Some have also commented that they think the Russki ammo is slow compared to let's say Lake City.  I was curious about this and did some chrono work.  Here's some data:

Silver Bear 55gr OT Boat tail bullet, Lot dated 10/09, ten shots through an RR 16 inch barrel with the chrono at 10 feet from muzzle, at 9500 ' elevation
High 2829 fps
Low 2771 fps
Extreme Spread 58 fps
Standard deviation 21
Average velocity 2803.
SB 62 gr. OT Boat tail, lot dated 7/09, same rifle etc.
High 2878
Low 2773
E.S. 105
SD 31
Average 2821.
Just for my own info, I discarded the low and went with the next low, 2797, and the extreme spread was down to 81 and the average 2826, not much of a change.
Next was same 62 grain load from a lot dated 10/09, and it was essentially identical results as the 7/09 lot.
No malfunctions with SB in our guns: RRA, S&W, Colt.

great info

Thank you!  I was surprised the 62 gr had velocity exceeding the 55 gr. but the 55 grain had less variation in velocity.  While the ballistics are not what one might hope for, one thing for sure is that all of it has run flawlessly in our ARs in the 400 rounds we've fired so far.

Ya that's



How was accuracy?



 

I haven't gotten to that yet, for lack of a bench to use a rest.  OK, the real reason is I haven't been to my gun club for a while to do a true test with rest and scope.  I am  hoping Molon will post something on this to correspond with his testing of Wolf (which showed atrocious accuracy at 100 yards).  That said, in our informal shooting with it, it is very suitable for CQ training and ought to function in most people's ARs because in our case gauge, the round is a perfect fit.  One thing I have noticed is that my lots seem to be clean burning.  If I ever make it to SHOT, I am going to visit Barnaul and ask them to meet M193 velocity with 55gr and talk to them about making 6.5 and 6.8 because I think there is enough demand for cheap ammo in both calibers and there is a huge market vacuum due to high cost of ammo for these cals.

Thanks for the chrony report. I knew I liked 62gr silver bear for a reason. It also shoots great in my rifle. I can keep 5 shots groups to 1 1/2" @25M. This is from by back porch railling. I'm sure a could do better from a good bench.  For plinking ammo you can't beat it. Time to restock.

I know that I have always gotten better accuracy out of the 62gr HP silver bear than I have out of the federal XM193 Tactical (black box).

Although I have a lot of 223/5.56 brass, I haven't plunged into reloading it yet and as long as the SB functions well, I can live with it not being match grade as I use it as training ammo.  I admit to being reluctant to shoot up brass ammo both because of cost and concerns about future shortages ot it.  Would I stake my life on SB?  Based upon its functioning so far, it is adequate, but I prefer a 6.5 as a better all around cartridge.

So you can anticipate that the 55gr silver bear will not tumble or do nasty damage in zombies and bad people, but the 62gr might?