I read somewhere that the X identifies that the ammo was declined by the military.

What could it have been declined for?

Should this ammo be stocked up and relyed on for battle load?

Myth

Experimental designation prior to approval by military sources?

I think it is commercial version of an established mil load.

Like this guy mentioned. I'm pretty sure it's just a legal thing for commercial sale. Just a naming thing.

It was not declined or rejected. It’s not .mil ammo.

Think of actual military M885 (and any other "M" designation) as a "trade mark". It's not really a trade mark but for ammo to be sold as M855 or M882 or M193 whatever, it had to pass a bunch of very specific tests and exams. Federal is not saying it would not pass the military inspections but only it has not been through it. Kinda like buying bolts that have MPI etched on it...if it hasn't had that specific test done to it, it should not have that designation. So the "X" tells you it is the same spec as the "M" ammo without all the military batch testing etc.

X means buy extra.  No really, buy more.  Actually don't by any so there's an ammo glut driving prices even lower so I can buy more X.

I hope it can be relyed one because I use Xm193 for home defense , but in all seriousness idk what the X means, but I do know that Xm193/855 is most definitely reliable enough for defense and stockpiling.

it was never mil ammo so it could not have been declined

I have always been under the impression that X designates civilian use and that it is the same load/quality as the military M193.

The X has to do with the Clinton administration back in the 90’s not allowing military ammo to be sold to the public so they put the X on the name to get around it. It is not rejected ammo. At least that’s what I read on why it has a X.

Now that you guys are all done speculating I will tell you  what the differences between them are. :) Ohh and for the one who asked about reliability. Yes. Its all good.

There are basically two reasons why the Lake City ammo might get the X. First and most likely is that it was a civilian run. XM. Same exact components run on the exact same lines to the same exact specs but intended for civilian consumption. XM. No MIL LAT (Lot Acceptance Test). Another reason could be for example if a mil run was rejected. Could be something like slightly out of spec on velocity or something. Maybe the LAT revealed the round were 10fps out of spec. Still well within spec for civilian use though. Gets XM and sold to civilian market. Most all rejected mil ammo is recycled though. Depends on the defect. It it was 5fps low then it will probably go to civ market. If it was dingy brass... civvy market. If it was bad ejector lip.... would almost certainly get recycled for components. And of course it could get rejected for a litany of different reasons.

Lake City M193 and M855 are mil runs that passed inspection. You can find mil run and lot accepted in the civvy market. Its pretty much just over run that was LAT accepted but not taken possession of by the mil because it was.... you guessed it. Overrun. Maybe the contract was for 20 million rounds and they produced 23 million. The whole lot got accepted as it was all in the same run but the mil only took possession of the 20 million contracted.

Also, Federal doesn't have anything to do with Lake City any more per se. Federal, along with Savage, Bushnell, BLACKHAWK!, and a bunch of other sporting goods split off from ATK and went under the Vista Outdoors umbrella. However, Lake City, stayed under the mil and fell under the Orbital ATK umbrella for about two years before Orbital ATK was bought out by Northrup Grumman. That being said. LC still produces AE223, 556 and other for Federal. They also are now contracting for Winchester as well.

Would you like to see a picture? Yea? Just don't ask what I pay for this stuff. That answer would make you cry and just get mad! LOL

Warning sent - that's twice this morning I've had to edit out GD-type posts. Knock it off - Eric802

Quoted nonsense from above removed - Eric802

This sounds 100% consistent with everything that I have read and heard. My question is why would the US Military still contract for M193? Is it for some special training purpose? I thought it got phased out for M855 back in the early/mid '90's.

@Little_Scrapper the real question is do you have a badass ammo fort?

Thanks for the info.

@Little_Scrapper Since they say employes sales... I'm guessing maybe half the price ill see in stores

Thank you, your post was very informative.

Since I don't have room for furniture I just stack ammo cases to make furniture.

Generally, yes. Some stuff quite a bit less.

Most of the times the XM is rejected for minor things as Little_Scrapper mentioned however sometimes it is truly atrocious ammo that gets packed in the bulk packs.   About 10 years or so ago they released a ton of XM855PD bulk packed in 1000 round cases with two cases in an overpack.  The paint was ridiculously thick and gloppy on the tips, and about 2-3% had a neck bent so badly the round wouldn't chamber.

The vast majority is fine, just either not tested to mil-spec or failed for minor reasons, however occasionally they release some real bad stuff.

It's been asked, but worth trying again...

Why is m193 still being produced?

Only the oldest, crustiest salt dogs still in the USMC even tasted m193. I hear the army has been using m855a1 for quite some time now, so I can't fathom most soldiers with less than 20 years know m193 either.

Who is buying the m193 (besides civilian market)?

I don't even think the Taiwanese are using it (wolf gold reference), as I've personally shot m855 from them (headstamp TAA/10).

I do not know the answer. I can only assume its cheap. Therefore, good for training.

This is why I don't believe the "XM is military reject ammo". There "may" be some .gov contracts for M193: Dept. of Energy SWAT, Coast Guard Reserve, IRS Hostage Rescue Team...but that would not account for 1% of all the civilian bought XM193, even if 99% of the contract was rejected and sold to us civies. I doubt ANY XM193 is reject and maybe less that 10% of XM855 is reject and probably marked "Not For Duty Use".

Maybe because we as a civvy market are still buying tens, if not hundreds of million rounds per year.  Why stop producing it if it still sells like that.

Lots of people want to walk in to the local ammo shop/gun store and buy whatever is cheapest to blast at the range.

"Why is M193 still being produced?"

A pal suggested it was because the M855 variants will tear up shoot houses.

Go back and read little scrappers post.   XM193/XM855 can either be civilian runs of ammo OR mil rejects.

In the case of XM193 I would guess 99% is civilian runs.

It would have to be. Im just not seeing it being produced for any government agency in the kind of quantity us civilians purchase.

Even though I generally buy import (IMI, PPU, WG).

Afaik they use frangibles for that, as per the recon guy I know who actually does use shoot houses regularly. Although it wouldn't surprise me if other agencies or units had different designs.

I know exactly what you pay I dont work there but have a few friends that do.

Speed.  XM version is slower than M version.  Or least, that's what it keeps seeming to come back to from everything I read.  Here in this thread, we saw the above screenshot.

From the above:
XM193 muzzle velocity is 3165 FPS (manufacturers designated speed)

From Wikipedia 5.56 NATO: M193 = 3260 fps.

I've seen it said XM versions tend to be a touch slower than M versions, and I suppose that is the case, based on manufacturers posted velocity spec.  If I were running a civilian run of M193, I too would probably take back just a touch of charge, since the ammo has to fit and function in a much broader range of guns with more diverse quality control options.  Though, I think IMI just runs straight mil-spec on theirs.

EDIT: Opps mis read quote. Yes XM193 is mainly civilian run. Nearly ALL mil rejected M193 is recycled. Nearly all of it. Some rejects will end up in employee sale as seconds but overall I believe its a tiny fraction.

Do you know why it was rejected?

As in does the plant state the reject reason on the package or the invoice for employee sales?

3,165 fps is measured at 78 feet, per the mil-spec . . .

From the link below:

"Correct, also 5.56 velocity is measured at 78ft, and 223 velocity is measured at 15ft."

Also "5.56 is normally quoted from a 20" barrel since the old M-16s had 20s.

223 is normal rifle ammunition and it is tradition to calculate MV from a 24" barrel here. Europe uses a 26" barrel I believe."

https://www.ar15.com/forums/AR-15/Federal-223-REM-higher-velocity-than-Federal-XM193-/16-731041/

On employee seconds it does. Yes.  It would state right on the "seconds" label what the defect is.

When I used to be able to walk right into Federal up in Anoka; I always picked 40 cal that said "visual" as the defect. It would be one of two things usually, (almost always), and I opened the boxes to check, it was either a little tar blob on the case or a small scratch. Small scratch I didn't care about. Little tar blob. I would just grab some IPA and go through the boxes and rub it off. Defect gone. Now I have a 50 rnd count box of HST 40 S&W for $5. hehe.

That is one perk I sorely miss. I am sure you can imagine!

I was able to get a half dozen cases this year and they've all been "visual" for the defect. I literally can not tell them from normal ammo that you'd buy in a store. My buddy that used to work at Federal has a TON of ammo and it's the same thing, all visual defects from what I've seen. I think if a lot doesn't meet velocity spec, it's a little low, it would also be packaged up as factory seconds for the employee store.