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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Reloading
.223 vs. 5.56
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<blockquote data-quote="Doom2" data-source="post: 2799210" data-attributes="member: 108323"><p>Unfortunately the Sniper Country article is somewhat unclear. When initially issued the 223 Remington and the US 5.56 (M193 Cartridge) were the same cartridge. The 5.56 was not referred to as 5.56x45 or NATO. As helmet and body armor became better the original 55gr FMJ round was found to have penetration issues. Also the European NATO countries were looking to replace the 7.62x51NATO round in current use with a lighter round similar to the US 5.56 and 5.45x39 Russian. In 1980 or 81 NATO selected a round based on the Remington 223/5.56 Case but with a 62 grain bullet with a steel penetrator designed by FN. In order to handle the longer bullet (about 0.25" IIRC) the camber for the round needed a longer freebore than the original 223 round had. This became the 5.56x45 NATO. CIP standards were also used for pressure measurement which accounts for most of the pressure difference. The US had no problem with the new round since the only change to existing M16 rifles was a barrel change with the new chamber and a 1 in 7 twist. </p><p></p><p>While it has become common to refer to M193 as 5.56x45 NATO it is not a NATO cartridge.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Doom2, post: 2799210, member: 108323"] Unfortunately the Sniper Country article is somewhat unclear. When initially issued the 223 Remington and the US 5.56 (M193 Cartridge) were the same cartridge. The 5.56 was not referred to as 5.56x45 or NATO. As helmet and body armor became better the original 55gr FMJ round was found to have penetration issues. Also the European NATO countries were looking to replace the 7.62x51NATO round in current use with a lighter round similar to the US 5.56 and 5.45x39 Russian. In 1980 or 81 NATO selected a round based on the Remington 223/5.56 Case but with a 62 grain bullet with a steel penetrator designed by FN. In order to handle the longer bullet (about 0.25" IIRC) the camber for the round needed a longer freebore than the original 223 round had. This became the 5.56x45 NATO. CIP standards were also used for pressure measurement which accounts for most of the pressure difference. The US had no problem with the new round since the only change to existing M16 rifles was a barrel change with the new chamber and a 1 in 7 twist. While it has become common to refer to M193 as 5.56x45 NATO it is not a NATO cartridge. [/QUOTE]
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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Reloading
.223 vs. 5.56
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