5.56mm

5.56x45mm NATO is used by every military of the NATO countries as their standard assault rifle caliber. Based on the civilian .223 Remington cartridge, it delivers strong ballistic performance with the benefit of being a lighter round to carry in bulk. 5.56x45mm NATO comes in the common NATO STANAG magazines at a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 30 rounds per box. As a cartridge 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition has a medium-high damage output and medium-high range performance.

Weapons used
5.56x45mm NATO ammunition is used in the following weapons:


 * FN M16A4 - a maximum of 30 rounds per magazine.

History
The 5.56×45mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 5.56 NATO, fyv-FYV-six) is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge family developed in the late 1970s in Belgium by FN Herstal. It consists of the SS109, SS110, and SS111 cartridges. On 28 October 1980 under STANAG 4172 it was standardized as the second standard service rifle cartridge for NATO forces as well as many non-NATO countries. Though they are not entirely identical, the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge family was derived from and is dimensionally similar to the .223 Remington cartridge designed by Remington Arms in the early 1960s.