.223 Wylde vs Compass Lake Chamber

[righteousbarbarian]

I was really sure I was done spending money on gun stuff until I saw the following deal, which is only valid for about another 17 hours.

Windham Weaponry Varmint Exterminator 20 inch Fluted Barrel Kit

I've been in the market for an accurate upper half like this for some time now. I had hoped to get a .223 Wylde upper because I want to get a lot of practice with bench shooting. I'm just a little bit concerned about the Compass Lake specification chamber in the above link. I hear that the dimensions of the chamber are best suited for .223 bullets and that only some 5.56 rounds would not cause a pressure problem. I don't know to what extent that's true.

I want accuracy for bench shooting but I also really want versatility in ammo. I don't yet have the room for reloading and sometimes I do shoot bulk 5.56, so I want that option at the range. Is this the wrong barrel kit for me? Do you have any other thoughts?

 

[mac1911]

that thing will run almost anything.... but do you really want to run crap ammo through it ?
http://www.compasslake.com/images/Chamber.jpg this shows the chamber differences

When I read the add it says the "heavier" varmint bullets. When I hear varmint I think 40-55 gn bullets ?

Wylder chamber will cover a lot of ground I run 55gn - 75gn bullet and sometimes M855 with zero problems.

What do bench guys like to shoot for bullet weights in the 223 cal ?

I found this if it helps

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=506996

I dont think you will have much of a issue with the CLE with any fatory ammo loaded to still function in the magazine. CLE by the diagram link above seems to cut the difference in between Wylder and Nato chamber.

You will see the chambers on the CLE wylder and others have tighter specs around case area also this helps to make sure the case seals well in the chamber.

 

[RImike]

I have a Stag model 6, It's accurate to 600 yards if that helps, though I get about 107 inches of drop (with 100 yard zero), so I have to hold over 5 mill's .
It's fairly easy to shoot tight groupings out of a rifle with bags both under the stock and for-end. I hand load everything, so that helps, with store bought ammo, the accuracy drastically decreases. It's a Stag Arms Model 6 that has a gissel 2 stage match trigger. Out of the box, it shoots .5" groups @ 100 yards, I helped massage that number with Tubbs bullets and further lapped the bore with it. I wish there were ranges that were longer than 300 yards in RI that I could try it out at to see how accurate it really is.

FYI, I load it to 5.56 max pressure and not .223 max pressure so the 77grn bullets compress the powder and I get a slight "crunch" the last scootch during seating. It really helps with accuracy, as I can get better equalized combustion pressures.

There are some people who claim to get 1 5/8" groups at 300 yards. (not going to link to another forum, but googling it will bring you there)

Just search 5.56 vs .223 and you will get all the info you need.

 

[mac1911]

I have a Stag model 6, It's accurate to 600 yards if that helps, though I get about 107 inches of drop (with 100 yard zero), so I have to hold over 5 mill's .
It's fairly easy to shoot tight groupings out of a rifle with bags both under the stock and for-end. I hand load everything, so that helps, with store bought ammo, the accuracy drastically decreases. It's a Stag Arms Model 6 that has a gissel 2 stage match trigger. Out of the box, it shoots .5" groups @ 100 yards, I helped massage that number with Tubbs bullets and further lapped the bore with it. I wish there were ranges that were longer than 300 yards in RI that I could try it out at to see how accurate it really is.

FYI, I load it to 5.56 max pressure and not .223 max pressure so the 77grn bullets compress the powder and I get a slight "crunch" the last scootch during seating. It really helps with accuracy, as I can get better equalized combustion pressures.

There are some people who claim to get 1 5/8" groups at 300 yards. (not going to link to another forum, but googling it will bring you there)

Just search 5.56 vs .223 and you will get all the info you need.

Im actually a bit surprised that The model 6 has a NATO chamber ?

I will tell you I have 2 ARs with the Wylder chambers both are Wilson Arms Match barrels. They dont do well with 5.56 "NATO, M193/855 or any of the inexpensive steel"
ammunition. I leave that to my milspec A2 rifle. When I say "well" I mean its just not fun shooting the average ammo out of it as it does not come close to the groups as reloads or high quality match ammo... I just have learned over the years that "NATO" ammunition or anything that claims to be just has to be 4moa or better to be good for the military.

 

[EddieCoyle]

A CLE chamber will require that you use small-base dies if you reload for it.

 

[RImike]

Im actually a bit surprised that The model 6 has a NATO chamber ?

I will tell you I have 2 ARs with the Wylder chambers both are Wilson Arms Match barrels. They dont do well with 5.56 "NATO, M193/855 or any of the inexpensive steel"
ammunition. I leave that to my milspec A2 rifle. When I say "well" I mean its just not fun shooting the average ammo out of it as it does not come close to the groups as reloads or high quality match ammo... I just have learned over the years that "NATO" ammunition or anything that claims to be just has to be 4moa or better to be good for the military.

It's a bit odd, I had the same question/concern so I called about it. From what I was told, the model 6 is indeed 5.56, but splits the difference with the .223 wylde

 

[mac1911]

A CLE chamber will require that you use small-base dies if you reload for it.

would you still need the small base die with "vergin" brass fired from the CLE chamber? I see true NATO spec bras has a cartridge base dia of .385 and the CLE chamber base is .3803 would that cause extraction problems if you fire 5.56 nato in the CLE ?

I can see the brass giving you fits if you try and use brass fired from a nato chambered rifle even resized back to SAAMI spec.

 

[EddieCoyle]

would you still need the small base die with "vergin" brass fired from the CLE chamber?

I don't know.

It's not the extraction that's the problem - it's getting the rounds to chamber at all. Lot's of times you'll end up with a round stuck in the chamber and the rifle not in battery.

 

[Mountain]

I have the factory VEX rifle, been shooting it ~1-1/2 years. Same barrel as the kit you were looking at. I have run a few decent (brass case) 5.56 rounds through it without issue. You should be GTG with 5.56, Windham even says it's OK for this chamber. However, your typical 55gr 5.56 ammo won't shoot as well as .223 with heavier projectiles, IMHO.

Off of sandbags I can regularly get groups as tight as .3" with handloads or a decent batch of factory match- either with 69gr SMK's or Nosler Match. CCI BR primers, sorted & trimmed or Lapua brass, Benchmark powder, and 77gr Nosler Match gave me my tightest 100 yd group ~.226". I'd have to check my notes for powder weight and OAL. I found the Benchmark more consistent than Varget, though Varget is very close. This barrel does seem to favor the heavier projectiles, at least for me.

For the purpose of paper punching or maybe varmints, I am not having any feeding issues using reloads with only a trim (if necessary) and neck size. Brass I am using has been fired 2X to 4X times so far. I'm using Lee Precision dies and have never had a FTF with any full resized brass either.

I highly recommend this barrel / chamber if you are looking for a heavy and/or varmint setup. Unless it's junk ammo or a junk shot (my bad), it almost always shoots sub 0.5" groups at 100 yds. Better w/ some attention to loads & shooting technique.