Opinions on .223 Wylde?

[calypsocoral]

Okay, so as you guys may know, I'm currently in the (slow and gradual) process of building my first AR. I currently have the lower receiver (from Lanco Tactical in Elizabethtown), the pistol grip and buttstock (both IDF issue from the Mako group, ordered by Cheaper Than Dirt), as well as the buffer and tube components (also purchased from Lanco).

So, it's time to start looking at purchasing the upper components. Lanco is coming out with their own stripped uppers, so I'm probably going to get one of those to match the stripped lower I bought from them.

So now I have to start looking at the barrel. I want a 20+" barrel for this build, as this will be my "medium range" (think 75-200 yards) 5.56 rifle. I'm looking for a heavy threaded (non-bull) barrel. The first offering I'm looking at is made by Yankee Hill Machine, and is fluted. You can check it out HERE.

But, lately, I've been reading about the .223 Wylde chamber, and how it can effectively compromise between 5.56 NATO and .223 Remington cartridges. Armalite does such chamberings, but I've only found it available in 24" Bull barrels. So, I found another company called Black Rain Ordnance that does almost all of their stuff in .223 Wylde, and do custom barrels. You can check out their barrels page HERE.

So, my questions are thus:

1) Does anyone have experience with parts made by Black Rain Ordnance, and were those experiences positive or negative?

2) Is the .223 Wylde chambering effective at its intended purpose?

I look forward to hearing your experiences.

[Sharkey]

#2
I have a RRA 20" Hbar in wylde ..... To my knowlege the .223,5.56 and the wylde are nearly identical with the wylde inbetween the .233 and 5.56.I have run both .223 and 5.56 through imine with no failures.Accuracy is the same with me shooting.With someone who is a better marksman there may be a differance but I can't tell

[autotech6506]

223 wylde is arguably more accurate than a 5.56 chamber. you can shoot 5.56 out of it (from what I understand) and it is considered more accurate because the rifling starts sooner than it does in a 5.56 chamber. I have heard that depending on the round you may have to "pogo stick" the rifle to eject a live round because the bullet can go into the rifling slightly when being chambered.

I personally would stick with a standard 5.56 barrel.

[calypsocoral]

223 wylde is arguably more accurate than a 5.56 chamber. you can shoot 5.56 out of it (from what I understand) and it is considered more accurate because the rifling starts sooner than it does in a 5.56 chamber. I have heard that depending on the round you may have to "pogo stick" the rifle to eject a live round because the bullet can go into the rifling slightly when being chambered.

I personally would stick with a standard 5.56 barrel.

As I understand it (and somebody please point me to a source of correct info if I'm mistaken), one of the primary differences between 5.56x45 NATO and .223 Remington is that 5.56 has a longer lead (throat area of the casing), hence the supposed loss in accuracy when shooting .223 out of a 5.56-chambered rifle (5.56 NATO is also loaded to a significantly-higher pressure than the "average" .223, hence why shooting 5.56 out of a .223 rifle is generally not recommended).

.223 Wylde is supposed to be a compromise between the two, allowing for a lead that is mid-way between the longer lead of 5.56 and the shorter lead of .223. In theory, this is supposed to improve the accuracy of shooting .223's out of what can otherwise be considered a 5.56 rifle.

[Lycanthrope]

223 wylde is arguably more accurate than a 5.56 chamber. you can shoot 5.56 out of it (from what I understand) and it is considered more accurate because the rifling starts sooner than it does in a 5.56 chamber. I have heard that depending on the round you may have to "pogo stick" the rifle to eject a live round because the bullet can go into the rifling slightly when being chambered.

I personally would stick with a standard 5.56 barrel.

I've never seen that happen and I have had a couple Wylde chambers. To stick a round into the riflings on any of those chambers you're going to have to be seating longer than the mag length.

http://www.ar15barrels.com/data/223-556.pdf

If I had to choose, I'd choose Wylde over the 5.56 every time. The Wylde reamer is actually larger at the base where a lot of brass will stick. Check the dimensions.

Lycandon'tsweatitthrope

[bigedp51]

The SAAMI interchangeability warning for the .223/5.56 came out in 1979 and two years before M855 ammunition went into service. Prior to 1979 Lake City was given waivers to load M193 ammunition to 60,000 cup to meet velocity requirements with some lots of powder.

Military M193 ammunition is normally loaded to 52,000 cup which is the same rated chamber pressure as the .223.
M855 military ammunition is loaded to 55,000 cup and was the reason for the longer throat. Firing M855 ammunition in a .223 with a short throat will cause the chamber pressure to peak at 60,000 cup or 8,000 higher than the "rated" chamber pressure of 52,000 cup.

.223 chamber pressure readings

.223 SAAMI copper crusher 52,000 cup
.223 SAAMI piezo transducer 55,000 psi
.223 European CIP measured at case mouth 62,000 psi

Military 5.56 pressures in cup
M193 52,000 cup
M855 55,000 cup

The pressures below were taken with a strain gauge attached at the chamber area and a Remington .223 cartridge was fired to get a base line reading. Please take note that these pressures below are actually calibrated in copper crusher units (cup) and the first green bar is 49,000 cup. (NOT psi transducer which would be approximately 59,000 psi)



5.56 vs .223 – What You Know May Be Wrong
http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/5-56-vs-223/

As you can see from these tests M855 ammunition had a chamber pressure 10,000 cup higher when fired in a short throated .223 rifle.

I have a Savage .223 that has a longer throat than the "standard" SAAMI chamber and the firearms industry is evolving and chambering their rifle with longer throats to protect themselves from lawsuits. My long throated Savage is very accurate and getting accurate hand loads is not a problem. I also have a DPMS A2 HBAR with a standard 5.56 chamber and it is also very accurate.

If you plan on shooting M855 ammunition from your new AR I would go with the standard and longer 5.56 chamber simply because so many AR owners are talking about popped and blown primers when shooting mil-spec ammo.

If you reload and plan on shooting nothing but reloads and or factory .223 ammunition then you could go with a shorter length throat "BUT" there is more to accuracy than just the throat. (and the longer throat will safely shoot anything)

[calypsocoral]

Wow, that Lucky Gunner article was quite well-done!

So far, I have one response in favor of 5.56, one in favor of .223 Wylde, and one that, essentially, says "doesn't really matter, as long as you pick a good manufacturer."

I'm fine with that, though-- the more information I have, the better!