The Man, Davy Crockett

Al Colombo, Author

I spent many an hour planted in front of a television watching Davy Crockett and his Indian friend, Mingo. The one thing I will say is that I was always mystified by the fact that Mingo, as an Indian, spoke better English than most Englishmen. Let's start out by informing our younger readers as to whom Davy Crockett is, for those who may not be aware:

"David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the Texas Revolution" (Source: Wikipedia, http://bit.ly/2GwksVV).

This man was so popular that someone created a song about him. Believe it or not, my mother, when I was probably 7 years old, bought me a 78 rpm of this song, called "Ballad of Davy Crockett." In the following rendition, released in 1955, when I was 5 years old, the singer is none other than Fess Parker, the man who, for many--such as myself--made Davy Crockett a household word among school boys:

Capitalizing in the brief chronology of Crockett's life, as covered in the Wikipedia article cited above in our quote, I'm going to put it in a slightly different format--one that I believe will be easier to digest and understand:

• Crockett grew up in East Tennessee, where he gained a reputation for hunting and storytelling.
  
• He was made a colonel in the militia of Lawrence County, Tennessee
  
• Crockett was elected to the Tennessee state legislature in 1821.
  
• In 1827, he was elected to the U.S. Congress where he vehemently opposed many of the policies of President Andrew Jackson.
  
• He especially opposed the Indian Removal Act.
  
• Crockett's opposition to Jackson's policies led to his defeat in the 1831 elections.
  
• Crockett was re-elected in 1833.
  
• He then narrowly lost in 1835, prompting his angry departure to Texas (then the Mexican state of Tejas).
  
• In early 1836, Crockett took part in the Texas Revolution.
  
• He was eventually killed at the Battle of the Alamo in March of the same year.

The television production, produced by Disney in 1955, depicted Crockett in lots of miraculous positions. There wasn't anything that he couldn't do. I loved watching him and his friendship with the Indians almost everywhere he went was inspiring and helped lend a sympathetic position to the North American Indian cause. As I read the chronology of Crockett on Wikipedia (above), I could see that he was a friend of the Indian.

Well, I was a bit taken aback when doing research for this commentary when I read how he fought against an Indian tribe for atrocities against settlers.

"Davy Crockett was born in 1786 in Tennessee. In 1813, he participated in a massacre against the Creek Indians at Tallushatchee and later earned a seat in the 21st U.S. Congress. He was re-elected to Congress twice before leaving politics to fight in the Texas Revolution. On March 6, 1836, Crockett was killed at the Battle of the Alamo in San Antonio, though the exact circumstances of his death have been the subject of debate" (Source: http://bit.ly/2DpIkID)

Another discrepancy between what we learned about Davy Crockett and what some historians tell us involves questions about his death. The widely accepted story is that he died defending the Alamo while the brief biographic rundown on biography.com provided reason to question that. Here's a quote from the Biography.com website:

"In a 1975 English translation, the memoirs of a Mexican officer named José Enrique de la Peña stated that Crockett and his comrades at arms were executed, though they 'died without complaining and without humiliating themselves before their torturers.'" (Source: http://bit.ly/2DpIkID)

The following is an actual episode from the popular 1950's Davy Crockett television series (Davy Crockett and the River Pirates 1956 Full Movie):

Understanding the .223 Remington vs. 5.56 Safety Issue

Gary Miller, Author

Common sense and the rules of safety dictate that you NEVER chamber a cartridge in a firearm other than the EXACT one that is specified for that firearm.

If you have a gun that is not clearly marked as to what is the specified cartridge that it will safely fire, have it checked by a gunsmith or a competent firearms professional, as even the cartridge identification markings on the gun itself may not be correct on some firearms, as I will elaborate on later.

I bring up this topic because the proliferation of the AR-15 'style' of tactical weapons has greatly popularized the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge that many of these guns are chambered for. But if you have a tactical rifle or carbine that appears to be chambered for the 5.56 cartridge, you had better make SURE. Some of these look-alike guns are actually chambered for the .223 Remington cartridge, and may or may NOT be clearly marked as such.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR-15_style_rifle

There were a number of AR-15s and AR-15 look-alikes sold by several manufacturers to the public that were incorrectly marked as being chambered for the 5.56x45 NATO round, but were actually chambered for the .223 Remington. So... again, if you have purchased a new or used rifle or carbine that is marked as being chambered for the 5.56 round, it may be advisable to check the serial number and call the factory, or take it to a gunsmith who can accurately measure the chamber and throat of the barrel BEFORE you fire the weapon, or even load it, for that matter.

Side by side, these two cartridges look identical to the naked eye. Even the diameter of the bullet of these two cartridges is the same. I checked this out by looking into my old Speer reloading manual. The actual diameter of the bullet used to reload both the 5.56x45mm NATO and the .223 Remington measures in at 0.224 inches. When I checked a gun forum online, they verified the Speer reloading manual is correct on the 0.224” diameter bullet for both those cartridges (and also among several other popular small bore cartridges).

But the assembled 'cartridges' are not exactly the same in several respects.

Let's look at some of the data that outlines some of the differences between these two popular cartridges:

Let's start with the brass cases used to make up the two cartridges. The brass used to produce the 5.56x45 NATO cartridge is thicker (and likely stronger) than the brass used to produce the .223 Remington.

Most all of the 5.56x45 NATO cartridges produced have a slightly longer overall length (by a few thousandths of an inch) than the commercial .223 Remington cartridges. And there are also critical differences in the chamber dimensions of these two high-power rifles (and carbines) that these loads are designed for.

There is a free space, referred to as the leade or throat, where the chamber meets the barrel of a rifle just short of where the groves and lands of the rifling begin. This space is most critical. If the assembled cartridge is too short, the leade will be too great, with a negative effect on velocity and accuracy. But if the leade space in the gun is too short, and if the bullet is forced into the rifling as it is pushed into the chamber, when the gun is fired, excessive (DANGEROUS) pressure could likely be built up which may not only seriously damage the firearm, but could seriously injure, or in the extreme case, even kill the person firing the weapon!

When we are talking about high pressure here, we are dealing with from approximately 40,000 pounds per sq. inch when the .223 Remington cartridge is fired, as compared to more than 50,000 – 55,000 pounds per sq. inch when the 5.56x45 NATO cartridge is fired. That's why the margin for error is so critical when we are dealing with cartridge and chamber measurements.

With a .223 Remington-chambered carbine or rifle, the leade measures 0.085” as compared to the relatively longer 0.162” leade in a gun correctly chambered for the 5.56x45 mm NATO cartridge.

So... in a nut shell:

Never Put A 5.56x45mm In A Gun Chambered For The .223 Remington!

While a .223 Remington round can 'normally' be safely fired in a gun chambered for the 5.56x45mm, you will lose ballistic efficiency. * But there have also been incidents (mostly with reloaded ammo) where excess free space (leade) caused some cartridge cases to rupture. *

And with ALL firearms, if there is Any Doubt at all as to whether you have the EXACT cartridge that can be safely fired in that weapon, Don't Even Load It!

Here's an excellent article on the subject: .223 Remington vs. 5.56 NATO: What You Don’t Know Could Hurt You

And this video should also be of help in understanding the issue:

Stay Safe and Protect Our Second Amendment!

Gary Miller

   Please post a comment below!