Wylde 1:9 vs .223/5.56 1/8

[JWH321]

I am building a generic plinking rifle for my son-in-law. I have a new .223 Wylde 1:9 barrel. I had been planning to buy a new .223/5.56 1:8 twist barrel, but I would like to spend as little as possible.

Can I safely and successfully substitute the 223 Wylde barrel for a .223/5.56 NATO barrel?

 

[BBBBill]

Absolutely. The potentially unsafe substitution is replacing a 5.56 barrel with a .223 barrel. While similar, they are NOT the same. Fraternal twins or first cousins, but not identical twins. So do not refer to a barrel as .223/5.56.

 

[JWH321]

Thanks much. Obviously, I've got a lot to learn yet. Thanks for your patience. I speak handgun pretty well, but AR type rifles are a new thing for me (and I've been shooting for 56 years, but the only long guns up to now have been a .22 LR, a .410, and a 12 ga.). I've collected a bunch of parts from friends and relatives. I'm finding that as lot of folks start to build an AR but never finish. Second hand, but brand new unused parts seem pretty easy to come by around here.