There is confusion among many folks. The 5.56 and the 223 are interchangeable. Normally 5.56 is a military round with 55 or 62 gr full metal jacket bullets. The marketing folks wanted to make money so they introduced the 223 and chambered bolt action rifles for it. They both are primarily short range calibers as the Army Wound Ballistics Lab determined that after 95 yards the wound lethality of the 5.56 drops off quickly. If you want to get into the technical aspects of wound ballistics do a search for Col Martin Fackler MD wound ballistics and you will find out all kinds of neat information on terminal ballistics performance.
If you have a nice commercial high grade bolt action rifle I would not run 5.56 milspec ammo though it as the US loaded 5.56 has WC846 ball propellant loaded in it and it does a number on your barrel quickly. You will have much longer barrel life reloading with stick propellant like 4198 and the Vihta Vouri propellants.
Marty was a friend and he passed about two years ago down in Florida. If you happen to have a copy of NATO WAR SURGERY HANDBOOK look at the chapter on Missile Caused Wounds. Marty wrote that chapter.
Last edited by Hummer; 02-21-2018 at 04:17 AM.
Distinguished Rifleman High Power & Smallbore Prone, Presidents Hundred (Rifle), US Palma & Dewar Teams , Formerly US Army Picatinny Arsenal Small Cal Wpns Lab, Spec Projects Group Dover Devil Cal 50 Machinegun , Small Arms and Ammunition Test Director Aberdeen Prov Gnd, Member Int Wound Ballistics Assn., consultant to Fed Law Enf Tng Ctr, Glynco, US Border Pat, Defense Crim Inv Service, Army Munitions and Chem Cmd, Army Wound Ballistics Lab, NRA Life 1972, AC4HT, Firefighter 1, Shriner
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