Wanted to ask this question. I was shooting some 62 grain 223 at the range. You guys know the recoil on those. Ok so my buddy has a box of 5.56 NATO stuff. We load it up and boom. Are these loads hotter than the .223 62 grain. That round of 5.56 was awesome. Big difference in that versus the .223. What is the differences?
The 5.56 had a a lot more power and kick that the .223.

I'm guessing these are military loads. Is this the reason for the increase in power? Anywhere locally to get 5.56 for a decent price? Wish the 5.56 stuff was not so expensive.

Thanks,
Andy

The 5.56 mill spec is loaded a lot hotter than .223.
This is for fragmentation.
Check out this link for all the info you need on ammo.
www.ammo-oracle.com/

I don't know of anybody local with good prices on Lake City XM 193.
There are several places online to get LC ammo.
This is one.
www.miragetechnologies.net/Main.htm
You can also try ammoman.
Another mill spec 5.56 is Winchester Q3131A.
This is great ammo also. This shows up at fun shows frequently and can be found at Galyans and a few other retail stores from time to time. The prices (retail) on this have been pretty high lately.
I have not seen the SA battle packs in a while.
They were priced very well while they were around.
Go to the ammo forum and see if anybody has posted where to find either one at a good price.
There is also 62 grn mill spec ammo called M855 from Israel and SS109 from LC. They are steel core and are also loaded hotter than non mill spec ammo. This ammo is not cheap.
There should be some Q3131A at the next Eastman show.

ARH

the cheapest I could find it online for is at www.wholesalehunter.com/product/zzbanner/banner.htm

they kinda hid the deal this time on a banner ad, it has gone up 10 bucks from the last 1000 round case to 186.50 delivered to your door. If you want another case the shipping is a dollar more, not bad but not great.
I'm buying some reloading equipment this week and I'm going to start getting into that. At the FOPfest in B'ham they had barrels of .223 brass free for the taking according to Mona, I'm gonna get me some of that and roll my own.

gilfrd

One of our local members GAcop, gets federal XM193 (Lake City), and I think he sells it to ARFCOM members at 85 dollars per 500 rounds.  He would have to come on here and confirm the price, so don't take my word for gospel.  BTW his shop is the ACE Hardware in Newnan.

Quoted: Wanted to ask this question. I was shooting some 62 grain 223 at the range. You guys know the recoil on those. Ok so my buddy has a box of 5.56 NATO stuff. We load it up and boom. Are these loads hotter than the .223 62 grain. That round of 5.56 was awesome. Big difference in that versus the .223. What is the differences? Andy

What brand of 62gr ammo did you purchase?  If your friend’s ammunition was NATO spec then it has to be M855 rounds which are loaded with SS-109 bullets.  Remember that not all 62gr bullets are SS-109s.  M855 should be around 3050 FPS from a 20” barrel. Most commercial .223 will be around 100-200 FPS slower.


XM193, Q3131, Q3131A and SA M193 all meet the old US spec for M193 ammunition.  There rounds are readily available as has been indicated buy the previous post.  M193 ammunition is a better all purpose round than M855 ammunition.

The Azalin