A little more AR help please...

[Paltares8]

Hey everyone, I just have a few questions I was hoping I could get some help with. I got a ton of great advice the first time I asked about getting a starter AR, and just have a few general questions. 1, if a rifle is listed as 5.56cal, as opposed to .223/5.56, is it only good for 5.56 ammo? I feel stupid asking because it seems obvious, but I always thought they were pretty much the same. And as far as the 2 types of ammo go, is one better than the other? This will pretty much just be a range and potentially home defense gun, unless someone I know starts hunting or something. And lastly, I was looking at a Troy Industries CQB-SPC A3 for $699. Anyone have any opinions on Troy as a whole or that gun specifically, and at that price? I recall hearing some stuff about Troy before, but whether good or bad I don't know. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[shane45]

223 in a 556 is fine. 556 in a 223 is a concern.

[Paltares8]

Gotcha. Higher pressures or what? Just curious

[23JAZ]

Gotcha. Higher pressures or what? Just curious

Exactly.

[spinmove_]

Gotcha. Higher pressures or what? Just curious

http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/5-56-vs-223/

[Paltares8]

Thanks for the link. That explains a lot

[farscott]

One caveat: Some brands, not name brands like Colt and S&W, mark the barrels as 5.56 NATO when the barrel does not have a 5.56 NATO chamber. The chamber may be a .223 Remington or a .223 Wylde (the latter is okay with 5.56 NATO ammo). This can lead to a shooter thinking the right ammo is what is marked on the rifle, when that is not the case. This is another reason to purchase a name-brand AR, not one put together by an individual or a small business as it is tough to verify component provenance.

[Kirk Freeman]

Pal, we are awash in AR-15 options. It seems to me that you have the question reversed.

Borrow a rifle, get a class or three and allow your software (your training) to select your hardware.

Troy is just fine. Don't have any of their guns, but I use their sights. Nice big hole in back. I have older eyes now. I like the light.

[WDW]

Just buy a Colt 6920/6720/6940 an FN-15 or anything from BCM and put any .223/5.56 you want through it.
The AR question/answer game is short & simple.

[Paltares8]

I'm really considering just saving a little more for the Colt after reading all kinds of good stuff about it in multiple threads here. I'd just like to get something sooner (i.e. now) and the Colt is unfortunately not in the cards. Hopefully one day. And Kirk, as far as your suggestion to borrow someone's AR for some classes; I'd love to, but unfortunately I found myself interested in guns all by my lonesome. My brother in the reserves has a .22lr ar-type thing, but we're on completely different pages as far as our aspirations with shooting and such. I appreciate all the advice everyone. And thanks Spinmove for the luckygunner link. After the "switch to da/sa" one I saw in another thread, I'm beginning to really like their stuff