Black Hills 223 Remington 75 Grain Match HP Ammunition

Blue Box versus Red Box


Attached File





The difference between Black Hills’ red box and blue box ammunition lies primarily with the brass case.  Red box ammunition is newly manufactured using virgin brass.  Blue box ammunition is referred to as “remanufactured” because is uses once fired brass that has been resized.  This enables Black Hills to sell the blue box ammunition at a reduced price compared to their red box ammunition.

Black Hills’ 75 grain Match HP (hollow point) ammunition is loaded with Hornady’s 75 grain BTHP Match bullet with a cannelure (commonly referred to as the “T1C”) and both the red box and blue box loads have a crimp at the case mouth.  Both loads are charged with “ball powder.”  The nominal OAL for the red box cartridges ran approximately 2.245” and for the blue box cartridges it was closer to 2.250”.




























The brass cases used in the red box ammo have sealed primers and the headstamp of most lots of this load read “BHA 223 MATCH.”  These virgin cases have a nominal length of 1.755”.  

The brass cases used in the blue box load tend to be a mix of once fired Lake City and Winchester brass.  The military primer crimps has been removed by the reaming method.  The blue box loads do not have sealed primers.  
















Black Hills does not perform a “trim to length” operation on the resized cases used in the blue box ammunition.  As a result, many of the cases are longer than the SAAMI recommended maximum length of 1.760”.  Several of the cases that I measured had a length of 1.775”.  This could potentially cause problems in a barrel with a minimum length chamber, though no malfunctions of any kind were experienced during the testing of this ammunition.  (Using a Sinclair chamber length gauge, I determined the chambers of my Colt barrels have a length of 1.780”.)

Both loads were chronographed using four different length barrels.  All of the Colt barrels used in testing have a NATO chamber and a 1:7” twist.  The 24” Krieger barrel has a 5.56 Match chamber and has a twist rate of 1:7.7”.  On their web-site, Black Hills advertises a muzzle velocity of 2,750 fps for these loads, but they do not state the barrel length associated with this velocity, though the industry standard calls for a 24” barrel.

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 a statistically significant difference in the readings, 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

Average temperature- 80 degrees F
Humidity - 48%
Barometric pressure – 29.04
Elevation- 960 feet above sea level











While chronographing the Black Hills loads through the 24” Krieger barrel, I also chronographed three of Hornady’s SAAMI pressure, 75 grain loads that use the T1C bullet for comparison.










For additional comparison, I also fired the Black Hills loads side-by-side with some of the Hornady 75 grain SAAMI pressure loads from the 20” Colt A2 barrel.




100 yard Accuracy Evaluation of Black Hills 75 grain MHP

 

Red Box versus Blue Box

As previously discussed in this thread, the primary difference between Black Hills' red box and blue box ammunition lies with the brass case.  Red box ammunition uses virgin brass, while blue box ammunition uses once fired brass that has been resized.  

The test-vehicle for this accuracy evaluation was a semi-automatic AR-15 with a 24” stainless-steel Kreiger VarMatch barrel, with a 1:7.7” twist, installed on a LaRue Tactical Stealth upper receiver.









I conducted an accuracy (technically, precision) evaluation of the Black Hills 75 grain Match HP 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.

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 Competition Series Scope which was adjusted to be parallax-free at 100 yards. A mirage shield 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 . . .






Control Groups

Prior to testing the Black Hills ammunition, I obtained three 10-shot groups of a control load consisting of hand-loaded Sierra 55 grain BlitzKings (at a distance of 100 yards of course.)  Those three groups had extreme spreads of:

0.547”
0.57”
0.69”

for an average extreme spread of 0.602”.  The three 10-shot groups were overlayed on each using RSI Shooting Lab to obtain a 30-shot composite group that had a mean radius of 0.19”.



Red Box

Following the same procedures used with the control load, three 10-shot groups of the Black Hills red box 75 grain MHP fired from 100 yards were obtained.  Their extreme spreads measured:

0.96”
1.00”
1.04”

for an average extreme spread of 1.00”.  As with the control load, the three 10-shot groups from the red box ammunition were over-layed on each other to obtain a 30-shot composite group with a mean radius of 0.32”.



Blue Box

In the same manner as above, three 10-shot groups of the blue box 75 grain MHP were obtained from 100 yards with extreme spreads of:

1.11”
1.16”
1.16”

for an average extreme spread of 1.14”.  Those three 10-shot groups overlayed on each other had a mean radius of 0.37”.  Here are the 30-shot composite groups side-by-side for comparison.










Lastly, for any Internet Commandos in our viewing audience, I fired a 3-shot group of the red box 75 grain MHP from 100 yards.  That group measured 0.276”.








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Tag for later! I have always wondered how much better the red box ammo was than the blue box.

I've always used the Blue Box in my carbine. Way more accurate then me.

Blue box, it's what's for dinner.....

Awesome test.

The stupid filter on my work computer wont let me view black hills website, what's the approximate difference in cost between the two?

Well, that is very interesting.  

Looks like the Blue box is the better value.

Very interesting.

$10 or considerably more per box of 50 rounds.

PSA has started carrying a variety of BH loads. Take a look there. They have a good variety in stock.

Their blue box Hornady 55 gr sp load has been a good load for me.

Now if you would go ahead and do a 52 bthp gel test, I'd think about stocking up on it.    While shooting up my Q3131 and Q3131A stash.  The latter being the better round I think between the two.  I just have a feeling the 52's might be "good enough"  But maybe I'm wrong.  I just like how they group in all my guns and the price isnt too bad.

The 52 grain BTHP would not be one of my first choices for a self-defense load.  The Winchester 53 grain JHP only penetrated 8" in properly prepared and verified 10% ordnance gelatin.


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Ugh.  I was hoping there was a chance it would perform more like M193.  But I realize that was a pipe dream.   The stuff just usually shoots so well in ALL of my AR's.

It makes me extremely happy that you are COMPLETELY demolishing 3 shot groups every single chance you get

I can shoot .224 one shot groups ALL DAY LONG.    hardee har har  

I only use the three shot groups when I zero or verify a zero.

Has anyone tested how the paint on military rounds affects their accuracy? I know most of the rounds aren't very accurate (technically precise) but does the paint reduce the accuracy further?

He's doing God's work, he is.  

I can't seem to find the source right now, but years ago I recall reading a study conducted by the military that concluded that within the accuracy spectrum involved with M855, the painted tip had no significant effect on accuracy/precision.  Or . . . maybe I just picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue.



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Muchas gracias.  



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Here's another example.  The 10-shot group pictured below was fired from the bench from one of my precision AR-15s at a distance of 100 yards using Speer LE 64 grain Gold Dot "ICE" ammunition.  The group has an extreme spread of 0.98".










Here's the group from the same ammunition and barrel that the Internet Commando would have posted.  The group has an extreme spread of 0.16". . . .







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No, this was the right day to stop sniffing glue.  Trust me.  

The paint applied to M855 tips is either a nitrocellulose lacquer or an acrylic paint of the same shade.  The acrylic came about because at some point one or another "second source" suppliers asked for a variance from the original spec because the original painting method (dipping) was expensive and involved HAZMAT exposure, etc.  The paint is FS 595 #34138, and is applied to approximately 1/4" of the tip.  Here's a reference drawing with the details.

The amount of material applied to the tip is very small, and unless the coating is visibly uneven, it should have no aerodynamic affect on the round.  The mass of the paint is so trivial as to be laughable - it's probably less than the mass of fingerprint oils users "apply" to the bullets while loading them in magazines.

Yes, I have spent WAY too much time looking into this!  

Molon, I'm curious how much of the higher velocity of the Blue Box rounds might have come from untrimmed brass contributing to higher chamber pressures.  You obviously made a lot of measurements; were the Blue Box rounds "typically" over SAAMI standard length, or just "sometimes" longer?

If I had to take a SWAG on the matter, I'd say it's simply a matter of lot-to-lot variations.  (Occam's Razor and such.)



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Interesting results, thank you for sharing.

I would've incorrectly guessed that the remanufactured loads would have been a tad slower than the newly manufactured ammunition.

Molon is da man!



 

what is the chance the extra OAL of .005 is making the difference?



 

Great test Molon.


Thanks again for your spectacular testing methods.

Txl

If that were the only difference, probably not much.  But it also looks like the Blue Box is loaded with a slightly different powder than is used in the Red Box.  So I'm thinking the powder is a major factor, and the OAL difference is a trivial (at best) factor.

Another issue, the potential for substantial differences in case length with the Blue Box stuff, could have made a big difference, depending on how common the lengths were over spec.  I hope they are all short enough not to run into throat issues...