[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Review US .223 Loosepack (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 1/22/2008 4:26:44 AM EDT
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reviews of the loose packed ammo, first two shipments have Winchester brass anything after April will have brass just marked M193 08 |
Received a special package.  This is a new 55gr FMJ commercial ammunition coming to market. I received it from www.aimsurplus.com/ Physical observations: Ammo was shipped in loose pack bag, in cardboard box. Upon external inspection, the ammunition looks very similar to most commercial 55gr .223. It was clean and highly polished, with no signs of annealing visible. A silver primer was used. The cases in this lot were new Winchester commercial. The primers were not crimped. The cartridges have been roll crimped into the cannelure.   A small sample of external dimensions were measured:
This demonstrates good consistency. External dimensions were checked in a Dillon case gauge:   Headspace dimensions were in spec, and brass trim length was appropriate. A bullet setback test was performed. Cases were measured for overall length, and then pushed into a wooden block with a significant amount of force by hand. Cases were then re-measured:
While some setback was achieved - the cannelure did not allow any more setback to occur. These results are consistent with the results when the same test is applied to factory Remington 55gr FMJ and Federal American Eagle 55gr FMJ. When performing this same test on Black Hills match ammunition without a cannelure - a bullet is allowed to be set back entirely into the case. Component observations: A bullet was pulled to examine components. We can see that there was no primer sealant, or tar bullet sealant used. The bullet has a deep cannelure, is a 55gr full metal jacket with a boat tail, and open base. This is consistent with M193 bullets. The case is a new factory Winchester commercial. The powder is a very flattened disc shape.    A sample of components were pulled, to examine consistency of the load:
The results show the ammunition to be very consistent with respect to powder charge and bullet weight. The brass weight variance is typical for Winchester brass. Test firing: 100 rounds were fired for function and accuracy testing. A Bushmaster 16" chrome lined carbine, and a stainless kreiger barreled SPR were used as test weapons. All 100 rounds performed as expected. There were no short strokes or ammunition related failures. The ammunition was then tested for accuracy at 100yds in the SPR: The average of several 5-shot groups measured 1.2". A single 10 shot group was fired, and measured 1.06"  Chrono data: 10 rounds were fired from a 20" and a 16" barrel, each. Chrony was a "Shooting Chony" ~15ft from the muzzle. 55 degrees, elevation 820ft.
A control group was shot using south african M193 on the same day, which averaged 3198 fps from a 20" barrel, which is right on from previous testing. This ammo is loaded a bit on the slow side. The velocity is averaging 323fps less than M193. This is very similar to the measured velocity of black hills ammunition, and slightly less than the measured velocity of Federal American Eagle. Overall conclusions: The ammunition appears in spec for new factory .223 ammo. This is not M193 spec, however, it is very comparable to Remington 55gr FMJ, Federal American Eagle FMJ, and Black Hills 55gr FMJ. It functioned reliably in the weapons tested. The velocity averaged 2877fps from my 20" barrel. The accuracy was the most suprising - this is very accurate ammunition... yeilding a 10 shot group of just over 1" |
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i popped off about 300rds last week (most were suppressed), everything functioned perfect, (fired some full auto and they ran perfect and consistent). I didn't get to shoot anything but steel plates so no accuracy measured. looking forward to more tests. Very Thorough FALARAK. |
| I took 200 rounds of this ammo to the range today. The brass was shiny with no dents, and the bullets were seated evenly in the rounds that I examined. The temperature was 49 degrees with a 3mph wind and 83% humidity. I used a Bushmaster 20in 1/9 twist chrome lined A3 and a Bushmaster 16in 1/9 twist carbine with an TA31DOC ACOG. I had no malfunctions with either weapon and noticed no abnormalities during firing. From a bench with the 20in and iron sights, my 5 shot groups averaged between an inch and 1.75 inches not counting the one flier that was my fault. with the 16in carbine, my groups tightened to right around an inch. The ACOG was most likely the cause of that. Of both weapons and 10 five shot groups, my best group was a hair under an inch, and the worst was right about three inches with the flier. I had no trouble hitting the 300m 8in gong with either weapon. All the fired brass looked good with no deformities or splits. My groups were similar to the results that I get from my 55gr FMJ red box Black Hills. It is good ammo as long as everyone remembers that it is loaded to .223 specs instead of 5.56 pressure. I would definitely buy some more if the price is right. I will get some pics up when I figure out the new digital camera I bought to take pics of the test. |
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I finished getting all the data for this ammo, so here's my little addition to this review thread. FALARAK already did a very thorough job, and my data won't add much. The ammo arrived in a ziplock bag, and was extremely shiny and thoroughly polished:  Seating depth looked to be extremely consistent, and I measured 10 rounds for total weight and COAL with the following results: Weight Avg = 176.02gr Weight Standard Deviation = 0.33 Length Average = 2.245" Length Standard Deviation = 0.002 They were extremely consistent from a OAL point of view as you can see, as well as the overall weight. I didn't disassemble any rounds, since I don't have a bullet puller. Shooting the ammo presented no problems. All rounds went bang just as expected, and ejection was very consistent. I loaded several mags with just a single round, and the bolt locked back after each one; no short stroking was observed. The rifle is a RRA 16" 1:9 M4 profile. The chronograph data for 10 shots is as follows: 2748 2755 2736 2766 2734 2751 2728 2743 2736 2726 AVG: 2742 StdDev: 12.69 E.S.: 40 Very consistent numbers, albeit pretty slow just as FALARAK observed. For comparison, Wolf 55gr FMJ ran 2773fps with a StdD of 33 and ES of 112 out of the same rifle during this test. I did not take a scope, since this rifle isn't terribly accurate, but I did fire a 10 shot string with an Aimpoint clone at 50 yards:  As far as I'm concerned, that's very impressive accuracy. I was shooting in bright daylight, and the dot was hard to make out on the orange diamond with the white paper glaring brightly. CONCLUSION: This appears to be very nice ammo, and the only ding against it is the low velocity. [ETA] I was also surprised by how clean the brass was after shooting. There was barely any carbon soot around the case mouth, while the rest of the brass looked almost squeaky clean. |
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Finally got the weather to cooperate and got out. The posters above have far better pics of cases then I can do but I will agree with their findings. I recieved 200 rounds and went thru all looking for crimps outside the cannalure, cracked necks, raised primers or any other signs of issues. Typical small dings on some of them but all were quite small and not an issue at all. Weather was about 35 with a light breeze. Ran thru 3 different ARs, first a Colt A2 [1/7]with a 3x9 scope, 2nd was a Colt 6920 [1/7]with EOtech and 3rd was a Colt SP1 [1/12] that I also scoped with my 3x9. [yes I did have to re zero]. Part of the way thru with the A2, I shot a control group with some Match 52 grain HPBT to see how well I was shooting and how well the ammo from AIM compared. I did have issues with losing my stick on bullseyes a few times.  I had no problems whatsoever with function in any weapons. All fired and ejected normally.  Control, 52 grain Match HPBT 1 1/8th group, I can usually shoot somewhere around an inch, not much better so it's representative of a good day for me. Colt A2 3x9 benched and bagged, 100 yards. This is the AIM ammunition, first two high shots were me still adjusting the scope down after rezeroing and were not part of the 10 shot group. 10 shot group measured 1 5/8ths.  Next group was with the AIM ammunition and I got a 2" group, I lost my marker twice on this group and ended up taping it onto the target with clear tape,was pretty damp.  I then let the A2 cool down and fired 40 rounds prone at a shot every few seconds rate with the Colt 6920 with EOtech to check . No problems. Typical group for me at this rate, I'm not that good of a shot and a 5 1/4 group is in the ballpark for me at this rate of fire. [sorry AIM, I have no doubt someone else could do better then that]  After letting the A2 cool down, I fired a nice 1 1/4 group after a small break, I don't know if the vertical stringing was me ot the ammo, it was probably me as my eyes were getting tired. [I'm pretty much blind in one eye [20/400] so eye strain is a way of life for me] It's a nice group for me and I'm impressed with the accuracy of this ammunition.  Last, I pulled the scope off the A2 and rezeroed it on the Colt SP1 I recently bought. This is the first time I have been able to fire it. Took a bit to get the scope zeroed but I was rewarded with a very nice 1 1/4 group yet again thru the 1/12 skinny BBL.  Started getting foggy/misty and I quit shooting because the targets would no longer stick with tape and I couldn't see them well enough to get a decent group for me. I was impressed with how well this ammunition from AIM shot. I know how my A2 shoots and it is probably more accurate then I am.  I reallyliked how well it shot thru my SP1 1/12, I wish I had more time to try a few more groups out with a cool barrel and some time. I have 70 rounds left so I will have to try it out another day, the scope was left on it so it would remain zeroed. Seemed to shoot reasonably clean, clean up was my typical pull handguards and hose down with brakeclean while soaking the bolt. then clean the barrel and re CLP. I'd buy some,it seems to shoot well, groups well, and is reliable in my weapons. Not being sealed is moot really as I have XM193 and Q3131A 5.56 for that. I'll post more pics when I get a chance to get back out and run some more. |
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Better late than never but I finally got a chance last weekend to shoot AIM's loose pack. I received 200 rounds in a zip lock bag. All were bright and shinny loaded on new Winchester cases. I first ran all 200 through my Frankford Arsenal max case gauge. All were good except one.   As you can see the neck was slightly bulged when the round was loaded. I fired the round without any problems latter. Next I pulled down 10 random rounds and weighed the bullets and powder charges. Here are the results in excel.  Here are some pictures of the components and the weights on round 6. The powder was a flattened ball type and the bullets are new manufacture with a slight boat tail.       I also compared the bullet from the AIM loose pack ammo to a pulled surplus bullet from Pats reloading I bought several years ago. The surplus bullet is on the left.   The ammo was shot through a Rock River Arms 24" Varmint 1:8" Twist. We also shot a few rounds of Q3131A that I had for comparison. Here are the numbers.  Here are the groups through the 24" Varmint for both the loose pack and the Q3131A.   We then shot the Aim ammo through my CMMG 14.5" Midlength to see what the velocity would be. We did not shoot the loose pack for group size due to time constraints and wanting to get to the fun stuff.  Afterward we fired off another 80 or so rounds. We did not have any problems and all of the ammo functioned very well through both rifles. Special thanks to my dad and brother for the help and to AIM for the ammo.  |
I went out to the range today and fired the rest of the rounds that Bryan sent me. I had a 5 round group off the bench at 100 yds that was one ragged hole. I was able to hit the 4 inch gong every shot out of a 30 round mag at 500yds with my RRA carbine with ACOG. I have got to get some more of this ammo. 
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The carbine is a RRA carbine lower with a match trigger. The upper was built for me by PK Firearms. It has a RRA bolt and upper with a Wilson bead blasted stainless air guaged 16in barrel on a 10 in Troy free floated rail. The ACOG is a TA31DOC. it has crosshairs, instead of the chevron like most other ACOGs in addition to the Docter red dot sight. I shot better groups than the two other folks that fired my rifle that day. I really need to man up and get pics soon. I really was pleased with the ammo though.  I will work on the pics, I promise. I don't want to sound like one of those internet space shuttle door gunners.
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I just bought 1K of this from AIM, it's the stuff pictured on their website currently ("M193", "08" headstamp). Yesterday I shot about 80 rounds, it seemed pretty accurate (had one 3-shot group through one ragged hold @50 yards). I did have one misfire, though. The primer was firmly dented, it just didn't go bang. This might just be a statistial fluke, I'm just throwing it out there as a data point. No prior misfires on this setup, out of about 500 rounds (mostly shooting Rem UMC .223). |
| its too late, they are running this on contract and its too late to make any changes, changing it now changes the contract, which changes the price, and if this price hadn't been already locked in it wouldn't be as cheap. there is a chance to change it in 2009 but no guarantee on price for that. |