Can I shoot 5.56mm out of a .223 Wylde Chamber?

AR/M4 AR Technical Discussion
1

I’m looking at this barrel:

Description:

We wanted to build an AR15 barrel using the finest blank and mass producing them to bring them to you at the most competitive price. Our ultra match barrels start out as Shilen blanks and contoured to our specifications. We wanted the best balance between accuracy while keeping the weight down as much as possible. It also features Shilen’s Ratchet Rifling™ which allows for better bullet travel through wind and easier cleaning.

Features:

■Stainless Steel Match Grade Shilen Blank
■Length: 10.5″
■Twist: 1:8
■.223 Wylde Chamber
■Carbine Gas System
■Ratchet Rifling™
■M4 Feed Ramps
■WOA Contour
■Bead Blasted Finish

But I also want to be able to shoot issued M855 rounds out of it. Please educate me on what the hell a .223 Wylde Chamber is.

2

I did a little search on Google and it “seems” to say that it’s ok, but I did not get any definate answers (just that the chamber is tighter). The purpose of my question is that I plan on building a 10.5" upper with a KX3 to take with me to the sandbox and the majority of the ammo that I will have available is M855 (62. Gr FMJ).

The “tighter chamber” issue worries me on reliability because I’ve had a bad experience with a CMMG with a “tight chamber.”

3

Most of the time you can shoot 5.56mm NATO pressure ammo through .223 Wylde chambers. Once in a while the .223 Wylde is still little too tight.

4

I thought the whole idea of the wylde chamber was to safely shoot 5.56 ammo, yet still have a chamber tight enough for match ammo accuracy.

5

It will shoot 5.56 ammo. I have two RRA NMA2 rifles with a Wylde chamber and it shoots M193 phenomenally. I have tried Federal XM193 and Prvi M193.

The Wylde chamber has a slightly generous body dimension for reliability. Eats anything you put in it.

6

I have a Wylde chamber in my Daniel Defense SPR (barrel is by Lothar Walther) and I have never had any problems shooting any surplus 5.56 though it.

In a 10.5" barrel, I would probably just take a 5.56NATO chamber though.

Cameron

7

Ya, really kind of depends on who made the barrel.

C4

8

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

You shouldn’t have a problem, they have slutty chambers :smiley:

9

Rainier Arms

Tyler… “slutty chambers”… :smiley:

10

FWIW I have a WOA barrel I purchased from Rainier Arms with a 223 Wylde chamber. It eats and spits out everything it has been fed. That includes multiple brands of factory 223 Remington and NATO 5.56 ammo. It even eats and spits out the foreign crap and I mean any and all of it.

11

My experience as well.

Yup. LT Stealths have been GTG with 5.56 in my experience, as have a fewer HQ custom others.

Mass produced, like a bunch of RRAs wylde chambers, are spotty at best.

I’ve always found that if it’s a mass produced Wylde, it may as well be reamed.

12

My 14.5" (cutdown from a 16") 1x8 twist RRA stainless midlength with .223 Wylde chamber had some issues with black box Federal 5.56mm XM193 so I reamed it with Neds 5.56mm NATO neck and throat reamer and it’s been trouble free since them. My two WOA .223 Wylde barrels have run fine with everything.

This is the barrel I’m currently having WAR rifles turn down to .565" profile.

13

I’ve encountered a few RRAs with Wylde chambers that would pop primers with 5.56.

I’d expect better from the Rainier barrel.

But I’d still rather just have .223 for a bench rifle and 5.56 for a carbine.

14

My brother has a 20" chrome RRA .223 wylde that is popping primers with LC08 XM193.

When unloading a loaded chamber, it is obvious that it’s tight. Only found 3 peices of brass /w primers missing, but it only took 1 lodged between the bcg(BCM) and the upper receiver (port side) to realize this is a major issue. Took an hour and several broken dowel rods to drive the bolt forward.

Is the shorter leade serious enough to cause the popped primers alone? or could it be the “bad” ammo?

15

My2 cents worth.
If you were trying to build a DMR rifle, or a Varmint set up and wonted to squeeze out some extra accuracy using match grade/special purpose ammo then go with the Wylde chamber barrel from a known source of good quality.
BUT if you are building a SBR shooting mainly M855, which is not going to produce any accuracy above any other MIL.SPEC. ammo and you are going to depend on this upper for server conditions and to use to defend yourself and expect it to be as reliable as possible, it would be a no brainer for me to get a MIL.SPEC chambered barrel of the best quality I could.

I have had issues with Wylde chambered barrels and will never advocate them for true combat operations.

An ole retired marine once told me “before a weapon can be accurate it must work first”

16

Yes. Given the above, your barrel needs to be reamed if you’re going to shoot 5.56. Heck, I’d ream it anyway just for extra insurance.

17

Understood, so how does one go about doing this? I have yet to find instructions… (search fail)

Do you just twist it and measure until the go/no-go gauges are set? What makes Ned’s double the price of the one from Brownells? Thanks for replying.

18

Ive also run tons of 556 through a Wylde without issue. In fact it was the most reliable AR Ive ever had with not a single malfunction in about 6k rounds.

19

didnt want to make a new threa.

But what about .223 in a 5.56 marked barrel?..barrel is from BCM

20

Perfectly fine, its done a lot, if not most of the time, by some shooters. But, don’t do the reverse.