Im looking to pick up a few cases of M855. Is the Winchester M855 still pretty much unobtainable?? What makes it so hard to come by?? If things have changed and anybody has a source, id appreciate some info.

Thanks, DD out!!  

My WIN M855 is headstamped 02 or 03...  I can't remember off the top of my head.

But they must be making it somewhere.

Quoted: Winchester doesn't sell M855 on the open market.  They make this loading available in their LEO-only Ranger line, and there have been some lots of it that was sold to overseas governments and later re-imported, but that's about it.  Winchester doesn't even make it anymore, due to Olin losing the contract to operate Lake City to ATK in 1999. -Troy

I could swear that I saw where Winchester was recently awarded a U.S. Gov't contract to produce M855 as a supplement to Lake City.

Why is it that everything in the Winchester Ranger line is LE only?? Does Winchester enforce that heavily??

Mark...where did you "Acquire" your stash of Winchester M855??

Thanks for the info so far gents, DD out!!  

Quoted: Is the Winchester M855 still pretty much unobtainable?? What makes it so hard to come by??

Like Troy said, it's sold under the Ranger line.  And it seems the authorized distributors are bitchy about LEO only sales.  My guess is that WIN dictates this.  They have errored on the P.C. side of their ammo availability before.

Have you considered the IMI M855?  I shot a sample that someone gave me a few weeks ago.  It is very good stuff.

Yes, I actually have some of the IMI M855, however I was looking for some M855 that "I know" is made to the proper U.S. milspec. IMI is made to NATO spec, but im just being anal and would like try some made to U.S. milspec like the Lake City or the Winchester.

I'll keep looking and let you know if I dig anymore info up.

I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that the IMI stuff IS US Military spec.  I have read here that the israelis are the only ones outside of the US that are certified to produce ammo for the US Military.  We regularly use ammo made in Israel for use in the Middle East because it cuts shipping time and costs.   While other NATO countries make NATO spec ammo, the US Military actually has some more stringent requirements than the NATO stuff.  

Yes, I've also heard it mentioned on this board that IMI is U.S. Milspec or close to U.S. Milspec and that our military utilizes it during middle east operations to lessen the logs burden. I have not seen any of that info in any military pub or tm so I defer to what I mentioned above. If I can get my hands on some Winchester or LC M855 then there is no question as to its quality.

I know that Colt uses nothing but LC M855 to test fire all of there weapons at the factory and recommend that you use U.S. Milspec ammo in their weapons. To my suprise at the time, a Colt representative stated in open forum that Colt recommended that no one use IMI ammo in a Colt AR-15/M-16 platform because it was unreliable ammo. I took it with a grain of salt because like most of you, I have always heard nothing but good things about the IMI line and I know that the Israeli's do not have a reputation like say "pakistan" for producing junk.

It's all pretty interesting stuff.

We have winchester 885 head stamped wwc96 + 7.00 a box call us 845 227 4100

Quoted: Wow.  That person at Colt had some serious rectal/cranial inversion going on. -Troy

Yes, he had some interesting comments. Truth be told, im sure he was passing on "bum scoop" he had heard from someone else. It didn't sound like his remarks were spoken from a bad personal experience with IMI ammo.

What about this ammo?  Is it any good and to spec?

LCC M855

Quoted: What about this ammo?  Is it any good and to spec? LCC M855

I just ordered a case so I'll let you know. The last case of M855 I got was Winchester (Q3269) from ammoman. That was in August of '02. I've been looking for more but it's hard to find. I paid $259 back then so this deal seems reasonable. $219+$13 standard shipping +$5 large/heavy freight (WTF?) +$2.75 "adult signature required" (nigga wut?) so $239.75 all together. Not bad if it's the shiznit, we shall see.

Quoted: What about this ammo?  Is it any good and to spec? LCC M855

Maybe the picture is wrong but where is the SS109 bullet? Aren't they supposed to be green tipped?

Not necessarily.  I've reloaded SS109 bullets and they don't come green, Mr. Green Jeans.

Maybe the paint is the last step in the process, and they skipped it since the ammo wasn't going to the mil.

If you look at the picture, it shows a bullet cut in half, lead removed, steel core still inside.

Quoted: Not necessarily.  I've reloaded SS109 bullets and they don't come green, Mr. Green Jeans. Maybe the paint is the last step in the process, and they skipped it since the ammo wasn't going to the mil.

Thanks - Shows what I know

I finally got my case today. Keislers screwed up and sent a 160 rd box of ADI .308 the first time. I called them and they were nice about it. Sent the M855 w/free shipping and I kept the .308. I had some empty stripper clips and bandoleers that needed filling anyway, so there you go.
The M855 came packed loose in a plastic bag inside a cardboard box. It passes the magnet test so the steel core is there. Brass looks better than most LC I've seen. Obviously not polished, but not a significant amount of dents. No sealer or green tip. Most is stamped '01, but a lot of '02 and '03 mixed in, all with NATO stamp.
My Kimber should be here Friday so I'll try to head to OK this weekend to break that in. I'll take the AR and dump a couple mags of this stuff and let y'all know how it shoots.hug.gif

I just got a case and was a bit disconcerted over the label reading "for training purposes only."  Since my AR isn't finished yet I can't go out and give them a try, so I'm anxiously awaiting your evaluation of this ammo.

Robert

Sounds like the same stuff from SG.
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=16&t=187997