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Is 5.56 dying?

10mmLife

10mmLife

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I can't help but wonder if the 5.56 round will be just as popular as it is now in 10 year's.

With the military potentially moving to a 6.8 round will this have the potential to drive up the cost of 5.56 ammo in the future pushing us to something else?

Now more and more companies are putting out factory AR's in alternative cartridge sizes that seem to be gaining a lot of steam such as .350 legend & .300blk to name a few.

Are there signs we falling out of love with the 5.56 with a lot of us now either buying a factory built rifle or building our own in an alternative cartridge to the 5.56 or is it that the AR platform is such a good one that why wouldn't we venture out to have a few more options to fill multiple roles?

I like to hear everyone's thoughts on the subject.

And remember every time an AR is built an eagle gets its wings!
 
I wouldn't say it was dying. Companies are putting out new rifles in different calibers because we all have a 5.56. How many ARs would you purchase in 5.56?

Ammo prices in theory could creep up, but think about how many 5.56/.223s the public owns in the United States. That is a huge demand for ammo that someone is going to want to keep capitalizing on.
 
I don't personally think it's dying but I can't help but notice how popular other cartridges are becoming in the same firearm format.

I'm looking to build an AR in .458 Socom at some point hopefully in the near future.
 
I'm seeing a lot of specialty rounds that'll fit in a 5.56mm-sized AR, but I think the 5.56 is probably here to stay. It has a lot of detractors, but it's waaaay too established to go anywhere anytime soon. But, I think there's some room for variants of it. How about the .223 Wylde ? I think I read something about that somewhere?
 
Other than the 556/223, I have 300bo, 6.5Gren and 6.8spc. I don't have any large calibers in that platform. Being a fan of the 6.5, too me the 6.8 is a better round, but as far as how flat it can shoot the 6.5 beats it. If the gov't bans it, then that will be it's death, not including those that roll their own!
 
Sad to say, I think it is on its way out. Less and less mfr's of bolt action rifles are offering it, Ruger quit making it in the "precision " series. That is life though ,newer ,better, faster is always going to be advertised and produced. The .223 in my mind has already joined the ranks of : 3006, 45 acp, 308. The longest running of them all is the 22LR though and to this day the choice of firearm for it is endless. I am devout .223, thus my moniker....223kid
 
I really don’t think it’s dying, it may be like what happened to the 10mm awhile back, just in a slump right now. With all the new calibers coming out for the AR platform, it’s just sitting in the back taking it easy.
 
PepperGuy said:
Given the number of companies currently producing rifles in 5.56 and the numbers that have been produced in the last fifty years I think it is safe to assume 5.56 will be around for a long time to come..
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The vast majority of companies producing rifles for 5.56 seem to be of the AR platform which is the standard round for the platform. Do you think the popularity will wane in the next 10-15 years?
 
Depends, when I did varmint hunting, I used the .222 rem, .223 rem and the .220 swift, the 222 & 220 were bolt guns, the 223 was a Bushmaster AR target model, I don’t think it will completely go away like the 222 & 220 basically did, but I guess time will tell.
 
Annihilator said:
Depends, when I did varmint hunting, I used the .222 rem, .223 rem and the .220 swift, the 222 & 220 were bolt guns, the 223 was a Bushmaster AR target model, I don’t think it will completely go away like the 222 & 220 basically did, but I guess time will tell.
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My dad bought a 222 in a Remington back in the '70s.
 
223kid said:
Sad to say, I think it is on its way out. Less and less mfr's of bolt action rifles are offering it, Ruger quit making it in the "precision " series. That is life though ,newer ,better, faster is always going to be advertised and produced. The .223 in my mind has already joined the ranks of : 3006, 45 acp, 308. The longest running of them all is the 22LR though and to this day the choice of firearm for it is endless. I am devout .223, thus my moniker....223kid
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Could the reason a lot of the other companies who quit making a bolt version of .223/5.56 be because most people would rather have a semi auto in that cartridge and a heavier caliber in there bolt gun?
 
It has only been a few years here in Pa. that you could use semi auto for hunting. I have several bolt action 223's for that reason. I do not if any other states are the same. I got my first hunting AR in 2003 to got to South Dakota on a prairie dog hunt
 
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