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noob with a new gun!

CCRBUM

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Minuteman
Apr 9, 2009
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Well guys I'm new here and have just recently made the transition from having fun spraying ammo down range to taking the time hit what I'm aiming at... it was a drawn out transition but it has finally happened! So I sold off the AK and a few other things and picked up a nice Remington 700 SPS tactical in .223 to start developing my skills with. I was able to take it out shooting yesterday and had a blast with it. I need to put better glass on it and work on the trigger but otherwise I was very satisfied with it. I went with this specific rifle because of so many reviews saying the same thing about it so I figured I could be confident that what the rifle could do is far beyond what I can do right now. It gives me a goal to reach that I know is possible and not going to cause me to leave the range frustrated... so my only question, and forgive me if it's obvious, is knowing that the 5.56 can handle a .223 but not vise versa, why not just chamber .223 bolt guns in 5.56? seems like it would open up the field of ammo potentials out there... but like I said I'm new to the game and the .223/5.56 area
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. Thanks for any info to help me understand this!
 
Re: noob with a new gun!

You should be OK with a bolt gun on the difference between the two rounds. The primary difference is that the 5.56 rounds are designed and loaded for higher pressures than the .223 commercial round, but more of that is an issue with the semi-auto rifles than it is with a bolt rifle. Your bolt rifle can handle a decent amount of 'hot' handloads (for people like me who like sending those really heavy 80's down the tube at high velocities), which means it can also handle the 5.56.

Congrats on your new toy, and shoot the crap out of it. Don't forget those dry-fire drills either.
 
Re: noob with a new gun!

A 5.56 chamber is less accurate, that's why your rifle has a .223 chamber.
 
Re: noob with a new gun!

sadly I did sell off the AK
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. but I'm sure down the road there will be time to acquire another one... hopefully... so picking up some 5.56 when I can find it cheap shouldn't raise to much alarm for me? I did not know that the 5.56 is less accurate. that's good to know though!
 
Re: noob with a new gun!

A 5.56 round is not inherantly less acurate than a .223. But the selection of quality loaded .223 is going to be greater. It is, after all, basically the same round.

Commercially loaded match .223 is going to most likely be more accurate due to more consistant loading between each cartridge. 5.56 stuff is usually highly mass produced and therefore not as consistant.

That said, you can probably run 5.56 in your rig. But why would you? This is a precision riffle, feed it match stuff. Even better, start loading, that way you know exactly what you are getting.
 
Re: noob with a new gun!

my big thinking was if I could find some 5.56 for a little less it would be fun for plinking/practice and brass, providing that it can be reloaded. but I do agree 100% with using match grade or nice reloaded ammo in it. I just hate having to learn while using the good stuff... does that make any sense? or should I be using nice stuff for practice as well?
 
Re: noob with a new gun!

It's not that 5.56 is less accurate, it's usually loaded to combat specs for semi and full auto guns. You may be better served getting a reloading kit, and loading your own to find your rifle's Optimal load. I would start by looking in the reloading data herein to see what is up with .223 stuff.
Me, I load mine with 62gr FMJBT's to mimic M855's ballistics since I kinda have a SN4 that is made for M855
 
Re: noob with a new gun!

I load the 62 grn'ers also, mainly because my IOR M2 is BDC'ed for them & that Dragunov reticle is much more accurate than I expected with it! That, and my barrel being a 1/9 doesn't like em too much heavier....

Good luck with your new rifle and seriously consider hand loading for it!

Love the projectile selection for it and actually like it being a little more wind sensitive than my .308.... helps learning to read the wind better at longer ranges, cheaper, and zero negative dog-shit for recoil make it one of my favorite to shoot... Punch her out to AI when she's ready for a tune up!!!
 
Re: noob with a new gun!

hey thanks for the great info guys! I've got a buddy that does reloading so I'm gonna see what he can help me throw together. My wife says I need to find a cheaper hobby
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... I think I just need to find more money
smile.gif
 
Re: noob with a new gun!

To get setup to load one caliber isn't too expensive, and you can tell your wife you're saving money by loading your own!!!! DISCLAIMER====The reality of the economics may vary!!!
 
Re: noob with a new gun!

very true Wild Bill C... I was actually set up to reload .357 but I just couldn't find the time to do it
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. but I think it would prove to be more than worth it with this gun!