r/canadaguns • u/Intelligent_Chard_10 • Jul 28 '26
Gun and gear reviews Turkish Adler AD500A .223 Rem, anyone tried yet?
Hi all, I'm eyeing on this .223 Rem, wondering if it also takes 5.56 NATO? Rumour on internet saying that these .223 Rem guns are labelled this way for import purpose, but it MAY take 5.56 NATO
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u/gnu_gai Jul 28 '26
I've put together a copypasta for whenever the 5.56/.223 chamber question comes up, enjoy:
There are two relevant civilian bodies/methods (US and Euro+), and two military, as follows:
- Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI),
- Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives (CIP) [founded by one of the Liège proofmasters to standardize European proofing]
- USAF SCATP
- NATO EPVAT
All four place the piezoelectric transducer in the chamber wall of the test barrel, however CIP and EPVAT drill a hole in the side of the cartridge case to measure the pressure, while SAAMI and SCATP rely on the pressure transmitted through the case as it expands, resulting in the American pressures appearing lower overall
.223 Remington is proof rated by the civilian bodies (SAAMI and CIP) for 380 MPa and 430 MPa respectively
5.56 NATO is proof rated by the military methods (SCATP and EPVAT) for *drumroll please* 380 MPa and 430 Mpa
TLDR: the proof pressures for the cartridges are identical. 5.56 factory loads are higher pressure \on average\***, but no factory load is going to be over the proof limits*
An additional thing to consider: some manufacturers are legally required to mark their civilian firearms with civilian chamberings, even if they are actually working to military chamber specs
The only functional difference between the cartridges and their respective chambers for shooting factory ammo out of a commercial barrel is that the 5.56 chamber spec is looser ahead of the case mouth, and has more freebore. This means a 5.56 barrel is inherently less accurate, but handles chamber gunk better
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u/blueline731 Jul 28 '26
I know a guy who’s put like 3000 rounds of 5.56 through his without any hiccups or issues, but dont blow yourself up because of my anecdote
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u/IcySkyDream Jul 28 '26
Yeah; don’t worry about it. The hoopla about 5.56mm vs .233 is just internet FUDD lore.
With gas-operated semi autos you might have overgassing or extraction issues, but 5.56mm is safe to fire in a .223 marked firearm.
FYI, some batches of Tavors were marked .223 even though they’re designed for 5.56mm.
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u/Intelligent_Chard_10 Jul 28 '26
that's interesting with the Tavor stamp, unfortunately didn't have chance to own a Tavor, sad face.
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u/IcySkyDream Jul 28 '26
I’d sell you my spare X95 if I could. That was the most legit combat-proven NR before the ban hammer dropped. 😔
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u/WeightedDips95 Jul 28 '26
Would the crusader folding stock for the Alkor fit on this? That would look awesome
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u/PT6A-27 Jul 29 '26
I don’t think so. I believe the Adler uses a Benelli M4-style recoil system (same as the Backland Hunter), meaning you’d need to keep the buffer tube assembly.
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u/Status_Ticket5044 Jul 28 '26
My son has the OG Adler 500 and it runs fine. He put tacticool furniture on it and it looks great.
No it does not accommodate 5.56. If it says .223REM on the barrel, that's what it shoots.
If this rifle had been out for a decade and you had a cohort of guys online saying they'd been shooting 5.56NATO though it without a problem for ten years, and it wasn't Turkish, I'd say have at it.
Your facial features will thank you somewhere down the road.
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u/Intelligent_Chard_10 Jul 28 '26
lol, facial features, for real, yeah. Maybe I would just keep using .223 Rem then.
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u/Acc4Wtf Jul 28 '26
If I had a bunch of 556 already, I'd send it. Otherwise, sure just stick with 223 if it makes you feel better. As for the earlier reply, not sure what he means by the "OG Ad500", the 223 model is brand new, the OG is 308.
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u/Intelligent_Chard_10 Jul 28 '26
I can guess he means using 7.62x51 in AD500 instead of .308 Win and things just run fine, possibly.
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u/Status_Ticket5044 Jul 28 '26
Oh fuck. Did he mean Akdas Akcor? Changes nothing and here's why I think so.
It's human nature. If the .223 barrels can safely accommodate the added pressure of 5.56, the manufacturer would sell it as dual calibre.
They would stamp it on the barrel, recommend either cartridge in their manuals and sales literature and accept the liability. They would make it a selling point and perhaps an extra profit center, and they have not.
I'm no metalurgist but I would bet it's because they make their barrels out of scrapped cruise ships.
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u/Acc4Wtf Jul 29 '26
Many manufacturers stamp it 223 ("civilian") for import/export/legal/regulatory purposes, meanwhile it can handle 556 ("military") just fine. See the comments above.
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u/Status_Ticket5044 Jul 29 '26
Ok. I accept this. The risk is slim but still not 0.0%. Still, you shoot 5.56NATO through an exclusively marked .223REM barrel, and say it DOES blow up after 5 years/2000 rounds. Who do you sue?
Anyway, this argument is academic between two opposing opinions. Some folks are daring and some are not.
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u/Acc4Wtf Jul 29 '26
I'm not trying to convince you what to do with your firearms, I completely understand your hesitation/caution. Guns can fail catastrophically even when shooting the caliber stamped on the barrel. The risk is never 0%, doesn't even have to be the gun, could be a bad box of ammo too.
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u/Status_Ticket5044 Jul 29 '26
Lol. Do a search in Reddit on "5.56 in. 223 chamber" or whatever and you will find this debate is at least as old as Reddit.
Granted, in the two years I've been poring over this subReddit among other forums, I have yet to hear about any 5.56 rupturing a .223 barrel, so I see the point of the opposition.
I guess age has taught me the hard way to read and heed user manuals on stuff that can remove at least digits.
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u/PT6A-27 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Turkish .223/5.56 guns are usually labelled exclusively as .223 because of the way Turkish gun laws classify those cartridges. Under Turkish law, .223 is generally treated as a hunting round and is commercially available, whereas 5.56 is considered a military calibre and generally isn't available for civilians to purchase.
In practice, a lot of these Turkish guns seem to accept both .223 and 5.56 just fine, but you might not get any “official” confirmation of that beyond forum posts, YouTube videos, or other reports from owners. I don’t think any of these have actually been sold in Canada yet (coming this week I believe), so you might have to wait a few more days for confirmation.