.223 Wylde vs 5.56 Nato

[9X19mm]

Hey all...
Been away from the shooting world for awhile and been wanting to get back with a new M4... and now I see the latest and greatest thing seems to be .223 Wylde chamber. Some say even more accurate than a standard 5.56mm NATO chamber/barrel?

Anyone have any first hand experience for or against?

I’m deciding between a NEMO Arms and Falkor... both 16” SS barrels in .223 Wylde. And yes, I have already used the search function and I didn’t come up with any concrete evidence one way or the other. And no, I’m not interested in building my own for less $$$... thanks in advance.

[Eurodriver]

I went with a .223 Wylde in an AR pattern rifle that has a 20” Krieger barrel, a 14x Nightforce, and is shot exclusively from a bipod. I handload my own ammo and get sub-MOA groups at 625 yards (and have even nailed a 3 shot sub MOA group at 1000 for those who count 3 shot group sizes).

If you’re not trying to attain that level of precision, which 99.999% of ARs are not, I would go with a 5.56mm chamber.

.223 Wylde offerings are going to be dedicated precision barrels if they are high quality. If your use is more typical of a carbine your higher quality barrels will be chambered in 5.56mm. That is my reasoning for my answer - it has less to do with any specifics about the chamber size itself.

Miss me with that Nemo arms and Falkor stuff though.

Good luck.

[ViniVidivici]

No personal experience, but from what I understand it's supposed to yield "the best of both worlds". I've never read or heard anything to convince me that it does though.

I personally only ever want ARs in a 5.56NATO chamber, so I can shoot any 5.56 or .223 rnd on the planet with confidence.

I personally am not a good enough shooter to ever take advantage of any accuracy edge that might be gained by shooting .223 ammo in a dedicated .223 chamber vs. a 5.56 chamber.

[9X19mm]

I went with a .223 Wylde in an AR pattern rifle that has a 20” Krieger barrel, a 14x Nightforce, and is shot exclusively from a bipod. I handload my own ammo and get sub-MOA groups at 625 yards (and have even nailed a 3 shot sub MOA group at 1000 for those who count 3 shot group sizes).

If you’re not trying to attain that level of precision, which 99.999% of ARs are not, I would go with a 5.56mm chamber.

.223 Wylde offerings are going to be dedicated precision barrels if they are high quality. If your use is more typical of a carbine your higher quality barrels will be chambered in 5.56mm. That is my reasoning for my answer - it has less to do with any specifics about the chamber size itself.

Miss me with that Nemo arms and Falkor stuff though.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply.

My longest use would be 200 yards max. Target and small game. I have also read that in order to take full advantage of the tighter tolerances present in the .223 Wylde chamber/barrel is by using good quality match grade ammo. And that results will vary with average ball ammo.

[9X19mm]

No personal experience, but from what I understand it's supposed to yield "the best of both worlds". I've never read or heard anything to convince me that it does though.

I personally only ever want ARs in a 5.56NATO chamber, so I can shoot any 5.56 or .223 rnd on the planet with confidence.

I personally am not a good enough shooter to ever take advantage of any accuracy edge that might be gained by shooting .223 ammo in a dedicated .223 chamber vs. a 5.56 chamber.


I’m with you on the 5.56mm NATO chamber/bore. That’s what all my other AR rifles are made for. Now it seems that a large percentage of the higher end ARs are sporting the .223 Wylde, and before I drop some coin I just want to see if there is a legit benefit or just a passing fad. I never heard of it after many years of shooting.

[Inkslinger]

No personal experience, but from what I understand it's supposed to yield "the best of both worlds". I've never read or heard anything to convince me that it does though.

I personally only ever want ARs in a 5.56NATO chamber, so I can shoot any 5.56 or .223 rnd on the planet with confidence.

I personally am not a good enough shooter to ever take advantage of any accuracy edge that might be gained by shooting .223 ammo in a dedicated .223 chamber vs. a 5.56 chamber.

You can shoot full pressure 5.56 ammunition in a .223 wylde chambered barrel.

[Inkslinger]

I have also read that in order to take full advantage of the tighter tolerances present in the .223 Wylde chamber/barrel is by using good quality match grade ammo. And that results will vary with average ball ammo.

That’s essential true for any barrel.

https://www.google.com/search?q=.223+wylde+m4carbine.net&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

[ViniVidivici]

Yeah it's kind of a new thing.

If I were you then, I'd just go with a straight .223 chambered barrel, and take full advantage of the match grade stuff out there.

There is good match grade ammo in 5.56 though, like Hornady 75gr BTHP. They load it in 5.56 and .223. I put some of the 5.56 stuff through my SPR, it's giving me .8" consistently at 100 yds.

I've been attempting to duplicate it, woth those bullets, and H335. Gettin'close!

[sgtrock82]

New?! ...Fad?! Maybe 20 years ago it was newish. The primary benefit to my understanding of the .223 wylde chamber is an even longer lead on the rifling vs. 5.56 Nato, to take better advantage of VLDs and other longer .224 projectiles, that do not seat to magazine length, and without running into pressure issues that pushing those bullets might cause. Without using those types of bullets I dont think there is much advantage to be gained from a wylde chamber.

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[Renegade04]

Personally, the ARs I own with .223 Wylde chambers are built for precision. All of my general purpose ARs a chambered in 5.56 NATO. Unless you are building this for precision shooting, I would not bother with a .223 Wylde chamber nor a stainless steel barrel. With most any good quality steel barrel (either 1/7 or 1/8 twist) with a 5.56 NATO chamber from a well-known manufacturer, you should be able to have decent accuracy at 200 yards easily with good quality .223 and 5.56 NATO ammo.

[GH41]

I’m with you on the 5.56mm NATO chamber/bore. That’s what all my other AR rifles are made for. Now it seems that a large percentage of the higher end ARs are sporting the .223 Wylde, and before I drop some coin I just want to see if there is a legit benefit or just a passing fad. I never heard of it after many years of shooting.

What do all of your other AR rifles not do that you expect the new boutique rifle to do??

[grizzman]

Any improvement generated by a Wylde chamber will require match ammo or preferably handloads tailored to the weapon. It isn't a match chamber, so you shouldn't expect it to act like one.



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[SBRSarge]

Most of my experience is with the 5.56 chamber shooting strictly factory ammo. My guns don't seem to show a measurable difference between the 5.56 and 223 ammunition. The only exception is a older Colt heavy barrel in 5.56 that shot better with Black Hills 223 ammo yielding an occasional 5/8 moa 5-shot group. That was years ago when I could see well!

The shooting I do typically maxes out at 200 yards.

In the end you'll be well served with either 5.56 or 223 Wylde chambers unless you'll get into the minutiae of reloading tailor-made loads.

[shadowrider]

My first AR will put Hornady 55gr FMJBT bulk bullet handloads into 1 MOA, and I don't go to any extremes loading them. I can ring a MGM flasher at 300 yards every time, it actually gets boring. Wylde may be the hotness but I'd never see the difference with the shooting I do. 5.56 chambers are plenty good enough IMO.

[Renegade0100]

Get the .223 Wylde if it's what you want- it will work fine. As others have mentioned, it's typically associated with precision builds, but I haven't heard of any downsides to the chambering so I suppose you could argue that it is objectively better than a 5.56 chamber, even if it's just a minute difference. That being said, you'd also be fine with a 5.56 chamber too.

I would focus on getting a good rifle; if you get a solid rifle, the chambering isn't really terribly important.

[Iraqgunz]

.223 Wylde has been around for a good 20 years. You must have been shipwrecked with the S.S. Minnow.


Hey all...
Been away from the shooting world for awhile and been wanting to get back with a new M4... and now I see the latest and greatest thing seems to be .223 Wylde chamber. Some say even more accurate than a standard 5.56mm NATO chamber/barrel?

Anyone have any first hand experience for or against?

I’m deciding between a NEMO Arms and Falkor... both 16” SS barrels in .223 Wylde. And yes, I have already used the search function and I didn’t come up with any concrete evidence one way or the other. And no, I’m not interested in building my own for less $$$... thanks in advance.

[9X19mm]

Get the .223 Wylde if it's what you want- it will work fine. As others have mentioned, it's typically associated with precision builds, but I haven't heard of any downsides to the chambering so I suppose you could argue that it is objectively better than a 5.56 chamber, even if it's just a minute difference. That being said, you'd also be fine with a 5.56 chamber too.

I would focus on getting a good rifle; if you get a solid rifle, the chambering isn't really terribly important.


Thanks everyone. That's what I wanted to find out.

[9X19mm]

.223 Wylde has been around for a good 20 years. You must have been shipwrecked with the S.S. Minnow.


I don't get out much. :no:

[vicious_cb]

.223 wylde has even sluttier dimensions than 5.56 nato.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p203/CHRIS65-IL/223-vs-NATO-vs-WYLDE-chambers.jpg

[300Blackout]

In 2008 I bought a heavy barreled Rock River with the Wylde chamber. In the right conditions I have put 3 in a .25” group.

Your mileage may vary.

[lysander]

.223 wylde has even sluttier dimensions than 5.56 nato.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p203/CHRIS65-IL/223-vs-NATO-vs-WYLDE-chambers.jpg

Except in one important dimension - the freebore diameter, .2242" vs .2265"

[ramairthree]

I have a few Wylde chambered barrels. I think I got my first one around 2007.
I was told it was for better accuracy.
By a very reputable shooter.

I shoot a lot of TULA, wolf classic, wolf poly performance, American Eagle, Gold, PMC, Xtac, etc.

So I don’t see any better accuracy than with a 5.56 barrel.

Because the important part about better accuracy was that it allowed for types of ammo that are more accurate.