I fired several rounds today. Function was good, and recoil impulse was more of a "shove". Hard to explain, but it felt like I was moving more than M193 down the barrel, but not snappy.

I fired 2 rounds into milk jugs full of water, at 15m distance, from a 16.1" DDM4 with a Surefire 556-212 suppressor in place. Both rounds performed identically, penetrating 3 jugs fully, and bouncing off of the far inside wall of the 4th jug trying to get out, but not quite making it. In both shots, the first 2 jugs were gnarled up very badly, but unlike the RA556B and TSX rounds I tested, the jugs in both shots did not "fly off" 5-10 feet to the side. They stayed almost perfectly in place, even though they were all but turned inside out and blown open. I don't know if this is meaningful, or not, but it's an observation.


Bullet #1 measures 0.557" at the widest point, and 0.365" at the narrowest point (a juncture between petals), for an average diameter of .461". It is 0.378" high from the front of the mushroom, to the base of the bullet shank, although petals have folded beyond the base of the shank.
Bullet #2 measures 0.5415" at the widest point, and 0.355" at the narrowest point (a juncture between petals), for an average diameter of 0.448".  It is 0.379" high from the front of the mushroom, to the base of the bullet shank, although petals have folded beyond the base of the shank.

In comparison to RA556B, RA556B penetrated identically in this test, and digging through my notes when I tested it:

I am sending some Gold Dot to be evaluated at low impact velocities in gel, chronographed, and shot into hogs and deer. For now, I have to say that I favor the RA556B somewhat, although if the velocity on the Gold Dot is better than I think it is (I bet it's dog slow, personally), then it might be a real performer at distance, judging by how "soft" the Gold Dots are, and the prolific boat-tail and small frontal area.

The Gold Dot has a sealed and staked primer, and no neck sealant.

I would like to try some... but I haven't seen it for sale in single boxes... just 500 rd cases..

Bone Frog Gun Club has it in 100rnd orders. Priced pretty reasonably.

While I am interested about this load I don't think I'll pick any up since the Fusion can be found for so cheap and will generally put a hog down with a neck shot if I do my part. For me the increased bullet weight and probably better terminal performance isn't enough to justify the increased cost. A dead hog is a dead hog. For HD/duty it is definitely worth exploring though.

Looking forward to some reviews myself.  Have Not found any locally.

$0.85 per round, not too shabby.

They also have some 5.56 Federal TBBC...

I have found the federal to suck. It shot 2.5-3 MOA or so for me, and RA556B is close enough terminally, and shoots 1.9-2.1 MOA for me. I tested the Federal from a Colt 24" stainless HBAR type weapon with a 10X leupold and a bipod, and the RA556B from a CHF daniel defense with a red-dot and magnifier just shooting off the mag as a monopod, so the difference may even be greater than that. *10 shot groups, no fliers excused. No shots "called". Groups were homogeneous dist.

Got to shoot some today.

Very nice! Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to the results from gel and 4 legged test mediums!

This round looks promising.  Looking forward to seeing some reviews on it.

I shot some of these today out of my Noveske 10.5" SBR with a SS barrel and out of my Noveske 14.5" SS barreled rifle.  These were 10 shot groups fired over my Oehler 35P, here are the results:

14.5"  2421 FPS
10.5"  2199 FPS

Needless to say I was rather disappointed in the results.

.  That's not so cool.

Does anyone know the expansion floor for these yet?

Hopefully the basement. Bleck!

 
Holy hell that's dissapointing.  I know they are a heavy for caliber round but that's slow especially out of the 10.5

Wow I thought these would be the go to. Seem very slow.

I just want to say...BOOM! I called it.

I noticed the box says 223.   Anyone know if they will have a hotter 556 version?

Not gonna happen. Speer stopped making 5.56 ammo after departments kept using 5.56 ammo in their shrubmasters and blamed speer for malfunctions.

If it does, it's contract only like their other 5.56 gold dot.

We can all agree that at the muzzle, 2400fps is plenty. The natural issue is "Well what about at 200 yards?" Right?

Well, I did some digging. The 55gr Gold Dot had a BC of 0.222. The 64gr version had a BC of 0.27.

The LOWEST BC that I could possibly fathom that the 75gr Gold Dot would have, considering that it is the same profile, just stretched, is 0.30. It may well be 0.31-0.33.

However, I put this chart together comparing it to RA556B, and XM556FBIT3, given actual velocities that have been obtained from 14.5" barrels for all three (sometimes rounding up or down by 25 to make it easier).

The RA556B is touted by Nosler for expanding down to 1600fps, the XM556FBIT3, to 2000fps, and the Gold Dot to 1800fps (and below...). These are various numbers compiled from magazine articles, interaction I have had with the LE divisions of ATK, and other random sources. If you feel it is in err, please submit evidence.

What we find, is that they all cross the 2,000fps barrier (what I draw the line at for "rifle-like performance" regarding TSC's) at 175-225 yards.
Dr. Roberts draws the line at 1800fps. We find that RA556B gets equal with the 75gr Gold Dot at 250 yards, just under the 1800fps mark, while the TBBC load crosses it at around 300 yards. The 75gr Gold Dot has caught the 5.56 pressure RA556B before it drops out of "rifle velocity" per Dr. Roberts (who's data is credible, in my humble esteem). Not shabby for such a "slow, weak round" !!! But the kicker? It arrives at each "velocity milestone" with 100# kinetic energy (and obviously higher sectional density, pre-deformation), than either of the other two loads.

Assuming a 100 yard zero...
At 300 yards, the RA556B has dropped 17" and is traveling at 1594fps. It carries 361# kinetic energy. This is its published minimum velocity of expansion.
At 300 yards, the Gold Dot has dropped 20", and is traveling at 1654fps. It carries 456# of kinetic energy. This is below its published minimum velocity of expansion, but various testing indicates that it likely is not at its actual minimum for expansion.
At 300 yards, the XM556FBIT3 has dropped 14.7", and is traveling at 1758fps. It carries 425# of kinetic energy. This is below its published minimum velocity of expansion, and it is likely shooting some rather impressively large groups by this point...




In short, everyone can agree that 2400fps at the muzzle/across the room is plenty. And given the facts...it's hard to say that the 75gr Gold Dot is appreciably behind the curve on the long end of things, either!

Now...like everyone else, I'd LOVE it if they loaded it to 5.56 pressure...

Speaking of loading it, here is a comparison of the 75gr Gold Dot components to the 64gr Gold Dot components. I will also note, that the recoil and cycling characteristics of my suppressed rifle mirror IMI MK262 clone ammo. This powder has an interesting burn characteristic/pressure curve, and I HIGHLY doubt you will have function issues, even if your carbine is gassed on the "soft" side.

https://youtu.be/2Z2yVX1PDCM

In short...I'm giving this 75gr Gold Dot a shot! I should have some dead animals and some shot up gel to post about from testers I have sent it to, shortly!

*One other thing to consider is...did you see that slug I posted a photo of? Maybe ATK found that these bullets come apart when loaded hotter, in the 75gr variety. That bullet was VERY gnarled up for "going so slow"!

Great information!   Thanks!   Interested in how the round would perform out of a 10.5" or 11.5" barrel.  Guessing a ~10% reduction in MV, so maybe stay inside 100 yards or so.

I regressed Speer's data on the 75gr Gold Dot, and achieved a functional BC of 0.4.

I verified this by plugging in 0.222 for their 55gr load, and 0.27 for their 62gr load (this is the 64gr load's published BC).---These are published BC's.

I checked all residual velocities at 300 yards with the calculator. Using the above data, All of the loads were within a dozen FPS of the published data, using published MV.

It seems for all the world that Speer is claiming a 0.4 +- 0.01 BC for their 75gr load. I have not found it published, but the velocity data regressed indicates such, directly.

Feel free to check my work.


http://federalpremium.com/downloads/catalog/LE/le-issue/index.html

*The 75gr Sciroco II is 0.419, and the GD looks at LEAST as streamlined, with a slightly blunter tip...so maybe it's legit?

Here is a revised chart, using 0.4 as the BC.

Nice work! And who said you'll never use math, science, and physics in the real world!

I can't help but thinking they must have changed the powder type for the 75gr load since, from what I have read from several places, the older 64gr would expand out to 200m from a 10.5in barrel.
This load could have been so great had they just loaded it to other common 75gr projectile velocities!

But who knows, once people start using this for hunting maybe, hopefully, the results will be good.

Is the bullet itself available for handloading?

IF the BC is really 0.4, with a MV of 2200 for a 10.5in barrel, it is still crossing the 200 yard mark at 1800fps and should expand.

200 yards from a 10.5" barrel has always been the parameter for gold dot, as far as I'm aware, ever since it was developed for ICE.

More data : 2550fps, 16" Centurion chf  barrel, 7' from chrono.

Also, I noticed that the 150gr Gold Dot was similar looking to the 75gr Gold Dot in BC based on the above Speer charts...so I googled it. .414BC
http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/rifle.aspx?id=1033

I'm going to reach out to SPEER to confirm this, and what method they used to derive this BC. A BC of .4 in a bonded bullet in .224 caliber is pretty amazing without a plastic tip.

Today, I fired a round into water jugs (milk-jugs) at a paced 95m. My paces are pretty accurate (about 10m +- over 400m, measured w/surveyor wheel, numerous times, when I lived out in S TX). I used my 16.1" DDM4, suppressed. The round expanded VIOLENTLY, and penetrated the same number of jugs as at 15m. Three, with the round coming to rest in the 4th, after ALMOST breaking out of the outer most side. The bulk of the fragments shown were found in the 2nd and 3rd jugs. This round is still moving "too fast" at 100ish yards to retain 100% of its mass. It is my opinion that the BC really is around 0.4, and this round has some legs on it!



Here it is, shown next to the one fired at 15m, for reference (the fragmented round is, ironically, the one fired at 100-ish yards):

That is nasty!

Actual bc is 0.373.

the problem is is that the 62 or the 64 grain load can easily be pushed at 3000 feet per second out of the 16 inch barrel. I don't care what the ballistic coefficient of the 75 grain bullet is, it will never catch does other bullets within the expansion threshold as their ballistic coefficients or not terrible due to their boat tail design

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just to add to my above post, the ballistic coefficient of the 62 grain federal fusion is reported as .31 on Federal's website.

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No it can't.

The 62/64gr BULLET can. However, the factory loading pushes it out of the barrel at around 2700ish from a 16" barrel. The 75gr stuff is coming out of a 16" barrel at 2550. Thus, using factory ammo, they are going the same speed at 300 yards, which is just a hair under 1900fps. The best data I have found indicates expansion down to at least 1800fps for this projectile.

The real kicker is that it has 11/13gr more mass, and a higher sectional density, and a full 100# more kinetic energy to do the deed at 300 yards, as compared to the 62/64gr stuff.

Now, if you handload, a 75gr projectile can be pushed to around 2750-2850fps from a 16" barrel. I know my 70gr Browntip is moving out at 2900. Basically, mirror the Hornady Tap T2 loading in how hot you get it, and this bullet will expand all the way out to 450 yards arriving with over 500# of kinetic energy (assuming it leaves the barrel at 2750fps).

To equal that, the 64gr GD would have to leave the barrel at 3050fps.

However, when you push EITHER of these that fast from the muzzle, their nature makes their performance up close very spotty as they frag. Basically, I would not WANT this 75gr round moving any faster than it already is, given my experiences with it, and its excellent BC holds onto velocity VERY well!

I guess it depends on your intended usage. What this round does at 300 yards means little in a self defense scenario, and that is where my current 64 gr. Gold Dots would be used. Hunting is a different story.