5.56 in a .223 bolt gun?

gunsnhoses · 06-08-2010, 14:15

So I know that shooting 5.56 in a semi-auto like an AR marked for .223 is generally a bad idea, so I'm assuming that shooting 5.56 in a .223 bolt gun would also be a bad idea?

The reason I ask is that I have a reasonable amount of 5.56 for my AR, but if I ever needed to could I use it in my .223 Savage bolt action without risking my well being?

Spankywombat · 06-08-2010, 16:52

Yes you can; no you shouldn't.

Same reasons why you wouldn't in the AR -- slight dimensional differences. But since you probably really don't use a nice bolt gun for plinking, why take the risk (albeit low) of excess wear and tear?

ETA -- if you really are only talking about a "if I ever needed to" situation, hell yes, go ahead and use it, and don't worry, I'm sure thousands of people have done the same. Or if you really don't care that much about keeping an heirloom gun. But if you have a choice........ better not to.

gunsnhoses · 06-08-2010, 17:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spankywombat

Yes you can; no you shouldn't.

Same reasons why you wouldn't in the AR -- slight dimensional differences. But since you probably really don't use a nice bolt gun for plinking, why take the risk (albeit low) of excess wear and tear?

ETA -- if you really are only talking about a "if I ever needed to" situation, hell yes, go ahead and use it, and don't worry, I'm sure thousands of people have done the same. Or if you really don't care that much about keeping an heirloom gun. But if you have a choice........ better not to.

So, are you saying that it will just cause excessive wear, or is it downright dangerous? Yes, I don't plan on making a habit of it, but I just thought if I needed to could I??

Spankywombat · 06-09-2010, 20:01

*I'm not a lawyer, just stayed at a HI Express once* -- Nah, not dangerous, just THEORETICALLY greater wear.

At the end of the day, don't do it if you are obsessive compulsive and want to keep your new rifle "pristine." Otherwise, just banging off a few 5.56's out of a .223 chamber probably won't do anything noticable to the chamber, accuracy, etc.
My point / the conundrum -- is that if you are just firing off a few rounds, then why risk anything to save a few pennies?
Sorry, sounds like double talk....... maybe an excuse to just get a 5.56 AR?

Blitzer · 06-09-2010, 20:03

An old topic and there were several threads here on Glock Talk open at one time.

NO!

***RMTactical*** · 06-09-2010, 20:23

Shooting 5.56 in a .223 bolt gun would not be recommended...

marvin · 06-09-2010, 20:31

NO!! i tried it and it locked my savage up as tight as a drum. i had to beat the bolt open. think about it, real tight .223 chamber, hot 5.56 ammo, not a good mix. lucky it didn't blow a primer.

fastbolt · 06-11-2010, 10:19

Check out page 7 in SAAMI's TECHNICAL DATA SHEET UNSAFE FIREARM-AMMUNITION COMBINATIONS:
http://www.saami.org/specifications_...mbinations.pdf

Federal (ATK) Law Enforcement Technical Bulletin: http://le.atk.com/pdf/223VS556.pdf

Web page for above link: http://le.atk.com/general/irl/technicalbulletins.aspx

vafish · 06-11-2010, 13:24

The best place to look is in your rifles manual, or contact your rifles manufacture, they should be able to tell you what your rifle is chambered for.

For instance if you look at Savage's rifle manual they specifically state that using military surplus or any other ammo not made to SAAMI standards will void your warranty. So that means no 5.56 in the .223.

But I have fired surplus 5.56 in my .223 TC Contender with no ill effect so far. I would be surprised if most mass produced .223 rifles didn't have the longer leade of the 5.56 specifications just for liability reasons. It would be interesting to make a chamber cast of my contender barrel and measure it to see how much leade is actually there.

Njanear · 06-11-2010, 17:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by vafish

The best place to look is in your rifles manual, or contact your rifles manufacture, they should be able to tell you what your rifle is chambered for.

For instance if you look at Savage's rifle manual they specifically state that using military surplus or any other ammo not made to SAAMI standards will void your warranty. So that means no 5.56 in the .223.

But I have fired surplus 5.56 in my .223 TC Contender with no ill effect so far. I would be surprised if most mass produced .223 rifles didn't have the longer leade of the 5.56 specifications just for liability reasons. It would be interesting to make a chamber cast of my contender barrel and measure it to see how much leade is actually there.

Back before the internet was created by Al Gore (which is where I finally heard about this issue), I had some nice Norinco 5.56mm ammo that I fired in my T/C Contender .223 one day. After having a few semi-stuck cases, I pulled my head just far enough out of my rear end to notice that the primers were also backing out (and 1 had actually been pierced). At that point, I relegated that ammo to my AR and stuck with factory .223 for the T/C.

PS: I had 0 issues with the Norinco in my ARs.

tyger006 · 06-12-2010, 08:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by marvin

NO!! i tried it and it locked my savage up as tight as a drum. i had to beat the bolt open. think about it, real tight .223 chamber, hot 5.56 ammo, not a good mix. lucky it didn't blow a primer.

Same thing happened to me when the gunstore sold me 556 ammo with my new browning bolt action I bought from them. I had not done my research and thought they were the same. Had to send the gun back to browning. I now load .223 only in all my 556/223 guns and it works fine.

wanderinwalker · 06-13-2010, 14:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by vafish

The best place to look is in your rifles manual, or contact your rifles manufacture, they should be able to tell you what your rifle is chambered for.

For instance if you look at Savage's rifle manual they specifically state that using military surplus or any other ammo not made to SAAMI standards will void your warranty. So that means no 5.56 in the .223.

But I have fired surplus 5.56 in my .223 TC Contender with no ill effect so far. I would be surprised if most mass produced .223 rifles didn't have the longer leade of the 5.56 specifications just for liability reasons. It would be interesting to make a chamber cast of my contender barrel and measure it to see how much leade is actually there.

No offense vafish, but I bet your 5.56mm in the Contender worked fine because of the *ahem* excellent *cough* job a *wheeze* certain New Hampshire-based company does on the QC of it's chamber and throat dimensions...

(I talked to a guy who claimed to have asked a Hornady rep if a certain NH-based muzzleloader company having issues with bore-diameters in it's rifles was the reason the low drag sabots came into being. The answer was ah, yep.)

Anyway, don't fire 5.56 ammo in a .223 chamber! Too much pressure, you'll pop a primer at least. I have a batch of .223 match ammmo I loaded for a barrel with a 5.56 chamber. That barrel was toast a couple of years ago, and my new barrel, with a .223 Wylde chamber, won't accept them without indigestion (pierced primers).

marvin · 06-13-2010, 23:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyger006

Same thing happened to me when the gunstore sold me 556 ammo with my new browning bolt action I bought from them. I had not done my research and thought they were the same. Had to send the gun back to browning. I now load .223 only in all my 556/223 guns and it works fine.

i plead guilty to knowing better, but wanted to see how accurate the loads would be in my savage. didn't take me long to find out that i goofed up(1 shot)