WHATS IN THE NEWS
WOMEN AND GUNS, A GOOD THING!
It was refreshing to see the positive report from CBS News discussing the many good reasons women are acquiring guns for many purposes including sports and personal defense. Click to Watch “Pull!” Clays beware, the ladies are coming.
.223 VERSUS 5.56
Contrary to what you may have read in posts from any number of keyboard commandos on the internet, there are some key differences between the two calibers. Indeed both the chamber in the barrel and the cartridge itself are different. These differences not only affect reliability, but can also result in severe malfunctions causing damage to the rifle and injury to the shooter.
As you can see in the picture above ammunition from the same manufacturer, in this case (pun intended) they are both Federal American Eagle, are slightly different. The same goes for the barrels, there are subtle differences in the chamber measurements between the multitude of barrel manufacturers.
The Lucky Gunner performs a thorough test including measuring pressures. I would offer the caveat that he didn’t test pressure with a hot barrel. The heat does expand the steel of the barrel and will shrink the diameter of the chamber. This would likely result in increased chamber pressure. Click to Watch and Read: 5.56 vs .223 – What You Know May Be Wrong
Gary Conway is a bit more emphatic about the need to avoid shooting 5.56 in a .223 chambered barrel. Click to Read: 5.56mm vs. .223 cal. -OR- The Great Debate
In the TMI category, Patrick Sweeny has written an excellent book called Gunsmithing the AR-15. In this sample on Google Books, he explains how to measure chambers and how to resolve the inconsistencies you will often see from the many barrel manufacturers. Click to Read the excerpt from the book Gunsmithing – The AR-15
In summary, the best chamber for a good defensive rifle is 5.56 NATO. It should happily consume most factory ammunition. However, be aware that even if the barrel is stamped 5.56 it’s likely that the chamber is not reamed to the ideal specifications. It may benefit be being serviced by a qualified gunsmith/machinist who has the knowledge and equipment to check and fix your barrel. You don’t want your rifle to end up in the condition depicted above 🙂
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UPCOMING COURSES
September
6th – Defensive Handgun I
13th – Defensive Rifle I
20th – Defensive Handgun II
27th – Defensive Rifle II
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