Do you like 223/556 ?

[js8588]

Even an IPhone will getchya*...

*means “get you” in Michigander.

Dated an East Grand Rapids gal for a while. I getchya.

 

[cdb1]

I‘ve never owned or shot a bolt action .223/5.56. I have one AR-15 223/5.56 with 20” barrel and have had it since 2012. Since I sighted it in its been out of the house once or twice. I keep it loaded inside the house with 64 grain Powerpoints. I prefer other cartridges for hunting.

 

[bannockburn]

Always wanted a Colt AR15, I was even collecting accessories for one before I was even old enough to buy one! So for me it was more about the rifle than it was about the cartridge. I have a lot of fun with my SP1 at the range with target shooting and plinking being most of my shooting activities with it.

 

[Bfh_auto]

It's ok as a varmint round. Premium ammo to realize it's accuracy potential costs about the same as .22-250, which is a far better varmint round. Plinking ammo in 5.56 is cheap and plentiful, but it is only suitable for plinking and casual target shooting. I prefer the 7.62x39 as an intermediate rifle round, but do prefer the AR to the AK platform.

This about sums it up for me.
223 really shines using light bullets inside 300 yards.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I first fired a rifle in 5.56 in 1982. I learned that hitting a man size target at 500 meters with open sight in an unsupported prone position was easy.
I never had the urge to by an AR while Uncle Sam was letting me shoot one for free.
Back in 1990 I ordered a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .223. I didn’t get it until after May of 1991, because I had taken a little vacation to do some hunting it the sand box.
When I got home it was waiting for me at The gun shop in a dusty box.
I spent many hours handloading for it with my father-in-law and a lot of range time too.
I’ve used that Featherweight to kill many groundhogs.
I picked up a Ruger Mimi 14 back around 1993. It made a good plinking gun. I gave it to my daughter on her 14th birthday.
I bought my first AR back in 2007 and wondered why I waited so long. Then I started building AR’s and now have a few of them.
I picked up a heavy barreled Savage bolt action last year in .223 that I haven’t shot yet.
I’ve had more fun shooting the 5.56 and 223 over the years.

 

[Dibbs]

I find it to be an exceptional predator caliber. I guess it's different, if you're trying to cull non-indigenous species from the habitat.

 

[FFGColorado]

223/556 is inexpensive(when compared to others), reliable and fun..particularly considering the numerous platforms that use it..Both my sons and I use it to humiliate metal targets at the shooting area we go to...none of us hunt..

 

[jmr40]

Other than 22 RF I shoot more 223 than anything else, originally only in AR rifles. Ammo can be dirt cheap and accurate enough for casual shooting. Even the really accurate ammo is much more reasonably priced than any other center fire ammo. I currently have 3 AR rifles and one pistol and with decent optics all are capable of MOA or better with good ammo.

Generally speaking I prefer a handgun for inside the home SD. But prefer an AR to a shotgun and do keep one of mine accessible.

I've added a really accurate bolt rifle chambered in 223. With good ammo a 223 bolt gun will hold MOA out to at least 600 yards. Maybe farther but that is as far as I've seen one used. For punching paper at ranges farther than I can go with 22 it is the cheapest option. Recoil is non existent.

On paper there may be better options for varmints, but there isn't enough difference to justify adding another cartridge. I like having commonality between my AR's and my bolt rifles so I use 223 for both. And varmint hunting just isn't something I do a lot of anyway.

Big game hunting is the most controversial. I have no doubts that 223 will get the job done on deer size game as long as big game bullets are used. If you avoid FMJ and varmint rounds it is VERY effective. I've taken one buck with one of my AR's and the deer was just as dead as the ones killed with a 30-06. But I have other options that I just like better. Plus deer and bear season here run mostly together and 223 isn't a bear cartridge. The only times I've hunted with 223 is in areas where the probability of a shot at a bear is near zero.

 

[Picher]

Haven't read the responses yet but...

Do I like it? No. It's an underpowered pea shooter with mediocre ballistics...

But...I own and shoot it because the military made it ubiquitous.

I don't like 308/7.62 NATO either. Fat, dumpy, and again, thanks to the military, ubiquitous.

Same general feelings on 9mm.

I like
6.5 Grendel
10mm
7.62x25
327 Federal
45 (Long) Colt
6.5x55
9.3x62
7.62x39 (I know, I'm a hypocrite)
270 Winchester (there's almost nothing it can't do)

Anyone who shoots a .270 Win can be forgiven lots of bad choices in other cartridges. (Just pullin' your leg.)

 

[entropy]

Did Newton not use the .30-06 as the parent for the .250-3000? Hence the 22-250 and 308 both trace back to the .30-06.

Yes, but that would be the grandparent cartridge.

 

[Offfhand]

Did Newton not use the .30-06 as the parent for the .250-3000? Hence the 22-250 and 308 both trace back to the .30-06.

And let's not forget that the .30/06 was derived from the .30/03, and when you climb the .30/03's family tree you find a bunch of interesting forebears. Most of which spoke German.

 

[.308 Norma]

Well, I don't dislike the 223/556. I don't have one right now because I have other rifles that will do everything I used to use a 223 bolt for. I might get a 556 AR sometime - if something else doesn't strike my fancy first. But I wouldn't trade off anything I already have for one.

 

[herrwalther]

Home defense and self defense? Yes it is a fine cartridge.
Plinking? Sure. Doesn't cost too much. More power than a .22LR
Hunting? Nah. I have better rounds for hunting than 5.56. While my state laws allow hunting with any centerfire rifle round, I would not want to make a habit of deer or hog hunting with 5.56

 

[Hog huntin Harry]

When it comes to plinking I prefer 7.62x39

243 for yotes

30-30 or 308 for whitetail

45-70 for hogs and mountain lion.
I know I'd probably never need that much gun, but I don't like to take chances.

 

[jmorris]

Hence the 22-250 and 308 both trace back to the .30-06.

The 30-06 used the 30-03 as a parent case.

If you try and make other things from various cases you can tell the difference between them.

The extractor groove on the 308 family is larger than those on the 30-06.

Left to right, 45 ACP, 243, 308 and 30-06. I can make cases that run with a 45 ACP extractor with 308 family brass where 30-06 is a no go.

 

[Offfhand]

As often happens, we wandered off the subject of this thread and it was partially my fault. So, getting back on topic, there has yet been little said about the .223 in terms of accuracy: But back in the 1970's, soon after it's introduction as a sporting caliber, it began getting serious attention in benchrest competitions. Mainly due to Jim Steckl, a Remington engineer who had worked with Mike Walker and had been involved with development of the .223 and other Remington projects. Steckl and his cute wife Donnalee were both championship level shooters in the accuracy game at a time when the .222 Rem (Walker's child) dominated Benchrest competition and had done so for over a decade. But Steckl demonstrated that the new .223 Rem was fully as accurate as the .222 Rem and had an advantage in competition because of its higher velocity. Which equated to reduced wind drift with otherwise same bullets. But just as the .223 Rem was catching on in Benchrest circles and dethroning the .222 King, a major shift in organized Benchrest rules rendered both the .223 and .222 Rems obsolete virtually overnight. So what the .223 might have been never was, other than a footnote in accuracy history. Otherwise, as a sporting cartridge the .223 has achieved lasting renown as a dependable midrange prairie dog getter, in such accuracy specific varmint rifles such as this Remington 40-X and M-700 BDL. The .40-X has a left hand bolt for increased rate of fire and 14" twist for light high speed bullets, and this first issue of Rem's 700 Varmint Series was made back when folks at Remington (Like Steckl and Walker) were serious about accuracy...

 

[Choctaw]

Yes, because it happily kills pigs, water bottles, assorted targets and dirt clods. I live in Texas and it does everything I need it to do.

 

[someguy2800]

Makes a great coyote round and a cheap target and pinking round. Beyond that I don't really care for it.

 

[Picher]

Earlier in my varmint hunting days, I really liked the accuracy and potency of the .22-250 over the .222/.223, and enjoyed it for turkey shoots. The only things I didn't like were the amount of case-stretching caused by the considerable case taper. If my rifle didn't shoot so darned accurately and I'd had plenty of money, I'd have had it re-chambered to the .22-250 Improved. As a varmint cartridge, reduced accuracy could have been tolerated, but not as my informal "turkey-shoot" rifle that usually produced one or two frozen turkeys per week in the fall season. That helped the budget for our large young family more than getting the 1-deer (allowed) per year.

 

[Picher]

The parent cartridge for the .22-250 is the .250 Savage (.250-3000), but otherwise, 100% agree. FWIW, .223 will kill deer further than 200 yards. and my son has done so, but I stick to less than 150.

I know that the .22-250's parent was .250-3000, but didn't think hard enough about it when writing. (Happens at my age.) However, I don't allow use of the .223 Rem for deer in my family in Maine. Yes, in the hands of an expert it will kill deer at reasonable ranges/conditions like the hired herd-thinners use in their silenced weapons, but the .243/6mm Rem are the lightest-recoiling deer cartridges I allow my young relatives to borrow when hunting deer. I also make sure that they're using my "select" hunting handloads, not the light-varmint ones.

 

[Hokkmike]

I am thinking of getting a bolt action rifle in this caliber so I have a common ammo pool with my AR.

Someone suggested that it is "immoral" (his words - not mine) to hunt deer with a .223/5.56. I am pondering the efficacy of that statement...

 

[cougar1717]

I didn't bother voting because my answer wasn't an option. An application is not necessary to answer a question about whether you like something or not. The answer isn't "Yes, for..." or "Yes, because..." We all know the answer is simply "Yes."

The most popular, highest volume centerfire rifle cartridge that is ubiquitous, military adopted, and includes as much quality as you are willing to pay - from the cheapest, steel cased FMJ to the most exotic Lapua cased, big game bonded, with a depleted uranium core, Magpul tipped, and sprinkled with moon dust.

 

[Hog huntin Harry]

I am thinking of getting a bolt action rifle in this caliber so I have a common ammo pool with my AR.

Someone suggested that it is "immoral" (his words - not mine) to hunt deer with a .223/5.56. I am pondering the efficacy of that statement...

While I wouldn't at all say it's immoral, I myself would hesitate to use 223/556 for whitetail deer. I'm not saying it can't be done, but good bullets can only do so much.

 

[Picher]

I am thinking of getting a bolt action rifle in this caliber so I have a common ammo pool with my AR.

Someone suggested that it is "immoral" (his words - not mine) to hunt deer with a .223/5.56. I am pondering the efficacy of that statement...

It wouldn't be immoral to hunt deer with the .223 in the hands of a person who is an excellent hunter who knows the limitations and respects the game. However, I'd consider it immoral to let beginner hunters who have no idea of the limitations of the round, nor the chances for success/failure of the choice.

I confess that I used the .22-250 to kill a few deer, but shots were kept under 200 yards, in open areas, and with solid-copper based Nosler "Zipedo" handloads. Still, after feeling under-gunned, I bought a 30-06 and a .270 Win, then gave the .30-06 to my son. He loves it, and I love the .270, even buying a second Stainless Rem 700 CDL for nice days. First blood with that one took a nice bull moose.

 

[illinoisburt]

I happen to like 223. It's my favorite centerfire plinker. Ammunition is very inexpensive, is readily available, and shoots flat enough for reasonable distances. It's great for banging steel plates (at least 100 yards or it dimples) and ok for occassional hunting with the right bullets.