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Posted: 3/13/2015 10:46:46 PM EDT
Snapshots
Snapshots are brief . . . looks at a variety of ammunition loads commercially available for use in the .223/5.56mm AR-15 platform. A “Snapshot” will include a short description of the load, chronograph data from a single barrel and the accuracy (technically precision) results of one 10-shot group fired from a distance of 100 yards. The reviewed loads were chronographed from a 20” Colt M16A2 barrel with a 1:7” twist, chrome lining and NATO chamber. 10-shot strings of each load were fired over an Oehler 35-P chronograph with “proof screen” technology. All velocities listed are muzzle velocities as calculated from the instrumental velocities using Oehler’s Ballistic Explorer software program. 
Accuracy testing was conducted from my bench-rest set-up from a distance of 100 yards following my usual protocol. The fore-ends of the weapons rested in a Sinclair Windage Benchrest and the butt-stock rode in a Protektor rear-bag. Sighting was accomplished via a Leupold VARI-X III set at 25X magnification and adjusted to be parallax-free at 100 yards. A mirage shade was attached to the objective-bell of the scope. Naturally, the wind conditions were monitored using a Wind Probe. The set-up was very similar to that pictured below. 
Prior to the firing of the factory loads, control groups were fired using hand-loaded, match-grade ammunition. In every case the control groups had significantly smaller extreme spreads and mean radii than the factory loads tested. As an example, an average 10-shot group from my Krieger barreled AR-15 firing hand-loaded the 62 grain Berger HP bullet is pictured below. 
Nosler 77 grain Custom Competition HPBT 
This ammunition uses Nosler’s 77 grain OTM projectile with a cannelure, loaded in Nosler brass. 
This load had a muzzle velocity of 2612 fps with a standard deviation of 19 fps. A 10-shot group fired from my Krieger barreled AR-15 had and extreme spread of 0.98” and a mean radius of 0.31”. 
.... American Tactical 5.56 x 45mm 62 grain 
This M855 “clone” is charged with ball powder, has crimped and sealed primers, asphalt sealant at the case-mouth and utilizes a 62 grain SS109-type projectile. This bullet is a full-metal jacket, boat-tailed, cannelured projectile with a steel penetrator insert. 
The muzzle velocity of this load was 3077 fps with a standard deviation of 21 fps. America Tactical claims that this ammunition “is lot tested to assure less than one minute of angle” accuracy at 100 meters. 
A 10-shot group of this load fired from an AR-15 with a free-floated, 20” Colt HBAR had an extreme spread of 4.49” and a mean radius of 1.33”. 
.... Remington 62 grain HP Premier Match 
This Remington load is topped with a flat-based, cannelured, 62 grain HP projectile and uses Remington – Peters brass. 
The muzzle velocity of this load was 2897 fps with a standard deviation of 14 fps. A 10-shot group fired from my Krieger barreled AR-15 had an extreme spread of 1.3” and a mean radius of 0.52”. 
.... Hornady 60 grain TAP 
This TAP load uses the 60 grain VMAX bullet with a cannelure. The load had a muzzle velocity of 2927 fps from the 20” Colt barrel. The smallest 10-shot group had an extreme spread of 0.88” and a mean radius of 0.27”. 
.... Federal Tactical 62 grain Bonded SP 
The Federal Tactical 62 grain load uses a bonded soft point bullet with a cannelure. (All the better to shoot your auto-glass with, my dear!) There is a scant amount of lacquer sealant at the case mouth (mostly in the cannelure.) The primers are also sealed and crimped. As you can see from the picture above, the components come loaded in a shiny nickel plated Lake City case. This load had a muzzle velocity of 2978 fps. The smallest 10-shot group had an extreme spread of 2.13” and a mean radius of 0.54”. 
.... Prvi Partizan 62 grain FMJ BT 
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. The smallest 10-shot group had an extreme spread of 3.18” and a mean radius of 1.06”. 
.... Federal 62 grain FUSION 
The Federal 62 grain Fusion bullet appears to have a very similar design to that of the Speer 64 grain Gold Dot. Both are bonded bullets, have the same advertised muzzle velocity and both have the unique Gold Dot boat-tail shape. While this load is being marketed as a "deer" load, it has all the makings of a good barrier-blind load. 
It’s difficult to see with the naked eye, but the Fusion bullet has a “skived” tip. 
As seen above, the Fusion bullet has a cannelure and the case mouth is crimped. The lot that I evaluated is loaded in Lake City 09 brass cases. The primer pockets are crimped and sealed and the load is charged with “ball” powder. 
The advertised velocity for this load is 3000 fps. From a 20" Colt barrel with a NATO chamber, chrome lining and a 1:7” twist, the 62 grain Federal Fusion bonded soft-point had a muzzle velocity of 2877 fps. The claimed ballistic coefficient for this bullet is 0.339. The accuracy of this load was excellent for a soft-point bullet. A 10-shot group fired from my Krieger barreled AR-15, at a distance of 100 yards, had an extreme spread of almost exactly 1 MOA. It will be interesting to see how this load performs after barriers. 
.... Remington 62 grain Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded 
Here are a few pics comparing the Remington 62 grain Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded bullet to the Speer 64 grain Gold Dot and the 62 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. As with the TBBC, the Core-Lokt bullet has a greater area of exposed lead at the meplat than the Gold Dot. 
The muzzle velocity of the Remington 62 grain Core-Lokt load from a 16" Colt barrel with a NATO chamber, chrome lining and a 1:7" twist was 2776 FPS with a standard deviation of 43 FPS. From a 20" Colt barrel with a NATO chamber, chrome lining and a 1:7" twist the muzzle velocity was 2887 FPS with a standard deviation of 56 FPS. I fired a 10-shot group of the Remington 62 grain Core-Lokt load from my 20" Noveske HBAR from a distance of 100 yards. The accuracy left a lot to be desired; the extreme spread was greater than 3 inches. 
.... CORBON 62 grain DPX (Barnes TSX) 
This COR-BON load uses the Barnes 62 grain TSX bullet which has an all-copper construction. The bullet is much longer than a typical lead core/copper jacketed bullet of the same weight. This load had a muzzle velocity of 2963 fps from the 20" Colt barrel. The 10-shot group of record had an extreme spread of 1.75" and a mean radius of 0.61". 
With 62 grain TSX hand-loads, I’ve been able to achieve sub-MOA accuracy for 10-shot groups at 100 yards. 
.... *No animals were harmed during the testing of this ammunition. 
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Fiocchi 77 grain Exacta 
This Fiocchi load uses the 77 grain Sierra MatchKing (without a cannelure.) The load is charged with ball powder. From the 20” Colt barrel, this load had a muzzle velocity of 2549 fps with a standard deviation of 16 fps. This is a little on the slow side for this particular category of ammunition, however since this is intended to be a “target load”, velocity is not a crucial factor at shorter distances. A 10-shot group fired from 100 yards from a Krieger barreled AR-15 with a 1:7.7” twist, had an extreme spread of 0.995”. 
..... COR-BON 69 grain Performance Match HPBT 
COR-BON’s 69 grain Performance Match ammunition is loaded with Sierra’s 69 grain MatchKing. An added bonus with this ammunition is that is uses Lapua Match brass, arguably the finest brass available for reloading for AR-15s. COR-BON’s website claims that the velocity of this load is 3000 fps from a 20" barrel. From the 20” Colt barrel this load had a muzzle velocity of 2854 fps with a standard deviation of 25 fps. From a distance of 100 yards, a 10-shot group fired from a Krieger barreled AR-15 with .223 Remington chamber and a 1:9” had an extreme spread of 0.88”. 
..... Prvi Partizan 69 grain Match 
The advertised velocity of Prvi Partizan’s 69 grain OTM load is 2855 FPS. The muzzle velocity of this load from the 20” Colt barrel was 2755 fps with a standard deviation of 14 FPS. The 69 grain Prvi bullet is slightly longer than a 69 grain Sierra MatchKing; 0.930” versus 0.890”. 
A 10-shot group fired from a distance of 100 yards from a semi-automatic AR-15 with a Krieger barrel that has a .223 Remington chamber and 1:9” twist had an extreme spread of 2.26”. 
..... Hornady 5.56mm 55 grain GMX Superformance 
..... to be continued . . . |
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Excellent post! Fantastic data. Thanks Molon!
Do you know if that made in Turkey American Tactical M855 clone is the same as the ZQI SS109 stuff at walmart? I believe based on the made in Turkey, "accuracy guarantee", green primer sealant it's the same stuff. It's my go to blaster ammo. |
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Do you know if that made in Turkey American Tactical M855 clone is the same as the ZQI SS109 stuff at walmart? I believe based on the made in Turkey, "accuracy guarantee", green primer sealant it's the same stuff. From the ZQI box: "lot tested to assure less than one minute of angle at 100 meters." That sure seems familiar. 
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| I kind of like the idea of the short, sweet, condensed reports you did here. For all that's holy, please don't let that stop you from going all doctor ballistica with the good meaty ones though. I could look at and take in that information you provide for months (and I have, don't feel bad about it either). Thanks for taking the time to learn us. |
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Hi Molon, just curious, what would you say the current round count is on that Colt 20" HBAR barrel that you chrony all of the loads out of? Most of my "standard" chrongraphing is done with Colt A2 barrels. I change out those barrels every few thousand rounds with another barrel that matches the muzzle velocity of the original barrel (when new), that I started using for my 75 grain Hornady TAP thread back in 2006, when using a very low-standard deviation hand-load. |
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Quoted:
Most of my "standard" chrongraphing is done with Colt A2 barrels. I change out those barrels every few thousand rounds with another barrel that matches the muzzle velocity of the original barrel (when new), that I started using for my 75 grain Hornady TAP thread back in 2006, when using a very low-standard deviation hand-load. Quoted:
Quoted:
Hi Molon, just curious, what would you say the current round count is on that Colt 20" HBAR barrel that you chrony all of the loads out of? Most of my "standard" chrongraphing is done with Colt A2 barrels. I change out those barrels every few thousand rounds with another barrel that matches the muzzle velocity of the original barrel (when new), that I started using for my 75 grain Hornady TAP thread back in 2006, when using a very low-standard deviation hand-load. Do you account for the Coriolis effect when testing the new barrel? J/k - it is great and rare to see your level of rigor in ARFCOM, or for that matter in basically any kind of publicly available firearm and ammunition testing. |
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Quoted:
Do you account for the Coriolis effect when testing the new barrel? Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Hi Molon, just curious, what would you say the current round count is on that Colt 20" HBAR barrel that you chrony all of the loads out of? Most of my "standard" chrongraphing is done with Colt A2 barrels. I change out those barrels every few thousand rounds with another barrel that matches the muzzle velocity of the original barrel (when new), that I started using for my 75 grain Hornady TAP thread back in 2006, when using a very low-standard deviation hand-load. Do you account for the Coriolis effect when testing the new barrel? Only when shooting from a treadmill. 
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Quoted:
Most of my "standard" chrongraphing is done with Colt A2 barrels. I change out those barrels every few thousand rounds with another barrel that matches the muzzle velocity of the original barrel (when new), that I started using for my 75 grain Hornady TAP thread back in 2006, when using a very low-standard deviation hand-load. Quoted:
Quoted:
Hi Molon, just curious, what would you say the current round count is on that Colt 20" HBAR barrel that you chrony all of the loads out of? Most of my "standard" chrongraphing is done with Colt A2 barrels. I change out those barrels every few thousand rounds with another barrel that matches the muzzle velocity of the original barrel (when new), that I started using for my 75 grain Hornady TAP thread back in 2006, when using a very low-standard deviation hand-load. Is there a noticeable velocity drop on the Colt A2 barrels after only a few thousand rounds? |
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Quoted:
Is there a noticeable velocity drop on the Colt A2 barrels after only a few thousand rounds? Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Hi Molon, just curious, what would you say the current round count is on that Colt 20" HBAR barrel that you chrony all of the loads out of? Most of my "standard" chrongraphing is done with Colt A2 barrels. I change out those barrels every few thousand rounds with another barrel that matches the muzzle velocity of the original barrel (when new), that I started using for my 75 grain Hornady TAP thread back in 2006, when using a very low-standard deviation hand-load. Is there a noticeable velocity drop on the Colt A2 barrels after only a few thousand rounds? Not that I've noticed. |
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