Hi all,

I'm new to AR barrel land, as at present, I only own a 5.45x39R barrel & bolt. However, being strapped for cash (as I'm sure plenty are rn), I wanted to go economical with a 'safe' barrel option for as many different cartridges as possible.

I originally was going to buy a .223 Wylde barrel to shoot all of .22LR, .223 Remington & 5.56x45N safely (setting aside requiring a conversion kit for BCG assembly; barrel only). However, I just learnt about .224 Valkyrie and wanted to ask:

1) Can a .224 Valkyrie barrel shoot all of .223 Remington, 5.56x45N, .22LR, .22WMR, .224 Valkyrie, 6.5 Grendel and 6.8 SPC safely? If not, which one(s) of these can the barrel not shoot correctly/safely, presumably due to chamber headspace issues?

2) Can a .223/5.56x45N bolt shoot .224 Valkyrie, assuming a .224 Valkyrie barrel is installed?

3) If no to (2), can a .224 Valkyrie bolt shoot 6.8 SPC safely, assuming a barrel compatible with 6.8 SPC is installed?

4) If nothing at all, is there a place I can lookup cartridge or round compatibility with chambers and barrels, in order to best make my decision?

I want to buy as few barrels as possible of a decent quality (not looking for sharpshooting accuracy at my second barrel purchase...ever) to have the most flexibility with round options, setting aside bolt or mag compatibilities. I have a take-down upper, so that's why even despite cost of these other required instruments, I'm focused on picking the most versatile barrrel.

Thanks!

Hi d16man/trenchfoot, thanks for the fast and mighty helpful reply; just a follow-up on (1); can a .224 Valkyrie barrel at least shoot either of .223/5.56x45N? What about any of the well-known .22 calibers (.22LR)?
Also follow-up on (3); can a .224 Valkyrie barrel shoot 6.8 SPC, or is the only thing similar between the two the casing (for BCG compatibility purposes), not the bullet (for barrel purposes)? Azmp5 addressed below!

Thanks!

Wow. Ok. This is going to take a minute.  But long story short, each caliber needs is own barrel.  

1. 224 Valkyrie needs to shoot only a 224 Valkyrie ammo.  It does shoot the .224 bullet, just like 223/556 but the chamber totally different. Same for the 6.8.  

2.  No.  Need a 6.8 bolt for 224V and different for 223/556

3.  A 6.8 bolt can shoot both a 224V and 6.8. But u need a seperate barrel for 224V and 6.8.  

4.  Yes, by the sounds of it, you need to do alot more research on this.  Im not trying to sound "mean" and I'm glad you asked here before trying any of that or u would prob have blown up ur gun.


Basically u will need a 223/556 upper / bcg, 224V barrel and bcg and 6.8 barrel and bcg.  As someone who shoots 224V, its not a good round to get into for new shooters if u r looking for accuracy. Well...good accuracy.   To do that u will need to get into reloading and even then, it is a very finicky round.   I personally would start with a 223 wylde barrel/bcg and learn to shoot that well before moving on.

Yup, definitely, just needed a starting point to dispel the reasons why some things I thought were not true...

In that case however, I'm left a little confused about the casing dimensions...We can shoot .22LR safely in .223/5.56N barrels, and that casing diameter is far smaller...so why can't .223 rounds be shot in a .224 Valkyrie barrel? You wouldn't risk over-pressurizing the chamber or in essence, 'blowing up ur gun' because of this...would you?

Thank you!!

Thanks for the visualization, but I'm still not understanding something here, perhaps I'm just being a bit too 'autistic' here for my own good...the .22LR casing is smaller in both diameter and height than the .223/5.56x45N cartridge (and entire round) as well...so if the 6.8SPC/.224V casing is larger than that of the .223 (which from what you're telling me and from what I'm understanding online as well is the case), why couldn't you theoretically equip a 5.56x45N bolt into a bolt carrier, mount a .224V barrel, chamber .223 Remington in there, and shoot away? It's the same principle as .22LR minus the DI-powered cycling, no?

My guy, thanks so much for the help and for finally hitting that one on the head, but what is this now (if I'm understanding your latest post correctly) that .223 and 5.56x45N are only compatible together in a 5.56x45N barrel chamber?

I had always understood the opposite--that the only way to get both .223 Remington and 5.56x45 NATO to work together in the same barrel chamber was to use a .223 Wylde barrel.

You are not going to shoot 22LR in a 223/5.56 barrel unless you buy a 22LR bolt/chamber adapter kit.  It's a chamber insert which fits the 223/5.56 chamber with a bolt mechanism and magazine which allows it to use the 223/5.56 barrel.

The 223/5.56 is not really a pressure issue, it's an issue with the throat dimensions and bullet profiles which might cause higher pressures in a barrel chambered for 223 with 5.56 Nato ammo.  A 223 Wylde chamber has throat dimensions which mitigate this as well as usually better accuracy across both cartridges.  So, 223 in a barrel chambered in 223 is good to go.  223 and 5.56 in a Wylde or a Nato chamber is OK.

.223/5.56mm ammo is identical in everyway except the amount of powder being used. To my knowledge nobody is selling ".223" chambered AR barrels anywhere. Any modern AR barrel will come from the factory using a .223 Wylde, 5.56mm NATO, CLE or Noveske chamber, all of which are designed to shoot the higher pressure 5.56mm ammo safely.

It is UNSAFE to shoot any ammo through a rifle that isn't chambered for that caliber. Unsafe can range from a mouse fart velocity and blown out case from ammo being undersized for the chamber and/or bore to catastrophic failure blowing up your rifle causing shrapnel, injury and even death of the shooter or bystanders.

People across the country have had total destruction of their firearms and personal injuries by accidently putting the wrong caliber ammo in their firearms. To try it on purpose is insanity.

Google .300 Blackout in a 5.56mm Kaboom for more insight.