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Posted: 6/29/2009 1:07:19 PM EDT
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Trying to sift through all of the ammo deals and availability is getting me confused. Do most of you look for ammo marked 5.56 and try to avoid .223? Or does it really matter if it is .223?
Yes, I understand that you can shoot .223 in a 5.56 barrel, but my understanding is that some of it is not loaded as hot as the 5.56. For example, when I read that someone is getting sub MOA groups with a 75 grain round, that would tell me that they were using .223 because I have not seen any 5.56 - 75 g. I guess my question is - should I be paying attention to whether or not a match round is .223 or 5.56? Any reason to avoid .223? Thanks! |
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If you're buying 55 or 62 grain ammo to stockpile for SHTF, you'll ideally want to look for 5.56 rather than .223. For general blasting, whichever is cheapest is fine.
If you're wanting to stock some of the heavier OTM stuff, you'll be pretty much limited to .223. That is, unless you happen to have a line on some of the 5.56 loaded 75 gr. TAP stuff, and you'll probably pay a small fortune for that. The reason to avoid the .223 FMJ stuff is for terminal performance reasons. Between velocity and bullet construction differences, it's much less likely to fragment. No big deal for killing bottles, cans, and the like. Evidently, the OTM stuff does OK (or so some folks claim) in the terminal department, despite it moving at .223 velocities. Longer bullet = more bearing surface = lower fragmentation threshold, so I guess that makes sense, in theory anyway. |
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