Winchester 5.56mm FBI Training Ammunition



Winchester’s 5.56mm 62 grain hollow-point FBI "training ammunition" comes in a plain white Winchester 20 round box with no other identifying information other than “5.56mm” printed on it.

Contrary to erroneous information that has been posted on the Internet, the 62 grain open-tip projectile used for this load is not a bonded bullet, does not have a thick copper base and it is not a barrier-blind bullet.  The bullet has a lead-core with a reverse drawn copper jacket construction.









The 62 grain hollow-point bullet is loaded in 5.56mm WCC brass.  The primers are crimped and sealed and the round is charged with “ball” powder.  The case-mouth has a heavy (as in bullet deforming) collet crimp.  There is just a hint of asphalt sealant at the case-mouth.



I chronographed the Winchester FBI training ammunition from a semi-automatic AR-15 with a chrome-lined, NATO chambered 20” Colt M16A2 barrel with a 1:7” twist.



Chronographing was conducted using an Oehler 35-P chronograph with “proof screen” technology. The Oehler 35P chronograph is actually two chronographs in one package that takes two separate chronograph readings for each shot and then has its onboard computer analyze the data to determine if there is any statistically significant difference between the two readings. If there is, the chronograph “flags” the shot to let you know that the data is invalid. There was no invalid data flagged during this testing.

The velocity stated below is the muzzle velocity as calculated from the instrumental velocity using Oehler’s Ballistic Explorer software program. The string of fire consisted of 10 rounds over the chronograph.





Each round was single-loaded and cycled into the chamber from a magazine fitted with a single-load follower. The bolt locked-back after each shot allowing the chamber to cool in between each shot. This technique was used to mitigate the possible influence of “chamber-soak” on velocity data. Each new shot was fired in a consistent manner after hitting the bolt release. Atmospheric conditions were monitored and recorded using a Kestrel 4000 Pocket Weather Tracker.



Atmospheric conditions

Temperature: 75 degrees F
Humidity: 44%
Barometric pressure: 29.95 inches of Hg
Elevation: 950 feet above sea level

The muzzle velocity for the 10-shot string of the Winchester FBI training ammunition fired from the 20” Colt barrel was 3132 FPS with a standard deviation of 34 FPS.  That makes this load a good interior and exterior ballistic match for the FBI 5.56mm duty load XM556FBIT3 (loaded with the 62 grain TBBC bullet) which had a muzzle velocity of 3119 FPS with a standard deviation 20 FPS when chronographed from the same 20” Colt barrel.

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I conducted an accuracy (technically, precision) evaluation of the Winchester FBI training  ammunition following my usual protocol. This accuracy evaluation used statistically significant shot-group sizes and every single shot in a fired group was included in the measurements. There was absolutely no use of any group reduction techniques (e.g. fliers, target movement, Butterfly Shots).

The shooting set-up will be described in detail below. As many of the significant variables as was practicable were controlled for. Also, a control group was fired from the test-rifle used in the evaluation using match-grade, hand-loaded ammunition; in order to demonstrate the capability of the barrel. Pictures of shot-groups are posted for documentation.

All shooting was conducted from a concrete bench-rest from a distance of 100 yards (confirmed with a laser rangefinder.) The barrel used in the evaluation was free-floated. The free-float handguards of the rifle rested in a Sinclair Windage Benchrest, while the stock of the rifle rested in a Protektor bunny-ear rear bag. Sighting was accomplished via a Leupold VARI-X III set at 25X magnification and adjusted to be parallax-free at 100 yards. A mirage shade was attached to the objective-bell of the scope. Wind conditions on the shooting range were continuously monitored using a Wind Probe. The set-up was very similar to that pictured below.



The Wind Probe.



The test vehicle for this evaluation was one of my semi-automatic precision AR-15s with a 20” stainless-steel Lothar Walther barrel. The barrel has a 223 Wylde chamber with a 1:8” twist. Prior to firing the Winchester FBI training ammunition, I fired a 10-shot control group using match-grade hand-loads topped with the Sierra 77 grain MatchKing. That group had an extreme spread of 0.78”.



Next, three 10-shot groups of the Winchester FBI training load were fired in a row with the resulting extreme spreads:

1.70”
2.24”
2.09”

for a 10-shot group average extreme spread of 2.01”. The three 10-shot groups were over-layed on each other using RSI Shooting Lab to form a 30-shot composite group. The mean radius for the 30-shot composite group was 0.61”.

The smallest 10-shot group . . .



The 30-shot composite group . . .



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Great work as always!

Thanks for posting this and taking your time to test it!

Welcome back!

Thanks for the test of this round. Real information about it is almost impossible to find.

I wondered about that neck crimp myself and asked about it here almost 3 years ago.

If a group put a few bucks in each to get Molon some ballistic gel... would you use it Molon? You take the testing more serious than most and have good reliable data. I would love to see terminal ballistics added to it. Would be about as complete as it gets outside of a lab lol.

 
Molon, you should get a couple of Industry Partners in here to sponsor you and do testing for their products. Love reading your posts man, solid as always.


 

Very interesting. I've wondered about that specific ammo's purpose.

Thanks, Molon... for answering another ammo question !

I get offers, but, it is and has been my long standing policy not to accept free ammunition, firearms or related equipment from manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers or other groups. I do this so that there can be absolutely no claims of bias in my test reports.

Welcome back, Molon!

Great write up, as always.

It's one of the heaviest crimps I've seen on factory ammunition.

Thanks Molon!

I was just looking at this ammo last night.

Makes sense, but what about gel or simtest?

Glad to see you back!

BigDozer66

I have a couple cases of the Q3315 FBI training ammo. It looks very similar to what you shot. They also made a Q3314, but I don't know what the difference is. I don't suppose you could post a picture of what the bullet tips look like? As I recall, the hollow point was sort of star shaped, but I won't know till I get home.

My stuff does not shoot particularly great out of my match barrels relative to the match handloads I typically run through them. However they run significantly better than bulk ammo when fired through my lightweight barrels. Did you test accuracy with it out of the Colt barrel? I may do a similar test this weekend.

Molon, your posts are excellent as always. Thanks for going to the trouble and expense.

I think what he tested was the ZQ3314.

I believe the ZQ3315 is the lead free primer variant. Algore approved or something.  

I've wondered if they shoot the same myself.

I'll see if I have any left.

Very happy to see you posting.

Terrific and informative test, very much appreciated.

I've had a case of this ammo for a few years, but haven't fired any of it.

Like the others that have mentioned, I'd love to see some ballistic gel testing.  I had considered this a good choice for a SD round.  Would you concur?

Definitely not.  It’s essentially a 62 grain hollow-point varmint bullet, with limited penetration.


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De rien.


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I just discovered I have some of this ammo, but I don't remember where I got it from.  I'm guessing Midway.

Label on the top of the box reads;   Ammo, 5.56x45mm, 62gr OTM, box of 20, Winchester, ZQ3314

Other than that label, it looks just like in Molon's first picture

Molon, Thanks for posting this review,  Good work, as always.

What he said and Thanks again.

Correct.

The bullet itself, is capable of decent accuracy. With just a bare minimum of load work-up, the bullet turned in a 1.25 MOA 10-shot group at 100 yards from my Lothar Walther barreled AR-15.







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De rien.



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Any results to report?


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