It has been done before. Most of the time it will fit and function without any issues.
Just want to ask this again Can I shoot 5.56 ammo in my savage 12 223? I think I know the answer but I've got lots of 5.56 NO 223
Thanks
It has been done before. Most of the time it will fit and function without any issues.
Do a search, its been covered multiple times.
You can do it at least once, but whether you're around to do it any more remains to be seen
Safe - probably not.
Wise decision - probably not.
I've done a lot of other stupid things in my life too.
[b]A witty saying proves nothing - Voltaire (1694-1778)[/b]
Mr sniper, what is it that makes it unwise or unsafe?Originally Posted by squirrelsniper
You can do it at least once, but whether you're around to do it any more remains to be seen
Safe - probably not.
Wise decision - probably not.
I've done a lot of other stupid things in my life too.
The pressure issue is something I'd worry about more in a gasser than bolt, personally. Some are more conservative than others; if its in a Savage rifle, it's a severe overstatement to imply you could die.
Mr Fish.... what is it that makes it safe?
.22LR * 6.5x47 Lapua * .223 Rem * .308 Win * 260 Rem * Large Cojones!
[I]"I can prove anything by statistics except the truth."[/I]
The only thing that i can think of that has not been covered at least a dozen times is the difference in CIP and SAMMI pressures. SAMMI being the US standard and CIP the European standard. Same cartridge has different pressure standards for the same weapons. I am speaking of the 223 remington not the 5.56 nato. Read all you can and make your own decision.
Thomae i got to get me one of those horses.
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 (New King James Version)
Rhetorical? How many have done it on this post? If you have done it and had bad results please slap me.
Lets look at some of the evidence provided. One dimension over .004 different. Have you ever shot a 69-90 grain bullet out of you 223 chamber. Did it go boom with that 25+or- grains of varget?
And what the heck is this? Look at the mouth of the chamber in this picture. The 556 is moved forward because of the angle that the photo was taken. Without some compensation with regards to the photographs perspective, the datum points are extremely flawed nullifying any of this example usefullness. That was the problem with 90% of what bigedp51 posted. Good data just not applicable to anything except dazzling the ignorant.
Last edited by stangfish; 04-12-2013 at 12:14 PM.
5.56 NATO is loaded to pressures above SAAMI spec, and even that pressure testing is done is a chamber that has the longer 5.56 NATO leade. So technically you're shooting a round that is already over SAAMI-spec pressure and you're doing it in a chamber that has a shorter leade.
Most quality modern bolt action rifles can handle the pressure just fine though. In truth most modern rifles of any action type can typically handle it, though broken bolts can be a problem in carbine-gassed M4s with a plain 223 chamber.
But, bottom line, I don't know the shooters on the other side of this keyboard or how much they actually know about the subject, so I think it would be highly irresponsible to make it sound like there are no risks whatsoever.
[b]A witty saying proves nothing - Voltaire (1694-1778)[/b]
Agreed. As it is to imply you will certainly be injured or die.
Have a question after reading this post. Is the excess pressure using a 5.56 in the Savage .223 chamber due to 5.56s having more powder charge or due to the wrong chamber geometry of the .223 chamber causing the excess pressure? Would the 5.56 pressure be too high for the Savage 223 if you changed the chamber geometry to a 5.56? Michiguns sells a reamer for opening a .223 to a 5.56. Their website only talks about using this reamer on AR-15s, I'm assuming it would work with a Savage .223?
Savage says - don't fire 5.56 in 223,
you won't need a 5.56 reamer, you can get a wylde reamer and ream it.
newbie from gr, mi.
Dont the also say don't use handloads?
Wylde is the way to go.
A wylde reamer won't even clean the chamber up. If some of you guys would actually listen, you'd know that Savage does not use a SAAMI spec reamer. I will guarantee that if you ACTUALLY measure your chamber, you will find that the freebore FAR exceeds what a 5.56 is.
Savages min. freebore on .223 chambers is .100".
"As long as there's lead in the air....there's still hope.."
I would prefer a wylde, as I've read you can shoot both through a Wylde chamber accurately, although I haven't been able to try this for myself yet but I'm working on it. I'd like to be able to shoot a 5.56 so I can shoot out to 600 yards with it. I've got a number of friends shooting 600 yards with their AR-15s so I figured I should be able to do the same with a Savage 12. And thought since it also comes with a 1in7 twist it should shoot a 5.56 well.
I don't recall seeing anything about not using hand loads in my manual... But admittedly I just gave it a cursory glance... I've fired far more hand loads than commercial or mil spec out of my 12BVSS in 308
I guess you may want to define bad. If bad is losing fingers then no. If bad is popped primers and sticky extraction then yes.
Out of 5 .223 rifles/pistols, 3 shot 5.56 just fine, 2 were unsafe. A Savage was one that seemed to be fine with it but you never know which you have until you pull the trigger. This is real world, first hand experience not BS, guessing or rumor.
Last edited by Jamie; 04-29-2013 at 08:42 AM.
More shooting, less typing.
Fair enough. So you shot 5.56 ammo in 5 different .223 rifles. Thats all I needed to hear. We are on the same page.
As a side note. Many of us have blown primer pockets out by pushing it. We have oversized our brass and undersized our brass. We may have even experience sticky bolt or head seperation. I would even venture to say some have not trimmed their brass to the correct length. I dont condone unsafe acts but with the freebore that savage puts in their 223 it may not be as unsafe as all the chicken littles cry and has been fine in my wifes gun. You milage may vary.
Guys,
I posted the link to the 223 vs 5.56 to show that this argument is not new and has been hashed out A BUNCH OF TIMES and was HOPING to stop all this crap.
I even made a sticky out of it to try to help.
These 223 vs 556 threads ALWAYS go down this road.........I'm locking this thread........and any others that start like this one from now on.
No more 223 vs 556 threads.
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