THE ORIGINAL THREAD HAS BEEN ARCHIVED. PLEASE DON'T VOTE AGAIN IF YOU'VE ALREADY VOTED IN THE PREVIOUS THREAD.

Results from previous thread:
694 responses.
645 with no problems
36 with minor problems
13 with major problems

Please add your personal experience with Winchester .223 ammunition to this thread. When you do, please give information about:
1) Ammunition used
2) Firearm used in
3) Approximate number of rounds fired.

We've covered Q3131A seperately. In this thread, I would like to limit discussion to all .223 loadings. I know this is kind of a broad area, but I don't want to create a zillion posts for every variant.

For more information about this ammunition, please visit the Winchester website.

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.

Contents from archived post (these aren't all comments, just a couple of pages):

ammo: walmart 40 round value pack (winny white box) rounds fired:~1k firearm: JT kit on dmps lower A2 20" i've had no problems with this ammo, and it's what i use when i go shooting. strangely enough i seem to get my best groups with it. mind you i haven't tried anything that runs more than about $4.50 per 20. the barrel is a chromoly 1-9, with this ammo on a good day i'll get consistent 1-2" groups at 100 yards.

USA2232, 45gr JHP through my RRA A4 20". Seems to be pretty accurate - except that I'm a bad shot. No problems except some nasty FTF's which were traced to a bad magazine, not the ammo.

walmart 40 round value pack (winny white box) 55gr flavor. rounds fired: ~500. firearm: BM M4gery, full 16" bbl, blunt. have had no feed, nor fire, nor extract problems whatsoever. definitely less muzzle flash than Q3131A, somewhat less noise than Q3131A, but feels like fewer FPS than Q3131A as well. no chrono data taken. walmart price is OK but on the right day with the right vendor, Q3131A via UPS is roughly the same cost. and so i shoot some win 223 when plinking, rather than using up my Q3131A (which is probably more effective for SHTF applications).

Never seen a box of Crapchester that would shoot for shit. Underloaded, and inaccurate. Multiple jams. Their quality was so bad we even had to stop selling it due to customer complaints.

I've shot a few hundred round of the Winchester 45gr BTHP, and I have to say that this stuff is VERY accurate, and I have had no reliability issues whatsoever. I'm also working on a case of 55gr FMJ and it is also accurate (not as accurate as the 45gr)and I haven't experienced any problems. The only problem with this is last time I checked you could get Q3131A for cheaper so why not get the hot stuff.

Win. 45 grn. HP - 200+, no problems Win. 64 grn. PowerPoint Plus - 200+, no problems Win. 55 grn. Q3131 - 1000+, no problems, but the Q3131A is hotter ammo Mike

Winchester Ranger 64 gr. PP During quals, we'll burn up to 1000 a day for 2-3 weeks, half of that is FA. All problems have been weapon/mag/operator related. Main problems are weapon(FTE-i.e. change out colt extractor spring for Wolf.) and when this happens it usually causes a double feed. Since this is SP ammunition, the exposed lead tip is usually deformed. The rounds are still usable if you just rip off the lead tip with your fingers. But again, this is not the ammo's fault.

I've shot a dozen or so boxes of the WalMart valuepacks of Winchester FMJ .223. While there's never been any problem with these rounds, they are certainly loaded to much lower pressure and velocity specs than M193, and there is also some noticable variation in velocity from round to round. This isn't a problem for me, as I consider this plinking ammo, but at longer distances, you'll have more elevation variation. Also, the bullets and primers are not sealed, nor are the primers crimped. Again, for my purposes, this is fine, and in fact, the uncrimped primers make the brass great for reloading. I do NOT recommend using this as defensive/duty ammo, though, for the reasons outlined above, and in particular, due to the severe reduction in fragmentation range due to the lower velocities. Stick with M193-spec ammo for that. For range use, it's just fine. -Troy

I've only shot a half dozen or so boxes of the 40 round valu-pac, but it worked fine. Hoppy

I've shot many boxes of WIN USA223R1 thru my Bushmaster 20" and my Eagle Arms 16". No problems at all, none. I have shot hundreds of WIN USA9MM through my Sig Sauer P226 and Colt 9mm AR. No problems at all, none. ~ s0ulzer0

I have shot it on and off for 5 years or so. I pick up what ever I can find cheap and is brass cased. I never had any problems with it.

USA223R1,3700 rds Armalite 16" and 20", both chrome and moly. DPMS 16" and 20" moly only Flawless function, inside 3" at 100yds. All recent mfg, fired June 2003 to date.

I have shot aprox 400rds of the 40 rd 55 gr value packs and 200 of same in 50rd packs,the only minor complaint I have is a white powdery residue on muzzle break and barrel. Wipes off easily but what is it??

I shoot the 45 grn JHP out of my DPMS 20", I would guess in the high hundreds or low thousands of rounds. The only problem I ever had was with a NIW Colt 20 rounder that would not feed (maybe due to short OAL of the round and the magazine being at the high end of tolerances?). It is the most accurate round I have found (under 1" at 100 yards), including all the "high end" rounds (Black Hills, etc.).

Ammo: 40 rnd wal mart value pack white box rounds fired: approximately 600-800 rifle: RRA Lower, Model1sales 20 inch upper Another absolutely no problems whatsoever. Accurate enough for plinking, though I'll second the idea that it is just plinking ammo, from what I've observed. Get it for your buddies to mag dump heh.

I just bought two 40 round "super clean" value packs at Wal-mart.No probs with any of the rounds. descent ammo. 80 rounds bushmaster A2 sporter 16"

Winchester White Box 45GR. JHP 16" HBAR 1x9 Functions good, no problems Accurate @ 100 yards 1.25 in. 80 rounds through rifle

I tried a few hundred rounds of the white box 55gr FMJ. I needed a FMJ to shoot turkeys and not blow them up. It went bang every time, cycled every time, but the accuracy in a proven varminter bushmaster was terrible. I think it was approaching 3 moa. I rolled a box of ammo to judge runout with a dial indicator and there was the problem. Runout on the ojive was severe. I rolled a box of wolf blasting ammo that was much better. The wolf papered just over 1 MOA. I got my turkeys.

No problems. RRA 20" chrome-moly HBAR I like this stuff because I get 50 rds for 8.49/8.99 at Gander Mtn. (169.80/179.80 per 1000) which is comparable to anything I can order online (except Wolf). I usually pickup a few boxes a week to stockpile. Very convenient. I have only tried 55 grain I plan to try the soft points and 62 grain varieties.

Bushy 16" pre-ban M4 uppper with 300+ rounds of Winnie white-box VP USA223R1VP shot through it. This is all I've used so far and never had a problem. However, lately the boxes have changed. Now the ammo has annealing marks on it, crimped primers, occasional sealed primers, box no longer has "USA" in a circle printed on the front, and it says "MADE IN ISRAEL" on the bottom in lower left corner. Haven't paid attention to whether these feel hotter or not, but will try to take the chrony out to the range next time and check it out. This is the cheapest ammo around locally and it is getting harder and harder to find it in stock at Wallmart--have to get there on a Friday before the weekend, otherwise it is all gone by Sunday. They don't seem to be keeping much in stock

ive burned up over 200rnds of wally 40rd value pack winchester usa223r1, as a matter of fact i got invited to go to the range tomorrow and its late tonight so i decided to go get some more of it. bought 4 boxes of it. but i would much rather have some m193 or m855 but when your broke your broke. ive burned up my other stash of the good stuff so im stuck with weak wally loads till i get the funds to order another 1000 rnds of the good stuff.

Winchester USA223R1, 40 and 50 round boxes, lot # unknown.
Chrono'ed about 3050 - 3100 from a 20" Colt A1 1/12 twist.
Three of us used this ammo for the Carbine 1 class at FIRE Institute. Zero ammo related failures, from a Bushmaster barrel/DPMS A2 lower, Bushy SL upper/Bushy CAR type lower, and a tricked out Bushy 14.5" M4. VERY clean ammo, and one of us was able to get a one hole group at 25 yds, using a Trijicon reflex. The Superlight upper shot the largest group, mainly b/c it was A2 iron sights, no optics. This group was a perfect cloverleaf well under 1". As stated, zero ammo failures in over 1500 rounds fired over a 3 day course. The only factory 'ball' ammo that we have found more accurate is S&B SS109/M855.

I have shot a couple of thousand rounds of White Box (WWB) 40 round value packs from Wal-Mart without a single problem. Mostly from a Colt 16" pencil barrel on Bushie and Colt upper. It's good plinking ammo. I'll save the stuff with sealant for a rainy day.

Shot about 400rds at range earlier today USA223R1 55gr FMJ. Excellent stuff everything fed, fired, and consistant nice groups. Zeroed my irons and Eotech with this stuff. Using Eotech, seemed I was getting groups of less than an inch at 25m, 1-1.5" at 50m, and within 3" at 100m benchrested at all ranges. I zeroed the Eotech at 50m and with that zero averaged about 2.5" high at 100m (which I expected). Wish I had a chrono to check velocity out of my 14.5" barrel.

With USA223R1 I get apx. 2820 FPS out of my Bushmaster M4 14.5" barrel. This is 10 feet from the muzzle with a Chrony F1. Winchester reports the muzzle velocity for this round at 3240. I am guessing this is with a 20 inch barrel. The Q3131A is reported at 3270, so the .223 is 30FPS slower than the 5.56. That is a very small amount so I think you can use these two rounds interchangably with a 25 meter zero. I am going shopping tommorow so I will try and find a box of the 5.56 and see if it will group with the .223.

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