Hello,

Now in 2023, I think, and many have confirmed that Bass Pro's Herter 223/556 is made by Winchester, probably from Lake City plant.
However, Herters' 223/556 is always couple cents cheaper than Winchester's 223/556.

For example, Herter's 556 is $0.5/r, Winchester is $0.6 at Bass website today (the 25% rebate just started for both, I know, $0.6/r is kind of expensive than other online retailers)
What is the difference between these two? Are Herter's light loaded or not on par with Winchester's?   Or simply "Winchester brand" worth more?
Does Winchester produce both in the same factory line with the same primer, bullet...etc?
Cheaper ammo for plinking is always better if quality is the same, brand doesn't matter to me.


I have tried Herter's 223, using 16 mid-len H2 0.076 gas port, ejection is between 3 to 3:30, no malfunction.
With Wolf WM193 556 white box and the same rifle, same day, ejection is 3:30 to 4:00, no malfunction either.
I have read Wolf 556 is basically a 223 spec, but it seems Herter's 223 is hotter than Wolf 556 white box...?!
Both seem to have similar accuracy.


I appreciate if you can share your experience with Herter's 223/556 in term of muzzle velocity, accuracy...etc.

There are far better options for way less than 60 cents a round.

The direction that brass ejects is not an indicator of muzzle velocity.  Gas-port pressure is influenced by the burn rate of the powder and it’s easier to mass produce ammunition without going over the pressure limit using a slower powder.

Wolf WM193 is more accurate than Herter's.  The Winchester M193 that is manufactured at Lake City is loaded in Lake City brass and meets the mil-spec for muzzle velocity.













Winchester M193


This lot of Winchester M193 is loaded in Lake City brass with a 2021 headstamp.  The case-head stamp exhibits the octal station identifiers found on Lake City SCAMP machinery.  The brass cases have the annealing iris still visible.  The rounds are charged with ball powder.

The primer pockets are crimped, but do not have any sealant.  The case mouths are also crimped, but also have no sealant.








The lot number for this lot of Winchester M193 is pictured below.  The “WLC21” in the prefix of the lot number indicates that this lot of Winchester M193 was manufactured at Lake City in 2021 under Winchester “management.”









Winchester M193

Three 10-shot groups of the Winchester M193 ammunition fired consecutively from the Lothar Walther barreled AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had the following extreme spreads:

2.21”

2.65”

2.09”

for a 10-shot group average extreme spread of 2.32”.  I over-layed the three 10-shot groups on each other using RSI Shooting Lab to form a 30-shot composite group.  The mean radius of the 30-shot composite group was 0.72”.


The smallest 10-shot group . . .




The 30-shot composite group . . .




......

Thanks Molon, I read your earlier post about Wolf WM193~

The ejection pattern from Wolf is weak with flat trajectory to 3:30-4:00.
Herter's 223 ejection is stronger, trajectory is more like a curve to 3-3:30.
From your reply, it may be caused by burning rate of the powder.


Unfortunately, I can not find any testing result on the Herter's 223/556.
Although Herter 223/556 is made by Winchester, I guess it is not the same quality, thus cheaper.