I must warn you that I am not a reloader, yet. (someday). Through a search, I could not find an adequate answer. I am asking the questions about reloading simply for my education, and to complement the answers to my practical question. So here goes... skip to end for most important question.
For those folks reloading .223 ammo for use in 5.56 chambered rifles, is it common to load to pressures beyond SAAMI spec (~55,000 psi) and into pressures similar to NATO spec (61,000+ psi)? Would these loads exceed the max loads listed in the various manuals?
To be more specific, I have an AR-15 with a 16" midlength barrel and 5.56 chamber. I've noticed that true 5.56 ammo is often listed at velocities significantly higher than 223. Also, my rifle functions better with full-pressure ammo such as xm193 than is does with low pressure loads like PMC bronze. If I reloaded could I safely push vmax bullets downrange using NATO pressures instead of SAAMI?
And my final and most practical question. Are there any commercial 5.56 NATO pressure loadings with varmint bullets?
thanks all
For those folks reloading .223 ammo for use in 5.56 chambered rifles, is it common to load to pressures beyond SAAMI spec (~55,000 psi) and into pressures similar to NATO spec (61,000+ psi)? Would these loads exceed the max loads listed in the various manuals?
To be more specific, I have an AR-15 with a 16" midlength barrel and 5.56 chamber. I've noticed that true 5.56 ammo is often listed at velocities significantly higher than 223. Also, my rifle functions better with full-pressure ammo such as xm193 than is does with low pressure loads like PMC bronze. If I reloaded could I safely push vmax bullets downrange using NATO pressures instead of SAAMI?
And my final and most practical question. Are there any commercial 5.56 NATO pressure loadings with varmint bullets?
thanks all