223 Wylde -OR- Does this guy know what's up?

[cidirkona]

Ok, I saw an RRA Varmint upper that looked like it was about what I was looking for on gunbroker and asked the seller about it...

Me:

...I just noticed that this are [sic] in 223
Wylde... I recently purchased an AR lower and am looking for
an upper... but...

Newbie Question: What's the difference between
223 Wylde
and standard 223 Remington/5.56 Nato?

Thanks!
-Colin

Him:

same same, thanks phil

...And found these from ammo-oracle.com

The military chamber is often referred to as a "5.56 NATO" chamber, as that is what is usually stamped on military barrels. Some commercial AR manufacturers use the tighter ".223" (i.e., SAAMI-spec and often labeled ".223" or ".223 Remington") chamber, which provides for increased accuracy but, in self-loading rifles, less cycling reliability, especially with hot-loaded military ammo. A few AR manufacturers use an in-between chamber spec, such as the Wylde chamber.

Rock River Arms uses the Wylde chamber specs on most rifles, and does not mark their barrels.

Should I avoid the seller, or just ignore this? Are they close enough that they could be considered "the same?"

-Colin

 

[ftierson]

I would just ignore it. The chambers are essentially the same. The bullet leade is slightly different, with the Wilde between the 5.56mm NATO and the .223 Rem.

Personally, I like the Wilde chamber.

I'm assuming that the seller either doesn't know the difference himself or didn't think that explaining it would help. Since you asked about comparing it to the "standard 223 Remington/5.56 NATO," he probably didn't know quite how to respond since the 5.56mm NATO and .223 Rem. are not quite the same...

 

[Zak Smith]

223 Wylde can be thought of as a "more accurate" 5.56 chamber. It will shoot 223 match ammo more accurately than a 5.56 chamber, but can still digest 5.56 ammo (e.g. XM193) safely and reliably.

The vast majority of my AR15's have this chamber and run great.

 

[cidirkona]

"Happy medium," then?

-Colin

 

[Hoploholic]

Happy medium is exactly right.

 

[Steve Smith]

I repeat Zak's answer. The Wylde chanmber was developed by Bill Wylde, who was one of the real pioneers for using the AR-15 in NRA Highpower against the M14s. The little AR needed a big bullet to compete at 600 yards, and the secret lied in a longer bullet and a deeper rifling leade to accomodate it. The rifle also had to have a "match" chamber that was still reliable, thus the Rem .223 chamber was "opened up" along the length a little. I would say that the Wylde chamber is, for most applications, the best chamber.

 

[taliv]

i'll toss my vote in as well for the wylde. in fact, i just bought another RRA upper rom one of their dealers, and by default, RRA chambers their >=20" barrels in wylde, and <20" in 5.56. So my new RRA upper was 16" had a 5.56 chamber. I called RRA and sent the upper back to them and they happily rechambered it in wylde at no charge. (even paid return shipping)

i can't say enough nice things about RRA, their employees and the wylde chamber. love em all...

 

[cidirkona]

Yeah, I just keep hearing more and more good things about them... the only problem with RRA products I can think of is not being able to find them in stock!

Ok... 1:8 or 1:12 ?

-Colin

 

[taliv]

it's like a month to 6week wait from RRA, but if you go to their dealer page and just start calling down the list, you'll find everything you want.

hit and run in GA had several stripped RRA lowers and complete uppers in stock a few weeks ago when i bought mine. i almost bought a couple.

 

[cidirkona]

Well, I've already got a complete lower, I just need to find an upper I like (just sold a Garand) for target shooting - plus I'll get a Entry Tactical or Elite CAR A4 when my tax return finally gets here...

I don't think I could actually shoot a varmint with one though...

That's a good idea though, I'll look for good prices that way!

-Colin

 

[Red Tornado]

I don't think I could actually shoot a varmint with one though...

Just wait 'til they're sitting still.
RT

 

[cidirkona]

"How can you shoot the baby prairiedogs and mommy prairiedogs??"
"Don't lead 'em so far!"

Everytime I even think about getting a cottontail stamp, I can feel my fiance's eyes welling up with "poor bunny" tears.

-Colin

 

[Quintin Likely]

5.56 chamber, too big. .223 chamber, too short. Wylde chamber, just right.

 

[taliv]

according to the guys i talked to at RRA, there's more to wylde than just the leade. they also change something in the shoulder area to eliminate extraction problems in the 5.56

 

[Jon Coppenbarger]

The front is also slightly different to help align the shoulder and case neck more in line with the bore. So it gives the bullet a straighter path to start.
As the above folks also said it has many little things that help it along.
I have seen the plans and diminsions on it so have compared everything on it with normal .223 and 5.56.
My friend just re barreled one of mine rifles with a new Kreiger and he cut the the chamber with the Wylde so we had lots of time to talk about them.
All of my AR15's have it.
The rock river rifles and uppers are in great demand and if you can get one in less than 8 weeks you are very lucky.
Jon

 

[ftierson]

What Jon says...

 

[cidirkona]

There are two shops with the 18" Varmint A4 uppers in stock as advertised on ARFCOM, so now I'm waiting on a check for the Garand, payday or my tax return. Everyone else seems to be completely sold out of everything or extremely highly priced... There's a few DPMS ones floating around on gunbroker, but this Wylde chamber thing has gotten me all wylde-eyed.

-Colin