what the mil uses so there will always be ammo available (or at least being made for it). also a good cartridge that when fired from at least 16 inch barrel provides just under 3000 fps which is enough velocity that anyone hit up to 300 yards is going to have body cavitation they can not survive.
It's said that God and Eugene Stoner got together in the 60s and created the perfect rifle and cartridge.. the .223..
Some time later US army felt was not enough and created the 5.56 which adds a tiny bit more pressure (diff chamber and bore head/throat) which expands the shell a little more providing penetration of a standard helmet at some distance I can't remember. anyhow, it is a very light round that when fired from the AR Platform with right barrel length, can be a devastating round without the need for more recoil and blast pressure of higher capacity cartridges.
what the mil uses so there will always be ammo available (or at least being made for it). also a good cartridge that when fired from at least 16 inch barrel provides just under 3000 fps which is enough velocity that anyone hit up to 300 yards is going to have body cavitation they can not survive.
It's said that God and Eugene Stoner got together in the 60s and created the perfect rifle and cartridge.. the .223..
Some time later US army felt was not enough and created the 5.56 which adds a tiny bit more pressure (diff chamber and bore head/throat) which expands the shell a little more providing penetration of a standard helmet at some distance I can't remember. anyhow, it is a very light round that when fired from the AR Platform with right barrel length, can be a devastating round without the need for more recoil and blast pressure of higher capacity cartridges.
And a very flat trajectory makes it easy to shoot at various ranges.
Well put. If you can only have one rifle round, pick the 5.56!
Remember though, if your barrel is rated as 5.56, you can shoot .223 ammo out of it all day long. Just dont trust a .223 barrel to handle 5.56.
I have seen a catastrophic overpressure failure first hand. Its spectacular.