SnapShots


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Snapshots are brief . . . looks at a variety of ammunition loads commercially available for use in the .223/5.56mm AR-15 platform.  A typical “Snapshot” will include a short description of the load, chronograph data from a single barrel and the accuracy (technically precision) results of one 10-shot group fired from a distance of 100 yards.  

The reviewed loads were chronographed from a 20” Colt M16A2 barrel with a 1:7” twist, chrome lining and NATO chamber. 10-shot strings of each load were fired over an Oehler 35-P chronograph with “proof screen” technology. All velocities listed are muzzle velocities as calculated from the instrumental velocities using Oehler’s Ballistic Explorer software program.



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Accuracy testing was conducted from my bench-rest set-up from a distance of 100 yards following my usual protocol using semi-automatic AR-15s. The free-floated fore-ends of the weapons rested in a Sinclair Windage Benchrest and the butt-stock rode in a Protektor 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 used. Naturally, the wind conditions were monitored using a Wind Probe. The set-up was very similar to that pictured below.



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The Wind Probe . . .

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Prior to the firing of the factory loads, control groups were fired using hand-loaded, match-grade ammunition.  In every case the control groups had significantly smaller extreme spreads and mean radii than the factory loads tested.  A representative 10-shot group fired from my Krieger barreled AR-15 using hand-loaded the 62 grain Berger HP bullet is pictured below.




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INDEX

post #02 -   Australian Outback Sierra 55 grain BlitzKing

post #03 -   Federal Tactical 62 grain Bonded SP LE223T3

post #04 -   Winchester 223 Remington PDX1

post #05 -   Hornady 223 Remington 55 grain GMX Superformance

post #06 - American Eagle 223 Remington 55 grain FMJ

post #07 - IMI “Razor Core” 77 Grain OTM, LR, Mod 1

post #08 - Wolf Military Classic 55 Grain FMJ

post #09 - PMC Bronze 55 Grain FMJ

post #10 - Hornady Steel Match 55 grain HP

post #11 - Hornady Steel Match 75 grain BTHP

post #12 - Speer LE 5.56mm 64 grain Gold Dot

post #13 - Winchester 64 grain PowerMax Bonded with "Protected Hollow Point"

post #14 - Hornady 223 Remington 50 grain GMX "Full Boar"

post #15 - Hornady 5.56mm 55 grain GMX Superformance

post #16 - Prvi Partizan 69 grain Match

post #17 - COR-BON 69 grain Performance Match HPBT

post #18 - Fiocchi 77 grain Exacta

post #19 - Prvi Partizan 62 grain FMJ BT

post #20 - CORBON 62 grain DPX (Barnes TSX)

post #21 - Remington 62 grain Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded

post #22 - Federal 62 grain FUSION

post #23 - Hornady 60 grain TAP

post #24 - Remington 62 grain HP Premier Match

post #25 - American Tactical 5.56 x 45mm 62 grain

post #26 - Nosler 77 grain Custom Competition HPBT

post #27 - Hornady 223 Remington Superformance 53 Grain V-MAX

post #28 - Winchester Q3131

post #29 - Hornady 223 Remington 75 grain Superformance

post #30 - Federal 62 grain XM223SP1

post #31 - Federal XM556FBIT3

post #32 - American Eagle 50 grain Tipped Varmint  AE223GTV

post #33 - Hornady 223 Remington 62 grain TAP Barrier

post #34 - Hornady 223 Remington 55 Grain GMX TAP Barrier

post #35 - Hornady 55 grain FMJ Training

post #36 - Hornady American Gunner 55 grain HP

post #37 - Federal XM556SBCT3  62 Grain TBBC

post #38  Winchester 64 Grain Defense Tip

post #39  Hornady Black 223 Remington 62 Grain FMJ

post #40  Hornady Critical Defense 73 Grain FTX

post #41  IMI M855 2021

post #42  Sierra 69 grain Prairie Enemy (69 grain BlitzKing)

post #43  Sierra 55 grain Prairie Enemy (55 grain BlitzKing)

post #44  Sierra 64 grain GameChanger (64 grain Tipped GameKing)




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*No animals were harmed during the testing of this ammunition.

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Australian Outback Sierra 55 Grain BlitzKing


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When chronographed from a 20” Colt M16A2 barrel over an Oehler 35-P chronograph with “Proof Screen Technology”, the Australian Outback Sierra 55 grain BlitzKing load had a muzzle velocity of 2972 FPS with a standard deviation of 20 FPS.

A 10-shot group fired off the bench at a distance of 100 yards from one of my AR-15s with a Krieger barrel that has a 223 Remington chamber and a 1:9" twist had an extreme spread of 0.98".


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I also fired another 10-shot group of the Australian Outback load from one of my AR-15s with a Krieger barrel that has a 5.56mm match chamber and a 1:7.7" twist.  That group had an extreme spread of 0.92".


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#03

Federal Tactical 62 grain Bonded SP LE223T3


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The Federal Tactical 62 grain load uses a bonded soft point bullet with a cannelure (62 grain TBBC). (All the better to shoot your auto-glass with, my dear!) There is a scant amount of lacquer sealant at the case mouth (mostly in the cannelure.) The primers are also sealed and crimped. As you can see from the picture above, the components come loaded in a shiny nickel plated Lake City case.

This load had a muzzle velocity of 2978 fps. The smallest 10-shot group had an extreme spread of 2.13” and a mean radius of 0.54”.



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#04

Winchester 223 Remington PDX1

60 Grain "Split Core" Hollow Point


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This load had a muzzle velocity of 2975 FPS and a standard deviation of 37 FPS when chronographed from the 20" Colt barrel.   A 10-shot group fired at a distance of 100 yards from one of my Krieger barreled AR-15s had an extreme spread of 1.77" with a mean radius of 0.65".




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#05

Hornady 223 Remington 55 grain GMX Superformance

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The load is topped with the Hornady 55 grain GMX bullet and is charged with the progressive "Superformance" propellent. Because this bullet is a monolithic gilding metal projectile, it is significantly longer than a standard copper jacketed/lead core bullet.



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This load had a muzzle velocity of 3105 FPS with a standard deviation of 17 FPS from the 20" Colt barrel.  A 10-shot group fired from my 20" Lothar-Walther barrel at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 1.59".



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#06

American Eagle 223 Remington 55 grain FMJ


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This load had a muzzle velocity of 3104 FPS with a standard deviation of 23 FPS when fired from the 20" Colt barrel.  A 10-shot group fired from my Lothar-Walther barreled AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 2.4".




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#07

IMI “Razor Core” 77 Grain OTM, LR, Mod 1



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This load is topped with a 77 grain OTM bullet with a cannelure.  The case mouth is sealed and the primers are crimped and sealed.  When chronographed from the 20” Colt barrel, the load had a muzzle velocity of 2866 FPS with a standard deviation of 21 FPS.

A 10-shot group group fired off the bench from my Lothar-Walther barreled AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 0.95”.




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#08

Wolf Military Classic 55 Grain FMJ












55 grain bullets loaded in steel cases.  Muzzle velocity of 3009 FPS with a standard deviation of 34 FPS from the 20" Colt barrel.     A 10-shot group fired from a free-floated 16" Colt HBAR at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 2.82".









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PMC Bronze 55 Grain FMJ


I evaluated the accuracy (technically, the precision) of the PMC Bronze 55 grain FMJ ammunition using my 20” stainless-steel Lothar-Walther barreled AR-15.  This barrel has a 223 Wylde chamber with a 1:8” twist.

Three 10-shot groups fired in a row from the bench at a distance of 100 yards had the following extreme spreads:

2.22”
1.82”
2.15”

for a 10-shot average extreme spread of 2.06”.  The 30-shot composite group had a mean radius of 0.72”.

Unfortunately, my cocker spaniel chewed-up my chronograph data for this load.


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The smallest 10-shot group . . .

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Hornady Steel Match 55 grain HP











This ammunition is loaded with a 55 grain hollow-point bullet.  The muzzle velocity from the 20" Colt barrel was 3017 FPS with a standard deviation of 19 FPS.  A 10-shot group fired from a Lothar-Walther 20" barrel had an extreme spread of 1.36".








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Hornady Steel Match 75 grain BTHP










This load had a muzzle velocity of 2694 FPS with a standard deviation of 26 FPS fired from the 20" Colt A2 barrel.   A 10-shot group fired from a Lothar-Walther 20" barrel at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 0.95".








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Speer LE 5.56mm 64 Grain Gold Dot













A 10-shot group fired at a distance of 100 yards from a free-floated Colt 16” HBAR (6721) with a NATO chamber, chrome-lining and a 1:9” twist had a extreme spread of 1.42”.








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Winchester 64 grain PowerMax Bonded with "Protected Hollow Point"








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Hornady 223 Remington 50 grain GMX "Full Boar"


Hornady’s 223 Remington 50 grain “Full Boar” ammunition is loaded with the monolithic, gilding metal 50 grain GMX bullet.






When chronographed from a 20” Colt M16A2 barrel with a NATO chamber, chrome lining and a 1:7” twist, the 50 grain Full Boar load had a muzzle velocity of 3277 FPS with a standard deviation of 17 FPS.

A 10-shot group of the 50 grain Full Boar load fired from a Lothar-Walther barreled semi-automatic AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards, had an extreme spread of 1.85”.  







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Hornady 5.56mm 55 grain GMX Superformance

















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Prvi Partizan 69 grain Match





The advertised velocity of Prvi Partizan’s 69 grain OTM load is 2855 FPS. The muzzle velocity of this load from the 20” Colt barrel was 2755 fps with a standard deviation of 14 FPS.

The 69 grain Prvi bullet is slightly longer than a 69 grain Sierra MatchKing; 0.930” versus 0.890”.







A 10-shot group fired from a distance of 100 yards from a semi-automatic AR-15 with a Krieger barrel that has a .223 Remington chamber and 1:9” twist had an extreme spread of 2.26”.








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COR-BON 69 grain Performance Match HPBT




COR-BON’s 69 grain Performance Match ammunition is loaded with Sierra’s 69 grain MatchKing.  An added bonus with this ammunition is that is uses Lapua Match brass, arguably some of the finest brass available for reloading for AR-15s.  

COR-BON’s website claims that the velocity of this load is 3000 fps from a 20" barrel. From the 20” Colt barrel this load had a muzzle velocity of 2854 fps with a standard deviation of 25 fps.  From a distance of 100 yards, a 10-shot group fired from a Krieger barreled AR-15 with .223 Remington chamber and a 1:9” had an extreme spread of 0.88”.









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Fiocchi 77 grain Exacta






This Fiocchi load uses the 77 grain Sierra MatchKing (without a cannelure.)  The load is charged with ball powder.  From the 20” Colt barrel, this load had a muzzle velocity of 2549 fps with a standard deviation of 16 fps.  This is a little on the slow side for this particular category of ammunition, however since this is intended to be a “target load”, velocity is not a crucial factor at shorter distances.

A 10-shot group fired from 100 yards from a Krieger barreled AR-15 with a 1:7.7” twist, had an extreme spread of 0.995”.







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Prvi Partizan 62 grain FMJ BT







This load is not an M855 clone. The 62 grain bullet used is considerably shorter than an SS109 bullet and it has a lead core and copper jacket construction with no penetrator.




PPU 62 grain FMJ BT




The muzzle velocity for this load was  3039 fps. A 10-shot group had an extreme spread of 3.18” and a mean radius of 1.06”.





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CORBON 62 grain DPX (Barnes TSX)







This COR-BON load uses the Barnes 62 grain TSX bullet which has an all-copper construction. The bullet is much longer than a typical lead core/copper jacketed bullet of the same weight. This load had a muzzle velocity of 2963 fps from the 20" Colt barrel. The 10-shot group of record had an extreme spread of 1.75" and a mean radius of 0.61".



















With 62 grain TSX hand-loads, I’ve been able to achieve sub-MOA accuracy for 10-shot groups at 100 yards.









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Remington 62 grain Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded







Here are a few pics comparing the Remington 62 grain Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded bullet to the Speer 64 grain Gold Dot and the 62 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw.  As with the TBBC, the Core-Lokt bullet has a greater area of exposed lead at the meplat than the Gold Dot.









The muzzle velocity of the Remington 62 grain Core-Lokt load from a 16" Colt barrel with a NATO chamber, chrome lining and a 1:7" twist was 2776 FPS with a standard deviation of 43 FPS. From a 20" Colt barrel with a NATO chamber, chrome lining and a 1:7" twist the muzzle velocity was 2887 FPS with a standard deviation of 56 FPS.


I fired a 10-shot group of the Remington 62 grain Core-Lokt load from my 20" Noveske HBAR from a distance of 100 yards. The graoup had an extreme spread of 3.1".









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Federal 62 grain FUSION







The Federal 62 grain Fusion bullet appears to have a very similar design to that of the Speer 64 grain Gold Dot.  Both are bonded bullets, have the same advertised muzzle velocity and both have the unique Gold Dot boat-tail shape.  While this load is being marketed as a "deer" load, it has all the makings of a good barrier-blind load.





















It’s difficult to see with the naked eye, but the Fusion bullet has a “skived” tip.






As seen above, the Fusion bullet has a cannelure and the case mouth is crimped.  The lot that I evaluated is loaded in Lake City 09 brass cases. The primer pockets are crimped and sealed and the load is charged with “ball” powder.

The advertised velocity for this load is 3000 fps.  From a 20" Colt barrel with a NATO chamber, chrome lining and a 1:7” twist, the 62 grain Federal Fusion bonded soft-point had a muzzle velocity of 2877 fps.  The claimed ballistic coefficient for this bullet is 0.339.

The accuracy of this load was excellent for a soft-point bullet.  A 10-shot group fired from my Krieger barreled AR-15, at a distance of 100 yards, had an extreme spread of almost exactly 1 MOA.  It will be interesting to see how this load performs after barriers.








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Hornady 60 grain TAP











This TAP load uses the 60 grain VMAX bullet with a cannelure. The load had a muzzle velocity of 2927 fps from the 20” Colt barrel. A 10-shot group fired from my Krieger barreled AR-16 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 0.88” and a mean radius of 0.27”.





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Remington 62 grain HP Premier Match






This Remington load is topped with a flat-based, cannelured, 62 grain HP projectile and uses Remington – Peters brass.  









The muzzle velocity of this load was 2897 fps with a standard deviation of 14 fps.  A 10-shot group fired from my Krieger barreled AR-15 had an extreme spread of 1.3” and a mean radius of 0.52”.










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American Tactical 5.56 x 45mm 62 grain







This M855 “clone” is charged with ball powder, has crimped and sealed primers, asphalt sealant at the case-mouth and utilizes a 62 grain SS109-type projectile.  This bullet is a full-metal jacket, boat-tailed, cannelured projectile with a steel penetrator insert.



The muzzle velocity of this load was 3077 fps with a standard deviation of 21 fps.  America Tactical claims that this ammunition “is lot tested to assure less than one minute of angle” accuracy at 100 meters.









A 10-shot group of this load fired from an AR-15 with a free-floated, 20” Colt HBAR had an extreme spread of 4.49” and a mean radius of 1.33”.









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Nosler 77 grain Custom Competition HPBT






This ammunition uses Nosler’s 77 grain OTM projectile with a cannelure, loaded in Nosler brass.







This load had a muzzle velocity of 2612 fps with a standard deviation of 19 fps.  A 10-shot group fired from my Krieger barreled AR-15 had and extreme spread of 0.98” and a mean radius of 0.31”.








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Hornady 223 Remington Superformance 53 Grain V-MAX





According to Hornady, the 53 grain V-MAX bullet has been “optimized for the .223 Remington chamber.”   This load produced a sizzling muzzle velocity of 3285 fps when chronographed from a 20” Colt M16A2 barrel.

The 53 grain V-MAX is shown on the left compared to a 52 grain A-MAX on the right.







The test vehicle was my 24” Krieger barreled AR-15 with a 1:9” twist and a .223 Remington chamber.  The 10-shot group of the 53 grain Superfromance load had an extreme spread of 0.70” when fired from the bench at a distance of 100 yards.








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Winchester Q3131

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This load had a muzzle velocity of 3279 FPS with a standard deviation of 24 FPS when chronographed from the 20" Colt barrel.  A 10-shot group fired off the bench at a distance of 100 yards from a free-floated Colt 6721 barrel had an extreme spread of 4.08"




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Hornady 223 Remington 75 grain Superformance







The 223 Remington version of the 75 grain Superformance ammunition is loaded with the Hornady 75 grain BTHP bullet; the “T1”. This bullet does not have a cannelure, but a slight taper crimp at the case mouth produces a crease in the bullet jacket. Naturally, this load is charged with one of the “highly progressive” Superformance powders.







Hornady advertises that this load obtains a velocity of 2930 fps when fired from a 24” SAAMI test barrel. I chronographed this load from an AR-15 that has a 24” stainless-steel match grade Krieger barrel with a 233 Remington chamber. A 10-shot string fired from the Krieger barrel produced a muzzle velocity of 2881 fps with a standard deviation of 14 fps.

An accuracy SnapShot of this load was obtained from my AR-15 with the 24” Krieger barrel that has a 5.56 Match chamber. This barrel was chosen as the test vehicle because it shoots the Hornady 75 grain BTHP bullet extremely well. Previous testing with factory loaded ammunition from both Hornady and Black Hills ammunition topped with the Hornady T1 bullet produced 10-shot groups from 100 yards in the 1 MOA spectrum. My match grade hand-loads using the T1 bullet fired from this barrel have approached half-MOA 10-shot groups from 100 yards.

The Superfromance load was fired from the Krieger barreled AR-15 from my bench-rest set-up at 100 yards. The 10-shot group had an extreme spread of 1.878”.







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#30

Federal 62 grain XM223SP1


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Fired from the 20" Colt barrel, this load had a muzzle velocity of 2719 FPS with a standard deviation of 34 FPS.  A 10-shot group fired from one of my Krieger barreled AR-15s at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 1.24".


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#31

Federal XM556FBIT3


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This ammunition is loaded with the 62 grain Tropy Bonded Bear Claw bullet.


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When chronographed from the 20" Colt barrel, this load had a muzzle velocity of 3116 FPS with a standard deviation of 20 FPS.  A 10-shot group fired from my Lothar-Walther AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 3.14".



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#32

American Eagle 50 grain Tipped Varmint AE223GTV


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This load had a muzzle velocity of 3085 FPS with a standard deviation of 28 FPS when chronographed from the 20" Colt barrel.  A 10-shot group fired from my Lothar-Walter barreled AR-15 from a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 1.32".



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#33

Hornady 223 Remington 62 Grain TAP Barrier

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This ammunition is loaded with a 62 grain soft-point bullet.  Contrary to erroneous information that has been posted on the Internet, this bullet is not a bonded projectile.  This bullet has the largest amount of exposed lead at the meplat of any of the barrier-blind loads that I've tested.


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When chronographed from the 20" Colt barrel, this load had a muzzle velocity of 2931 FPS with a standard deviation of 14 FPS.  A 10-shot group fired from my Lothar-Walther barreled AR-15 had an extreme spread of 1.84".


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#34

Hornady 223 Remington 55 Grain GMX TAP Barrier


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This ammunition is loaded with the same 55 grain GMX monolithic HP bullet found in three other Hornady loads.  When chronographed from the 20" Colt barrel, this load had a muzzle velocity of 3081 FPS and a standard deviation of 17 FPS.

A 10-shot group fired from my Lothar-Walther barreled AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 1.96".


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#35


Hornady 55 Grain FMJ Training


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This load is topped with Hornady's 55 grain FMJ-BT bullet; the same bullet that is available as a reloading component.  This ammunition is loaded in steel cases.  When chronographed from the 20" Colt Barrel, this ammunition had a muzzle velocity of 3008 FPS with a standard deviation of 24 FPS.


A 10-shot group fired from my Lothar Walther barreled AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 1.25".


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#36

Hornady American Gunner 55 Grain HP

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Hornady American Gunner 55 grain HP on the left; Berger 55 grain HP on the right for comparison . . .


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When chronographed from the 20" Colt Barrel, this ammunition had a muzzle velocity of 2968 FPS with a standard deviation of 17 FPS.  A 10-shot group fired from one of my Krieger barreled AR-15s at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 0.85".



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#37

Federal XM556SBCT3  62 Grain TBBC


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This ammunition is loaded with the 62 grain Tropy Bonded Bear Claw bullet.


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This load has crimped and sealed primer pockets as well as a crimp and sealant at the case-mouth.  The round is charged with a flattened ball powder.

When chronographed from the 20" Colt barrel, this load had a muzzle velocity of 3125 FPS with a standard deviation of 14 FPS.  A 10-shot group fired from my Lothar-Walther AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 1.89".




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#38

Winchester 64 Grain Defense Tip


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This is Winchester’s latest addition to their self-defense lineup of ammunition.  It utilizes a 64 grain polymer tipped bullet with a heavy collet crimp at the case-mouth.  The base of the polymer tip of this projectile has the largest diameter of any 223 Remington/5.56mm load that I’ve tested and of course the bullet is nickel plated.


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A 10-shot group of this ammunition fired from my Lothar Walther barreled AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 1.17”.  When chronographed from a 20" Colt barrel, this load had a muzzle velocity of 2892 FPS with a standard deviation of 26 FPS.


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#39


Hornady Black 223 Remington 62 Grain FMJ



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Hornady has produced at least two different versions of their all-lead-core 62 grain FMJ projectile, which I’ll refer to as Gen 1 and Gen 2.  Both versions are standard construction copper-jacketed (gilding metal), lead core bullets. They do not have a steal “penetrator” like M855.

This lot of factory loaded ammunition is topped with the Gen 2 version of the 62 grain FMJ bullet.  The Gen 2 version (pictured on the right below) is longer than the Gen 1 version.  The Gen 2 version has a longer boat-tail than the Gen 1 version and the Gen 2 version has a narrower diameter of exposed lead at the base of the bullet than the Gen 1 version.



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I tested the accuracy (technically precision) of the Hornady factory loaded 223 Remington 62 grain FMJ ammunition using a free-floated Colt M4A1 barrel.  This is a 14.5” chrome-lined, NATO chambered barrel with a 1:7” twist.  



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A 10-shot group fired off of sand bags at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 1.32” and a mean radius of 0.35”.



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When chronographed from a 20" chrome-lined, NATO chambered Colt barrel with a 1:7" twist,  the 223 Remington 62 grain Hornady Black FMJ load had a muzzle velocity of 2961 FPS with a standard deviation of 24 FPS.


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#40

Hornady Critical Defense 73 Grain FTX

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This Hornady load is topped with one of their "flex-tip" projectiles.  Hornady states this load was designed for short-range defensive use.  Chronographed from a 20" Colt barrel this load had a muzzle velocity of 2703 FPS with a standard deviation of 29 FPS.

A 10-shot group fired from my Lothar Walther barreled AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 0.74".


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#41

IMI M855 2021

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For those who might not beware of this, IMI has been “down-loading” their 5.56mm ammunition for the last few years.  The lot tested for this post is from 2021.

Legacy lots of IMI M855 have had muzzle velocities in the neighborhood of 3110 FPS when fired from a 20” Colt AR-15. This lot of M855 had a muzzle velocity of 3015 FPS with a standard deviation of 15 FPS, fired from a 20” Colt A4.

A 10-shot group of this ammunition fired from my Lothar Walther barreled AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 1.95”.



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#42

Sierra 69 Grain Prairie Enemy (69 grain BlitzKing)


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One of Sierra’s more recent factory loads for the 223 Remington is the 69 grain Prairie Enemy, loaded with the 69 grain BlitzKing.  This round is loaded in nickel-plated cases with a head-stamp that reads:

Sierra

223 Rem


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The bullet and case-mouth of this load have a large dose of asphalt sealant and the primer pocket has a healthy amount of lacquer sealant.  The case mouth has a rather heavy taper crimp on it which cuts a crease in the 69 grain BlitzKing and the primer pocket is also crimped.


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When chronographed from a 20” Colt barrel, this load had a muzzle velocity of 2787 FPS with a standard deviation of 23 FPS.  When fired from one of my precision AR-15s at a distance of 100 yards, the 69 grain Prairie Enemy produced a 10-shot group that had an extreme spread of 0.980”.


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#43

Sierra 55 grain Prairie Enemy With The 55 Grain BlitzKing


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The Sierra 55 grain BlitzKing bullet was introduced in 1999.  While it was marketed as a varmint bullet, I soon discovered that this projectile was capable of delivering outstanding precision when fired from my semi-automatic AR-15s.  
By the spring of 2000, I was using my match-grade handloads topped with this bullet as one of my primary loads for accuracy evaluations of AR-15 barrels.  These handloads have shot well in almost every AR-15 barrel that I have owned over the last two decades.


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My hand-loads topped with the 55 grain BlitzKing have produced sub ½ MOA 10-shot groups when fired from my Krieger barreled AR-15s.


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Sierra is now producing factory loaded ammunition using the 55 grain BlitzKing in their Prairie Enemy line.  The case mouth of this load is sealed with asphalt sealant.  This load is charged will ball powder and is loaded in nickel plated brass with crimped and sealed primer pockets.  The case-head reads:

Sierra

223 Rem


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When chronographed from a 20” Colt barrel, this load had a muzzle velocity of 3044  FPS with a standard deviation of 18 FPS.  When fired from one of my precision AR-15s at a distance of 100 yards, the 55 grain Prairie Enemy produced a 10-shot group that had an extreme spread of 0.73”.


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#44

Sierra 64 Grain GameChanger


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As the name indicates, the Sierra 64 grain Gamechanger ammunition is intended to be a hunting load, but obviously it has the potential to be adopted for other uses.  This 223 Remington GameChanger ammunition is topped with the Sierra 64 grain Tipped GameKing bullet with Sierra’s translucent polymer tip.


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Contrary to erroneous claims that have been posted about this bullet, it is not a bonded projectile.  The Tipped GameKing bullet has a thicker jacket than a MatchKing of the same caliber and is also reported to use a harder leady alloy.  

When fired from a 20” Colt barrel, the Sierra 64 grain GameChanger load had a muzzle velocity of 2797 FPS with a standard deviation of 20 FPS.  A 10-shot group fired from one of my Krieger barreled AR-15s had an extreme spread of 1.62” with a mean radius of 0.50”.


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I love you, Molon.

Awesome work, Molon. Keep the information following! flowing!

ETA: I can haz spelling lessons?

More to come!

This is the most useful thread on arfcom in my opinion!

Molon, your presence and hard work is greatly appreciated!

This ! I always enjoy the data collected by everyone !!!

Thanks Molon !!

Subscribed. Thank you Molon!

Molon, have you had the chance to compare the Fusion MSR 62 with the Fusion you posted in this thread? I bought some recently but have not had the chance to sight in with it.
As everyone else here says, Thanks for your time and effort that you put into the test you share with us. I know we all appreciate it and benefit from your efforts.

He did.  Check here and Here

Got it, thanks for providing the links!
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Would love to see you test the CBC(Magtech)  77gr  and a post of your results.