have a 5.56 chamber, give me the nice tight 223 chamber any day!