What’s so wild about the .223 Wylde?

But first a little history lesson in dimensions......

In 1957 during the research into development of a military styled .22 caliber rifle, the Remington .222 Special was created. Due to there being several .222 caliber cartridges under development, the .222 Special was renamed to .223 Remington. The cartridge became the standard for the US Army in 1962 as the M193 Cartridge.

Between 1959-63 the increase in US troops in the Vietnam War escalated quickly. Going from around 1000 in 1959 to over 16000 troops in 1963. In 1964 the first iteration of the M16 (the M16A1) was issued as the standard battle rifle for the US military and the 5.56 x 45 NATO was introduced.

Due to differences in the chamber dimensions between the .223 Rem and 5.56 x 45mm NATO, the two could not be used interchangeably, however .223 Rem can safely be fired from firearms chambered for 5.56 mm. As most rifle makers moved to support the 5.56mm specification the reduced accuracy of the .223 fired from them was considered a problem.

Now for the good stuff.

Good ole Bill Wylde of Greenup, Illinois compared the looked at these two cartridges and was inspired to change the chamber of his rifle’s barrel. Can you guess what he named it? That’s right he named it after himself, calling it the .223 Wylde. The round is made with the same external dimensions and lead angle found on the military 5.56 NATO cartridge and the .224-inch free bore diameter found on the civilian .223 Rem rounds. Rifles with a .223 Wylde chamber will accept both .223 Remington and 5.56 ammo.

While the .223 Rem and 5.56 chambers (the bullet) have slightly different dimension, the cartridges (casing) are identical in dimension. The chamber dimension differences are often confused with the cartridge dimensions and so it is often wrongfully thought that the cartridges have different dimensions. The cartridges are loaded to different pressure levels (with the 5.56 being greater), however. (The NATO dimensions offset the higher pressure with a longer throat – often confusing some to think the cartridge itself is longer). This chamber allows the use of both pressure levels safely while also increasing accuracy potential across the range of potential pressures.

Wylde’s hybrid round was designed to exploit the systems in place so that you could have the best of both worlds. Being able to have both the advantages of the inexpensive .223 Rem without losing functionality or risking feeding failures while using 5.56. It’s nice to have choices, huh?

The .223 Wylde is a round meant to simplify and lessen the very minor differences between .223 Remington and 5.56 x 45 NATO. To make your shooting experience better.

To learn more, contact HNR Gunworks at 352-503-6285

Or visit: www.hnrgunworks.com

Information sourced from Wikipedia