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Posted: 1/28/2008 11:11:20 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Zhukov][Edited]
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This review is for STANDARD .223 Prvi ammunition. There is already a thread about the "M193" Prvi ammo listed. Please only add your reviews for standard .223 Prvi ammo here. Please add your personal experience with Prvi Partizan manufactured .223 ammo. This ammo is also sold at Academy sporting goods stores in a GREEN "Monarch" labeled box. When you do, please give information about: 1) Bullet type/weight/loading 2) Firearm used in 3) Approximate number of rounds fired. 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. If you are voting that you had problems with this ammo, PLEASE give your feedback below and tell everyone what those problems were. If you don't, you're not being very helpful to those who are basing their purchasing decision on this thread. |
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I fired 500 rounds of it this past Saturday. Bought it from the Temple TX Academy. Went through the boxes and only bought boxes with a lot # of 07-04 or higher. Anyway, my experiences: Pulled bullet is FMJ boattail, but has NO cannelure. Powder is Ball powder, not extruded. Didnt weigh charge, sorry Seemed accurate enough. Fired on indoor range at B27 SIlhouette at 100 M, in 90 round strings. All rounds impacted center mass in the chest of the target. Loaded a 10 round mag of half Monarch, Half UMC to get some sort of idea as to how hot it was. I didnt chrono, but the Monarch was definetly hotter than the UMC. No blown primer, no bullet setback, no jams, no problems to report. Weapons used were 2 Identical LMT Defender 2000 Carbines with 16 Inch barrels. |
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I have used about 15 boxes or so of it in my Delton Kit, Sabre Defense and RRA rifles. Functionally it is fine, but the accuracy is sub par IMO. I'd almost say it is worse than wolf. Certainly minute of a man, but not much better. If you are shooting steel targets you'd never know cause you always get a ping, but if you are trying to sight in an optic on paper, forget it.... I might shoot some groups tomorrow and take pics for you guys.... |
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I voted #3. I got 5 boxes of the stuff and it acted like a bolt action gun; ie i had to pull the CH back after every round to chamber another. I think i just may have gotton a underloaded batch but none the less i wont be buying it anymore. 1) green box 55 gr FMJ ammo 2)DPMS 11.5" carbine (reliable w/every other type of ammunition) standard carbine buffer Colt MP tested bolt w/BCM extracter upgrade 3)I finally gave up after 3 mags(90 rds) worth and chunked the rest  I have had excellent results w/the Monarch BLUE box steel cased stuff FWIW |
| Monarch label- Ruger Mini-14- 1:7 barrel. Shot 400 rounds without cleaning. Average accuracy (Mini-14 after all) 4-5 inches 50 to 100 yards but not really trying. No problems. Promag steel 20s and Promag plastic 30s. Stock rifle. Have about 2000 total rounds fired without problem(Monarch Blue, Monarch Green, Rad Green M855, AE 55gr. |
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I started shooting this about 2 years ago when it was $2.86 a box Shot about 1k rounds then the price went up to $4.97 a box Still plenty cheap 55 grain I think it's a Berdan primer but I don't reload anyway. both AR's are RRA uppers one is a varmint 24 and the other is a 16" with an A2 This stuff will hold a 3-4" group at 100 yds Plenty accurate for what I do with it. HTH 
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Fired a few hundred rounds of it through my DPMS, reasonably accurate, no FTFs. Would definately buy again. |
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This stuff shoots surprisingly accurately in my 16", but does not cycle well. I bought a few (20-round) boxes of the green-box brass-cased monarch a while back while I was trying different loads. Every shot goes bang, but it doesn't seem to have the juice to extract and feed the next round. If I manually cycle the action each time, it works fine. It just feels underpowered, and the extraction issues seem to support this. I shot some Q3131 and LC M193 afterward to make sure I didn't have any mechanical issues, and had no problems with either of these rounds extracting. The plus side is that I shot consistent 1.5"-2" at 100 yards off the bench. Still have a couple of boxes laying around. |
| It's cheap (relatively) and it runs. I've put 500rds of this through my 20" 1x7. I haven't experienced any functioning issues at all. I get about 2 MOA out of my gun with it if I do my part. It's good enough for steel at several hundred yards and more than good enough for general plinking, particularly given the price. |
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1) 55gr Monarch Green Box 2) Stag Model 2 1:9 16" Barrel 3) 800 Have been using this as my main practice round. It has run 100% through my Stag. A friend with a DPMS that did not like Wolf ran 100% once he switched to Monarch Green Box. I highly recommend it. I intend to try it through my LMT, but do not expect any problems... |
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before the price jump I bought about 2k of this stuff when it was $3.86 a box, no issues to report. The green box ammo fed nicely in a c-mag during semi-auto fire ETA Bushy barreled "M4" type carbine - 14.5 with 1/9 twist 2k rounds magazines were mix of USGI and c-mag Monarch Green box 55gr FMJ |
Chris
11M 84-87
Dare to be different
11M 84-87
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I can't vote reliably as I haven't shot any but I work at Academy part time...In the hunting/fishing section and behind the gun counter. FWIW we carry 2 types of Monarch for .223. The "Green" box and the "Blue" box. The green box is more expensive than Blue box ammo. I have yet to determine the differences between the two. Perhaps one is steel and one brass. Unfortunately I don't have a green box sitting in from of me so can't be too sure. I am getting ready to purchase a case for myself. Good discounts for employees! ;-)
I have shot some 9mm in a Kahr Pm9 from the Green box and not a single misfire. I am kinda new to the AR world and still trying to get my feet wet so to speak. I bought some Blue box Monarch in .223 on Saturday and was only $5.29 for 20. I seem to think the green box is almost half that. I go in to work tonight and I'll update this post after I check prices again. Edit: Ok I went and checked at the store. The Green box is the more expensive Brass ammo. Right now listed for $8.79 per box of 20. The Blue box is the cheaper($5.29) in what looks like Steel coated but may be brass. This has the sealed in red primers. I guess it's not wise to pump stell cases through an AR but I've got a bunch of Wolf which is steel and many people seem to think that is ok. |
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ya, blue box is steel cased, green box is brass cased (Prvi)..... green box ammo is very good.... i don't shoot steel cased ammo through my AR, only brass..
for the AK it's all cheap steel cased stuff... and it's the Academy $2.99 per 20rd Monarch that's currently on sale... =) |
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Three or 4 popped primers out of the hundred or so that I shot.
Nothing catastrophic, but it could certainly jam up a gun or put it temporarily out of commission. One went into my lower and stopped trigger movement and another lodged itself in the magazine it didn't cause feeding problems because it was the last round in the mag. All in all, Wolf is more reliable than this (even if it's considerably slower). I'd buy more if it were a good enough deal and just use it for plinking ammo. |
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Probalby bought 3K rounds, fired 500 of 55, 62, 69 and 75 out of a 20" 1/8 and 1/9.
All were flawless in feeding, accurate and worth the money. ETA: all mine were brass cased. |
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55gr FMJ shot 1000 rds from a Colt 6920. Zero issues.
Side note for reloaders: The brass is not the best for reloading, it was very difficult to resize and the force involved tended to deform the case head with several cases needing to be scrapped due to rim deformation. |
Of course that's just my opinion....I could be wrong
For an update to Academy branded Monarch green box ammo, we are seeing new colored boxes now. I haven't shot any yet as we just got them yesterday. I'll include pics for others to view.
As you can tell the new boxes are not the same "Green" ones we are used to seeing. Matter of fact this is the same color pattern we are seeing for "Blue" boxed Monarch as well. We have been getting 9 mm ammo in Steel in these colored boxes for about a month now. Yesterday was the first I have seen any new Brass Monarch. This is not the M193 stuff. Looks like a replacement for the green boxed stuff. To further clarify the boxes are clearly marked either BRASS or STEEL. The only color differences are around the caliber markings with the Brass boxes showing a light tan or brown color while the Steel boxes show a silver or gray color pattern. |
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The following information is from user MOLON. I take no credit for the information - he merely gave me permission to paste it into this review thread. Prvi Partizan 62 grain FMJ BT  This ammunition is not particularly accurate and this load is not an M855 clone. The 62 grain bullet used is considerably shorter than an SS109 bullet and it has a lead core and copper jacket construction with no penetrator.  PPU 62 grain FMJ BT  The muzzle velocity for this load was a snappy 3039 fps from a 20” Colt M16A2 barrel. The smallest 10-shot group fired from a 24” Krieger barreled AR-15 had an extreme spread of 3.18” and a mean radius of 1.06”.  Some of the best M855 that I have fired was produced by IMI. Here's a short evaluation of that ammuntition.  IMI M855 is loaded with a 62 grain FMJ bullet with a cannelure and has a steel penetrator. The ammunition is charged with "ball powder". The primers are sealed and crimped in placed. The bullet is also crimped in place and the case mouth is sealed with an asphalt sealant. It is easily distinguished from IMI M193 by the green painted bullet tip.  Chronograph data was obtained using an Oehler 35P with "proof screen" technology. All velocities listed are muzzle velocities as calculated from instrumental velocities using Oehler's Ballistic Explorer software program. All strings of fire consisted of 10 shots each.  Accuracy testing was performed using a free-floated 20" Colt HBAR. The barrel has a 1:7" twist, NATO chamber and is chrome lined. Accuracy testing was done from a distance of 100 yards shooting from a bench-rest. A 10-shot control-group was fired using 55 grain Sierra BlitzKings and had an extreme spread of 1.17". Three 10-shot groups of the IMI M855 were fired in a row with the following extreme spreads: 2.14" 3.01" 1.71" for a 10-shot average of 2.29". The best 10-shot group is pictured below.  The three 10-shot groups were overlayed on each other using RSI Shooting Lab to form a 30-shot composite group. The mean radius for this composite group was 0.69".   |
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55 grain
Lots of different full auto ARs, an AC556, FNC, Steyr AUG. About 1200 rounds fired. No problems! I remember when this first came out, lots of people had problems with it in their ARs. But a few months later Prvi changed the powder formula to address this. btw, accuracy whenever I shot for groups was about twice the group size of wolf steel cased. |
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I purchased just over 1500 rounds total of the "green" box Monarch (mine actually is/was green boxed) in three separate purchases of 200 rounds (Lot# 0605), 360 rounds (Lot# 0806), & 1000 rounds (Lot# 0507) from Academy Sports, and have now fired a total of 160 rounds of the Lot# 0605; 200 rounds of the Lot# 0806; and 90 rounds of the Lot# 0507 from two different ARs. One AR has a 1 in 8 inch twist, SS, 14.7" barrel with perm A2 Flash Suppressor, and the other has a 1 in 7 inch twist 20" government profile barrelled upper. I used both standard GI 20rd mags, as well as standard GI 30rd mags with MAGPUL Gen 3 followers to fire this ammunition from each weapon, with each mag having passed prior function testing / usage.
I have recently come to notice a rather disturbing trend in the performance of this ammunition when used with the aforementioned equipment. It seems that as this ammunition ages, it is rapidly losing it's "umph" as it were... Though I have yet to ever experience a failure to fire when using this ammo, I have started to experience severe failures to feed in both weapons when using ammo from lot#s 0605 & 0806. (Lot# 0507 has only produced one incident of failure-to-feed thus far, and I have not tested it since @ last Dec.) The failures occur when attempting to fire using any mag containing more than 15 rounds. The ammunition is still producing enough force to eject each round as well as cock the hammer, but it is not enough to send the bolt carriers back far enough to allow a new cartridge to be stripped from the magazines. In every case (with both weapons) the bolt is closing on an empty chamber. All of this ammunition has been stored (residentially) indoors inside 50 cal ammo cans (not too hot/cold) in a nice dry controlled environment prior to use. Both weapons were cleaned & properly lubricated prior to use. Each weapon was later function tested using various other brands/types of ammunition (M855, M193, T2 TAP, and even some Federal "value" pack .223) with no failures occurring/noted. Shot group sizing was not measured due to range limitations (too short distances to target/ range less than 25meters, ect.) Samples from each lot were fired from these same weapons when each lot was first purchased: Lot# 0605 produced three failures to feed from the carbine during a "bump-fire" test (at that time, these were attributed to the firing method being used.) Lot# 0806 & 0507 did not produce any failures at the time of purchase, however Lot# 0806 produced 4 failures to feed from both weapons (2 failures for each weapon from the first two rounds of full 30rnd mags) 1 year after storage/ownership, and Lot# 0507 produced one failure to feed (in the rifle) @ the ammo's 20 month old mark. During yesterday's range trip, I used only lots 0506 & 0608. I had to charge the weapons after every shot until there were @ less than 15 rounds to a mag. It was frustrating as hell. I'll be happy when I have finished off this ammo. I cannot say as to any specific rate of decay for this ammo, but the above has been my observations/experiences. Hope this helps... FlDiveCop71
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Bought a case of Privi 62gr a while back and have been trickling through it and comparing it to the Q3131 that i've got and the XM193. Not the most accurrate 62gr out there but I haven't had any malfunctions with it. Not match ammo but it goes bang everytime. |
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Midway USA privi 55gr sp lists the muzzle velocity at 3248 fps. Anyone get close to that? Looking for a good softpoint that I can use for both deer and coyote, but dont want ot spend $28/box for winchester.
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Originally Posted By FlDiveCop71: I have recently come to notice a rather disturbing trend in the performance of this ammunition when used with the aforementioned equipment. It seems that as this ammunition ages, it is rapidly losing it's "umph" as it were... Though I have yet to ever experience a failure to fire when using this ammo, I have started to experience severe failures to feed in both weapons when using ammo from lot#s 0605 & 0806. (Lot# 0507 has only produced one incident of failure-to-feed thus far, and I have not tested it since @ last Dec.) The failures occur when attempting to fire using any mag containing more than 15 rounds. The ammunition is still producing enough force to eject each round as well as cock the hammer, but it is not enough to send the bolt carriers back far enough to allow a new cartridge to be stripped from the magazines. In every case (with both weapons) the bolt is closing on an empty chamber. I experienced this too! I wish I could take back my vote. The 55 grain stuff from one of the lots I bought in 2004 is barely cycling my BCM midlength and is causing failures to feed. |
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My experience reposted from another thread:
I've shot the 69gr Prvi BTHP side by side with the 75gr in several rifles, both 1:9" and 1:7" twist. The 75gr was consistently more accurate. I was able to nail a steel silhouette on the first shot at 392m with it and it will stay under an inch on paper at 100m if I do my part. It would probably do better but I'm not much more than a 1 MOA shooter. The 69gr printed groups about half again to twice as large. Still reasonably accurate for the cost. They are both loaded to SAAMI .223 spec, not NATO 5.56mm spec. I've only had the opportunity to chrono the 75gr on one occasion. It did 2350 fps out of my 11.5" barrel so it does appear to be at the upper end of SAAMI spec. Most agree that the 69gr is not as accurate as the 75gr, but still good enough for most purposes. Most seem to agree that they should both be good terminal performers but I haven't seen any good testing data to back that up. With any luck O_P will do a test. I'll send him a box or two if he wants. Either cartridge SHOULD have good terminal effect because the long projectiles like that tend to upset soon after they begin to yaw. I hope to see some good empirical data soon. |
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I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others. I covet no man's soul, nor is my soul theirs to covet. - Ayn Rand
| FYI / Update - There are two reviews over at midwayusa.com link about the softpoint privi, one of them list his chrono details. Anyone here confirm? |
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See my thread where I shot some 69, 75, and 60gr TAP. http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=507228 |
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I recently got a new Chrono. Was out shooting it for the first time last week. I put several different types of rounds through it to to get used to the way it works, etc. I was shooting a SS 20" barrel with a Wylde chamber.
I tried some Monarch brass FMJs. I was seeing about 3200 fps so that ammo seems to be loaded fairly hot still. And fyi the FMJ Monarch(brass) has been discontinued by Academy. If you can find any remaining on a store shelf it's on clearance for $6.88 a box. They still carry the 55 gr soft point in Monarch however. I didn't shoot that to see what kind of velocity it had. That is getting into plinking range brass territory. |
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I've been shooting the older green box Monarch and now the red box, all in FMJ. A few hundred rounds so far.
No functional problems in my two AR parts guns. Haven't yet tried it in the Mni 14. Three inch groups are the norm, and I have been reloading the brass cases, Wonder why it would be discontinued? |
| Shot 60 rounds of the 69gr OTM stuff today. Rifle has a 16" 1/9 Bushmaster 5.56 chambered barrel, and an Aimpoint R1. It was windy as hell, and raining pretty good, but I was able to shoot a best ten round group of about 2.8" at 100 yards with a mean radius of about .92". Not fantastic, but with the wind as bad as it was, and a 4MOA dot on the Aimpoint, that's about as good as it was gonna get. I suspect the ammunition is capable of better accuracy/precision than that, but the gun and shooter are not, especially with the weather being as crappy as it was. ;) |
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