AMERICAN EAGLE 223

American Eagle 223 Remington (designated as the 223 Remington by the SAAMI and 223 Rem by the CIP) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It was developed in 1957 by Remington Arms and Fairchild Industries for the U.S. Continental Army Command of the United States Army as part of a project to create a small-caliber, high-velocity firearm. The 223 Remington is considered one of the most popular cartridges and is currently used by a wide range of semi-automatic and manual-action rifles as well as handguns.

In the US Army, the cartridge is referred to as “Cartridge, 5.56 mm ball M193”. The 5.56×45mm NATO was also developed from the 223 Remington.

The development of the cartridge, which eventually became the 223 Remington, was intrinsically linked to the development of a new lightweight combat rifle. The cartridge and rifle were developed by Fairchild Industries, Remington Arms, and several engineers working toward a goal developed by U.S. Continental Army Command (CONARC). Early development work began in 1957. A project to create a small-caliber, high-velocity (SCHV) firearm was created. Eugene Stoner of ArmaLite was also invited to scale down the AR-10 (7.62×51mm NATO) design. Winchester was also invited to participate.

CONARC ordered rifles to test. Stoner and Sierra Bullet’s Frank Snow began work on the .222 Remington cartridge. Using a ballistic calculator, they determined that a 55-grain bullet would have to be fired at 3,300 ft/s to achieve the 500-yard performance necessary.

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