5.56 ammo in a .223 tikka

[littlebigtine]

Anybody care to shine a light on their personal experience shooting 556 ammo through their factory 223 tikka?

 

[kkp005]

Lots of folks on here (myself included) have shot 5.56 black hills 77gr tmk and 5.56 AAC tmks with 0 issues

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Black Hills factory 5.56 77 TMK through 4 different personal Tikka 223s now. I’m up to almost 4 full Home Depot orange buckets of black hills 5.56 brass again. No issues.

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

Black Hills factory 5.56 77 TMK through 4 different personal Tikka 223s now. I’m up to almost 4 full Home Depot orange buckets of black hills 5.56 brass again. No issues.

Gonna swage all those primer pockets?

 

[jzeblaz]

1,300ish AAC 5.56 NATO 77 Grain OTM in a stock Tikka T3X, threaded at full barrel length. No issues other than some failures to detonate. Probably 5/1300 hard hit, but no bang. Shoots pretty dang good in the rifle.

​

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Gonna swage all those primer pockets?

They’ll go with me to Wyoming cabin sometime soon to drop off with my father in law. I’m not that guy haha.

 

[Reburn]

It works fine as everyone has said

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

They’ll go with me to Wyoming cabin sometime soon to drop off with my father in law. I’m not that guy haha.

Nobody’s that guy haha

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

But back on topic I’ve got about 500ish rounds of 5.56 through a factory t3x no issues

 

[mt terry d]

77 TMKs
Black Hills no problem
AAC had several split cases (not a fan)

 

[LongWayAround]

I'm at something like 800 AAC through mine.

 

[Sandstrom]

Close to 2k rounds through my 223 tikka, it has never seen anything but 5.56. Hornady frontier 75 bthp, black hills 77 TMK and SMK, and AAC 77 bthp. Never a problem.

 

[eddielasvegas]

This is interesting as the 5.56 is higher PSI than .223 (59,000 vs. 56 000 IIRC) and my research says do not do it.

I wonder if the .223 firearm is the variable? I was asking this question during my research for my Mini-14, which is for .223 only.


Eddie

 

[Q_Sertorius]

This is interesting as the 5.56 is higher PSI than .223 (59,000 vs. 56 000 IIRC) and my research says do not do it.

I wonder if the .223 firearm is the variable? I was asking this question during my research for my Mini-14, which is for .223 only.


Eddie

I put something like 2000 rounds of M193 through a Mini-14 when I was younger. Never an issue except that the rifle fired a pattern, not a group. But it did that with any ammo.


____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”

 

[JRay]

This is interesting as the 5.56 is higher PSI than .223 (59,000 vs. 56 000 IIRC) and my research says do not do it.

I wonder if the .223 firearm is the variable? I was asking this question during my research for my Mini-14, which is for .223 only.


Eddie

Not a tikka, but we shoot quite a bit of 5.56 in Remingtons and Americans. Never an issue.

 

[cuerro viejo]

This is interesting as the 5.56 is higher PSI than .223 (59,000 vs. 56 000 IIRC) and my research says do not do it.

I wonder if the .223 firearm is the variable? I was asking this question during my research for my Mini-14, which is for .223 only.


Eddie

Bolt is rated for higher psi then AR. Not sure if I’d run 5.56 in a semi 223

 

[Choupique]

Tikka chambers some 60+ksi rounds with larger bolt faces than .223 on the same action, so more pressure on a larger case = more stress on the chamber and more pressure larger bolt face = more thrust on the bolt lugs. Its dramatically overbuilt for any 5.56 round.

Eta: I just checked my work. 300 win mag and 5.56 are nearly the same max pressure, 64k and some change. 300 win mag being a dramatically larger case is going to exert much higher loads on the chamber and action, so im sticking with my original statement

 

[Choupique]

wonder if the .223 firearm is the variable? I was asking this question during my research for my Mini-14, which is for .223 only.

Id say so. The mini 14 action was built specifically for the .223 vs the tikka t3 being built for every centerfire chambering they ever planned to offer.

An action isnt just rated for a certain pressure, it has to handle the resulting stresses which are somewhat cartridge geometry derrived.It isnt that simple though. Cutting a .223 chamber in a barrel means its a .223 barrel which is explicitly not compatible with 5.56 ammo. 5.56 is going to make its design pressure in a 5.56 chamber. I think .223 has a shorter freebore, which could compound with the already higher pressure of a 5.56 and make it worse, and probably exceed the design pressure of the .223 rifle.

I doubt anyone has blown up a good .223 rifle with in spec 5.56 ammo but I bet someone's pierced a primer or stuck a case or something.

 

[Moose83]

IIRC tikka actions are proofed to CIP standards, and the CIP pressure rating for .223 rem is 62,366psi which is the same as the SAAMI pressure rating for 5.56 Nato.

 

[medvedyt]

Bolt is rated for higher psi then AR. Not sure if I’d run 5.56 in a semi 223

never had an issue in my ars running 5.56 in them before they stopped us to use them and now only safe queens. the same for tavors.