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The 5.56×45mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 5.56 NATO, commonly pronounced "five-five-six") is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge family developed in the late 1970s in Belgium by FN Herstal. [5] It consists of the SS109, L110, and SS111 cartridges.
- 7.62×51Mm NATO
These have been replaced to a considerable extent in the...
- 5.8×42Mm
The 5.8×42mm / DBP87 ("Dàn (弹) Bùqiāng (步枪) Pŭtōng (普通),...
- List of 5.56×45Mm NATO Firearms
List of 5.56×45mm NATO firearms. The table below gives a...
- 223 Remington
The .223 Remington (designated 223 Remington by SAAMI and...
- 5.45×39Mm
Tests indicate the free recoil energy delivered by the...
- 300 AAC Blackout
The .300 AAC Blackout (designated as the 300 BLK by the...
- FN 5.7×28Mm
The FN 5.7×28mm (designated as the 5.7×28 by the C.I.P. and...
- 7.62×51Mm NATO
The 5.56×45mm NATO round, pronounced " five-five-six ", is an intermediate cartridge and the main bullet type used by guns made for NATO militaries. It was first used in the Vietnam War as the main bullet used by the US military.
- Terminology
- Modularity and Customization
- Comparison to Military Versions
- Production and Sales
- Hunting
- Cartridge Variations
- Crime and Mass Shootings
The "AR" in AR-15 stands for "ArmaLite Rifle",[failed verification] and "AR-15" is most-commonly used to refer only to the civilian semi-automatic variants of the rifle which lack the fully automatic function. A common misconception is that "AR" is an abbreviation for "assault rifle" or "automatic rifle", perhaps because of the weapon's inclusion i...
While most earlier breech-loading rifles had a single receiver housing both the trigger and reloading mechanism, an innovative feature of the AR-15 was modular construction to simplify substitution of parts and avoid need for arsenal facilities for most repairs of malfunctioning military rifles.A distinctive two-part receiver is used by both milita...
The semi-automatic civilian AR-15 was introduced by Colt in 1963. The primary distinction between the civilian semi-automatic rifles and the military assault rifles is select fire. Military models are produced with multiple firing modes: semi-automatic fire, fully automatic fire mode and/or burst fire mode, in which the rifle fires several rounds i...
The first version produced for commercial sale by Colt was the SP1 model AR-15 Sporter in .223 Remington, with a 20-inch (51 cm) barrel and issued with five-round magazines. Initial sales of the Colt AR-15 were slow, primarily due to its fixed sights and carry handle that made scopes difficult to mount and awkward to use. Military development of th...
Many hunters prefer using AR-15–style rifles because of their versatility, accuracy, wide variety of available features, and wide variety of calibers (see below). Collapsible stocks are convenient for hunters who pack their rifles into remote hunting locations or for length of pull adjustments to fit any sized hunter. Construction with lightweight ...
Since the upper and lower receivers may be swapped between rifles, forensic firearm examination of bullets and spent cartridges may reveal distinguishing marks from the barrel and upper receiver group without identifying the lower receiver for which legal records may be available. An individual may use several upper receiver groups with the same lo...
United States
Most firearm-related homicides in the United States involve handguns. A 2019 Pew Research study found that 3% of US gun deaths were caused by rifles, a category which includes AR-15–style rifles. According to a 2013 analysis by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, 14 out of 93 mass shootings involved high-capacity magazines or assault weapons. Nevertheless, AR-15–style rifles have played a prominent role in many high-profile mass shootings in the U.S. and have come to be widely characterized as the w...
Australia
Following the use of a Colt AR-15 rifle in the Port Arthur massacre, the worst single-person shooting incident in Australian history, the country enacted the National Firearms Agreement in 1996, restricting the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic shotguns, and pump action shotguns. (Category D).
New Zealand
As a result of the Christchurch mosque shootings with an AR-15 during Friday Prayer on March 15, 2019, the New Zealand government enacted a law to ban semi-automatic center-fire rifles, magazines holding more than 10 rounds, and parts that can be used to assemble prohibited firearms.
The M16 uses the 5.56mm NATO (.223) caliber cartridge, with a muzzle velocity (the speed of bullet leaving the rifle) of over 900 meters per second (over 3,000 feet per second), and has a maximum effective range of 600 yards, [6] with a rate of fire (how fast the gun shoots) of approximately 800 rounds per minute.
- 1963–present
- Assault rifle
- United States
- See Users
Apr 13, 2021 · The History of the AR-15 and 5.56×45 NATO Cartridge. The History of the AR-15 and 5.56×45 NATO Cartridge is a long one. In this article, we take a look at the development of the AR15 and the 5.56 cartridge.
The 5.56×45mm NATO round, pronounced "five-five-six", is an intermediate cartridge and the main bullet type used by guns made for NATO militaries. It was first used in the Vietnam War as the main bullet used by the US military.
