Inadequate for military purposes, not as accurate as the 222 Remington, and less powerful than the 222 Magnum. These were just some of the greetings given to Remington’s 223, when it was unveiled as the 5.56mm in the AR-15/M16 rifle. In spite of its early critics, the 223 Remington has become

one of the most popular sporting cartridges, and has proven itself in several military conflicts worldwide. Perhaps its greatest compliment as a service round came when the former Soviet Union replaced its 7.62x39mm cartridge with a 22 caliber service round that closely duplicated the 223’s performance.

Dillon Reloading has a swaging tool specifically for this chore, and it is by far the most satisfactorycapable of standing on its own merits. It is an outstanding varmint cartridge out to 250-275 yards, especially when loaded with 50 or 55 grain Blitz bullets. Despite critics’ comments, any difference in either accuracy, effective range, or power compared to the 222 Remington or 222 Remington Magnum is insignificant. In fact, Sierra now uses the 223 for accuracy testing in several of our 22 caliber MatchKings. It is an extremely easy cartridge to load for, responding well to a wide variety of components. Hodgdon’s H335, Winchester 748 and Reloader 7 are all top choices, generally giving good velocity and excellent accuracy. Surplus military cases add to the popularity of any cartridge, and the 223 has been no exception. If military cases are used, the primer pocket will need to be swaged or reamed to remove the crimp and allow seating of a new primer. Dillon Reloading has a swaging tool specifically for this chore, and it is by far the most satisfactory unit we have used.

In recent years, the 223 Remington has gained acceptance as a target round, being used mostly in the “service rifle” category of the National Match Course. In 1992, Sierra announced an 80 grain MatchKing specifically for the 600-yard stage of this type of competition. As this is a slow-fire stage, the 80 grain HPBT should be seated to approximately 2.550″ OAL, and must be single- loaded. This bullet requires the use of a 1×7″ or 1×8″ twist for proper stability.