223 Load Data vs 556

[HiBC]

If I get 5 loads out of a piece of 5.56 brass and still have tight primer pockets,
I'm not losing any sleep.

If I have to scrap 500 rounds of precious 5.56 prepped brass,it hurts me.
Loose primer pockets tell me "Too much powder".
"If it hurts when you do that,don't do that!"

Other than trying to understand conflicting data, I don't get my head snarled up in the international military industrial complex politics. Its an Eisenhower thing.

If I'm loading Hornady bullets, I'll look in my Hornady manual. I accept they have the testing expertise I do not have. They know something more about things than I do. I strive to be humble enough to do that.

I go to the AR-15 Match load page. I'm shooting an AR-15.

I don't exceed recommended max load. Thats a good start.

But I load small batches checking to see how my primer pockets hold up.

If the load manual says 25.3 gr of powder "X" is max and I get loose pockets with that load,, to save my brass I have to back off. Thats Life.

It works for me.

2700 or 2800 or ?? A click or two of elevation more or less, doesn't matter.

I'm happy.

 

[44 AMP]

“Load data for 223 Remington and 5.56 NATO is not the same! Use the appropriate load data for the case you are loading.”

If the cases are within 1% dimensionally and you use the same bullet profile. why would the load data not be interchangeable?

This is the question from the OP.

My answer is, I think it would be, with the general caveat that ALL loading data is guidelines.

There are decades worth of loading manuals where there is only one set of data for both rounds.

There have been lots of changes to what is loaded for .223 and 5.56mm ammo in recent decades, Changes due to military reasons, changes due to demand for increased long range performance, etc.

We've come a long way from the days when the only .223 was a 55gr SP and the only GI ammo was M193 ball. Because of that, we now have lots of data specific for certain rifles, and specs that didn't exist in the early decades.

Fact is, with what is available these days, every load is not suitable for every gun. One of the reasons we have so much discussion is that some people seem to think they are, or should be, and others seem to focus on the "issues" possible.

Personally, I think the best solution is, that if there is a question about a given load creating "issues" in your gun, simply don't use it in that gun.
But, that's just me...

 

[radom]

and that is the key to the T