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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Ammunition review - Federal/LC XM193 (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 9/24/2003 2:03:53 PM EDT
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This thread is ONLY about the XM193 variant, which is sold in brown or white carboard boxes, If your review is about LOOSE XM193PD, please add your review to this thread instead. Please add your personal experience with Lake City M193 (currently sold by Federal as XM193) ammunition to this thread. When you do, please give information about: 1) Firearm used in 2) Approximate number of rounds fired. For more information about this ammunition, check out the Federal website. From RussB's post out of a 16" barrel: Velocity: 3094fps, StdDev=39fps I am trying to solicit only information about your PERSONAL experience with this ammunition. If you haven't used it, then please don't clutter up the thread. Information about proper functioning (or lack thereof) is obviously the most important, but factors such as the accuracy or other peculiarities you've noticed are informative also. If you have had problems with this ammo which were severe enough to cause you to stop using this ammo, then please describe them. And one more minor request: keep your reviews objective. This post is part of a larger information-gathering effort I'm trying to start about ALL ammunition popular in AR's: www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=16&t=169729. |
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1) 36 (yes three dozen) Colt M-16's with USMC three round burst. 100 30 round magazines. 2) 9900 rounds of ammo fired in an afternoon. One ammo related problem - a failure to fire with a good solid primer strike. (happened to me on a qualification round [rolleyes]). A couple of bad magazines and one nasty bolt over. Around the house I've run 500 rounds though my Bushmaster and a couple hundred though my Armalite without a single issue. |
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1) Armalite M15A2 20" Barrel Approx 2,750 - 3,000 rounds fired 2) DPMS A15A3 20" Barrel 1000 rounds fired 3) DPMS lite 16 16" Barrel 2,000 rounds fired 4) DPMS Panther Deluxe Bull 24 24" Barrel 500 rounds fired Not 1 problem with this ammunition, it about the only thing I use, It works great! I have recommended this ammo to everyone I know. I hope it stays on the market for a while. |
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I have shot 2-300 rounds thru Mini-14 and no probs. Also shot about same amount of q3131a and am trying to decide which I like better. Groups were similar and did not notice muzzle flash being greater with LC. Will do careful group testing of each, and then stock up with winner. Both fragged or blew up 1 gallon milk jugs filled with water at 50 yards. |
| Working on my third thousand right now. Colt M4-gery, Bushy post ban 14 in. with AK attachment (blast enhancer!) Eagle Arms 20in. pre-ban HB, and Bushy pre-ban 11in. with 5in. flash suppressor. Mags are a mix of military stuff...Center, Colt, etc...and new pre-ban Bushmasters...mostly thirty's but a few twenty's. Not a single ammo related problem yet. Very good stuff! |
| Bushmaster 16", Colt 20". The only problem I have ever encounterd was a badly dinged brass that I somehow missed when loading mags. It jammed going into the chamber. One round out of 2K. I still think it is the best ammo going, for the price and love shooting it. |
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Recently went through 2-500 round cases of 2002 and 2003 manufacture in a preban, a Colt 20" sporter and a RRA 16" chrome lined M4gery without a single hitch. Accuracy from the M4gery was 3" at 100 meters using my Compact ACOG T47-2 2x w/ amber triangle reticle. For comparison the Q3131A went 2" as did the Federal Gold Medal 69 gr SMK and 1.7" for the Hornady 75 gr BTHP Match. For SHTF ammo I have no qualms stocking up on more of this XM193 I get from by distributor for $162.50/1000. Big Al |
| I have about 5,000 rounds through my pre-ban Colt and almost 6,000 rounds through my Robinson Armament M-96 Carbine. One failure to extract in the Colt. My fault, it needed cleaning, I knew it was dirty but I took it to the range anyway. The RA M-96 didn't miss a beat (It never does, it eats anything it's fed every time without fail). Federal/LC XM193 is the "GOLD STANDARD" of 5.56 ammo. There are only two kinds of 5.56 ammo I would stake my life on. Federal LC XM193 and IMI M193. (Okay Winchester fans, Q3131A too. It's made by IMI and is for all purposes is identical in performance!) |
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Rifle: Colt 14.5 in M4 with mini y comp. RRA lower with their match trigger. Colt and FN 20 and 30rd mags. 1000-1500 rounds no malfunctions. It is a little louder, stronger recoiling and brighter flash than some others. I have not tried it from the bench but it seems to be plenty accurate. Scott |
| 20" Bushmaster with chrome bore. Swicthed from Q3131A when my usual supplier sold out and went on back-order. XM193 is definitely loaded hotter and has more flash. I found it to be more accurate than Q3131A. Good enough to get me a score of 99 out of 100 on a 200 yard rapid string in my last Highpower match. The brass is darn ugly though. |
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I bought 1000 rounds from Ammoman a couple of months ago and have gone through about 500 rounds so far. Out of the 500, I pulled two rounds per hundred for dented cases. One per hundred is severly dented and would probably cause damage if fired. The others are so so, and would probably fire fine, but I'd rather not risk it. Besides throwing off the ammo count when loading magazines, there is the danger of missing the severely dented rounds if loading fast. I almost missed the worse case so far because I was watching TV while I was loading. If these came loaded on clips you would probably miss the bad cases when you loaded the magazines. So, I decided this is not going to be my TSHTF storage ammo. You do not want to open a fresh box and load it in the dark, or suddenly find yourself a few rounds short in an emergency. Rather, I am carefully using this ammo up at the range and have no plans to buy more unless the price drops considerably. Another worry is, if the cases can get so trashed, how do I know the quality control didn't screw something else up? I already bought another 1000 rounds from Ammoman, this time Q3131A. No probelms there. |
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900 rnds (lot 030) in my PWA Commando. No FTF's even with the short barrel. It seemed very consistant. It also had a horrendous muzzle flash (beach ball-sized) at night on guns without any flash supressors. My Commando FS tamed the flash to about the size of a tennis ball. I'll buy it again without a second thought. |
| I have used about 400 rounds so far in a Colt MT6601 (20 inch 1/7) Accuracy quite good for GI ammo. I've gotten about 1.5 inch groups (of ten shots) at 100 yards off a rest. With my poor eyesight I consider this pretty good. I was concerned about the dings and small dents that I found on many of the cases but so far I've found them to cause no problems. |
| It shoots fine, but I have seen lots of unsealed primers and/or bullets in various lots. I don't think it will keep as long for this reason and I wouldn't want to rely upon it in wet conditions. I'll shoot it, but I have other ammo that I keep for my "just in case" ammunition with all of the primers and bullets visibly sealed. If you are going to keep it in a military ammo can, this probably isn't an issue, but if you are going to be carrying it in the field, an unsealed primer, or bullet could get you killed. |
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1) Rock River Arms lower with M&A CAR upper 2) Fired one box after firing two boxes Wolf I am experienced AR shooter prior service. I fired my new rifle today with both Wolf and Federal XM193. Started with the Wolf and had jam on third round. Not sure if ammo fault or not. I switched to XM193 and OMFG! I have shot over a thousad rounds outside and with M16A1. I was inside today last stall next to wall. The wolf was very timid. Touched off the first round of federal and a flamethrower erupted and my hair flew back. Okay, not that bad but quite a difference compared to wolf. Shot much tighter too. |
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Bushmaster M4 type, 14.5" barrel with mini y comp. 1000 rounds fired, no failures. Ugly blotchy brass (not shiny like the Israeli stuff) but all in consistently good firing condition, so far (all sealed, tight, etc). Big flash and loud. I will continue buy and stock up but I will keep on the look out for dented batches, with deference to some of the other posts I have read here referrencing dented cases. |
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Quoted: I bought 1000 rounds from Ammoman a couple of months ago and have gone through about 500 rounds so far. Out of the 500, I pulled two rounds per hundred for dented cases. One per hundred is severly dented and would probably cause damage if fired. The others are so so, and would probably fire fine, but I'd rather not risk it. Besides throwing off the ammo count when loading magazines, there is the danger of missing the severely dented rounds if loading fast. I almost missed the worse case so far because I was watching TV while I was loading. If these came loaded on clips you would probably miss the bad cases when you loaded the magazines. So, I decided this is not going to be my TSHTF storage ammo. You do not want to open a fresh box and load it in the dark, or suddenly find yourself a few rounds short in an emergency. Rather, I am carefully using this ammo up at the range and have no plans to buy more unless the price drops considerably. Another worry is, if the cases can get so trashed, how do I know the quality control didn't screw something else up? I already bought another 1000 rounds from Ammoman, this time Q3131A. No probelms there. I've come across Q3131a with mangled brass as well. I just keep an eye out no matter what I'm loading. Not worried about loading in the dark since I keep at least a few 30 rnds. loaded at all times. Ashame you feel this way about xM193......great stuff! I too love the ugly brass! |
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The "big muzzle flash" thing is, as far as I can determine, a daytime-only phenomenon. Just went out and fired SA (1993), Win Q3131A, and Fed LC through a 16" with vortec flash hider in the dark desert night. Result: No obvious difference in muzzle flash, although Fed XM193 was marginally the smallest. SD |
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Bushmaster Vmatch Anniversary carbine 16" a few thousand rounds and the last thousand uncleaned rifle resighting at 25 meter put 25 rounds in a 1 inch diamond and 2-3 inch groups at 100 yds off the bipod with an Eotech I love this ammo and use it most of the time and for playing use other stuff I recommend it to everyone except match shooters accurate enuff for me and I love the muzzle flash |
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1. Rifle: DPMS LR with J&T M4gery upper 16" chrome lined barrel with "tach brake". Magazines used: 30 rounders: USGI, Brit SA80 black and gray mags 20 rounders: USGI, Brit SA80 black 2. 1000 lot 33, 400 lot 45. Both lots of ammo functioned fine. Fired all of lot 33 without a hitch. on round 17 of 400 fired from lot 45 my buffer retainer broke, not ammunition related. Replaced buffer retainer and continued to fire 383 more rounds without issue. Both lots seemed to fire the same, but I did not have any type of measuring device available. Accuracy was similar, between 3-1 1/2" groups while using various shooting positions at various distances. Open iron sights used, not optics. *edited to add info about barrel* |
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Rifles-two Oly's with 16" barrels. Accuracy-very good. Equal or better than Q3131A and PMP fired at same sessions. To be honest, some group variances could be attributed to old eyes. Velocity-highest tested and only cartridge to exceed 3000 fps. Mean velocity: session one 3017-lot 8, session two 3024-lot 8, session three 3070-lot 19. No failures or malfunctions attributable to ammunition. Recoil and report greater than other cartidges. |
| I fired a little over 3500 rds of Federal XM193, various lots. This is excellent ammo and I use it almost exclusively in my AR's. Bushmaster XM15E2S, barrel- 20" 1/9 twist, just a few boxes over 3000rds fired from lots 2-4-5-6. Zero malfunctions. Eagle Arms lower w/ Colt M4 upper, barrel-16" total w/ FS, 1/7 twist, 500rds fired from lot-8. Zero malfunctions to report. Reliability has been 100% with the above named lots of XM193. |
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One box to compare poi with the WallyWorld white box stuff. Shot a little higher at 100 yds, as expected. Haven't found any deformed rounds while repacking. No Probs. Pre-Ban 20" Sporter Most is going in SHTF supplies. Replacing Canadian Surplus. Will probably continue to use white box for fun stuff. |
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2000-3000 rounds of XM193 flawless Colt AR-15 SP1 It is hotter and besides it looks cool to load out of the brown boxes. (impresses the wife, believe me that is not easy) I have only one Failure to Feed on Winchester Q3131A with 3000 rounds. It may have been the new magazine I was breaking in. |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Ammunition review - Federal/LC XM193 (Page 1 of 3)
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