OK, so I've seen various statements from dealers, and I've been following discussions here on ar15.com, to the effect "there will be no more IMI Win Q3131A" and "no more Federal boxed XM193, and loose XM193PD is getting harder to obtain" ... So, the following is my understanding:
* The military is issuing M855 (almost?) exclusively for combat.
* conventional wisdom is that M193 is better suited to civilian arms and civilian uses than M855.
* The loose XM193 is marked "Training Only" leading me to assume that Federal rates it as less than suitable for life-threatening situations.
So, this leads to several questions I'm hoping can be answered by knowledgeable folks in the ammunition industry:
1. is GI "combat" grade M193 simply going to disappear?
2. would this also happen to the loose "training only" stuff?
3. How exactly does Federal decide a round is boxed (combat suitable) or loose (training only)?
4. Is Federal (and IMI) simply too swamped with .gov orders for M855 to make M193 for civilian sale?
This soap-opera is killing me! :)