I've been testing out my Aero Precision 16in mid-length with various types of factory loaded ammo to see what's best as I don't reload.  So far for match ammo I've used gorilla 69 and  77gr smk,  Hornady 75gr otm (which was horrible 2in groups)  and asym 68gr otm.  The rifle grouped the best with the 69 gorilla  and 68gr asym coming in at right at an inch.  

So I'm looking to try something other rounds  looking hard at the federal gold medal match 223 69gr  but then I saw molons review of the Barnes Precision match 85gr

Give me some thoughts which should I  go with

I would try Gold Medal 69 and 77gr. Ive also had pretty good results with Norma Match 77gr.

If you hand load or want to try, I've had good results with 23.5gr Varget under a 77gr SMK from multiple rifles.


AeroE's load of 52gr SMK's over 27gr of RE15 also tends to be a good shooter from multiple rifles.

FGMM and Fed. 50gr Tipped varmint are pretty consistently accurate out of a variety of AR's.

The Tipped Varmint can be bought for 1/2 the price of FGMM......I have shot it out to 250yds, past that and the wind messes with it more then the 69gr and 77gr.

What range are you shooting at ?

If 100yds, I would strongly suggest the 50gr Tipped varmint.  Much more "bang for your buck".... pun intended.

I shoot a decent amount of tipped varmint. It's good for about 1.5MOA in 10 shot groups. Ive done a .836MOA average for the MOA challenge with it.

Excellent for shooting steel at 300 yards.

Yeah 100 yards.

Can't agree more.

Most places seem to be out of the federal gold medal match in 77gr so I'm gonna go with the 69gr

77gr FGMM....

http://ammoseek.com/ammo/223-remington/Federal-rifle-77grains-

69gr FGMM...

http://ammoseek.com/ammo/223-remington/Federal-rifle-69grains-

50gr Tipped Varmint....

http://ammoseek.com/ammo/223-remington/Federal-rifle-50grains-?ikw=Tipped

Thanks gonna go with a few boxes of each fgmm.

Lax ammo has both  in stock are they good to deal with?  Never used then

Do you use Ammoseek.com?  It's really helpful & easy to fine-tune search.  I'm getting ready to do the same "best factory ammo for my rifle" hunt in .308.  Good luck!

Give them both a try!



Federal 223 Remington 69 grain Gold Medal Match Ammunition







In their 1984 catalog, Sierra Bullets introduced the .22 caliber (0.224”) 69 grain MatchKing HPBT (hollow point boat tail) bullet (#1380).  The 69 grain MatchKing was “developed as a target bullet for testing by military teams in the new M16A2 rifle”¹ and the bullet became a popular choice for shooters using the AR-15 in High Power Rifle Competition.









While the US military had experimented with “heavy” FMJ (full metal jacket) bullets for the 5.56mm cartridge as far back as the mid-1960s,  (the Colt/Federal 5.56mm 68 grain FMJ) the .22 caliber 69 grain MatchKing was the first heavy OTM (open-tip match) bullet that was available to the general public as a reloading component for 223 Remington/5.56mm cartridges.  (Hornady’s 68 grain OTM bullet (#2278) wasn’t introduced until approximately two years later.)














In their 1989 ammunition catalog, the Federal Cartridge Company debuted an addition to its “Match” line-up of factory loaded rifle ammunition; a 223 Remington load topped with none other than the Sierra 69 grain MatchKing (223M).  In their 1992 catalog, Federal expanded the nomenclature for this load to “Premium Match” (P223M) and in their 1993 catalog it became “Gold Medal Match” (GM223M) as part of a marketing campaign capitalizing on the USA Shooting Team’s success in the Barcelona Olympics using Federal ammunition.  

It’s interesting to note that pertaining to the accuracy/precision development and multifaceted testing of the Federal ammunition that helped the US Olympians win gold and silver medals in Barcelona, Federal’s Director of Product Engineering, Dave Longren, had this to say:

“The standard test string was three 10-shot groups, with the most attention paid to the 30-shot composite.  When you’re working at this level, the traditional five 5-shot group test simply doesn’t give you statistically valid results.”²














The 69 grain Sierra MatchKings loaded in the lot of Federal Gold Medal Match ammunition that I evaluated for this article had a nominal length of 0.890”.  The nominal cartridge OAL of this load was 2.248”.  Through some simple testing, I determined that the 69 grain MatchKing has a specific gravity of approximately 10.2.  

According to Ballistic Performance of Rifle Bullets by Bryan Litz, the 69 grain MatchKing has an average G1 ballistic coefficient of 0.330 and an average G7 ballistic coefficient of 0.169.  The same source states that the “recommended twist for optimal performance” of the 69 grain MatchKing “is 1:9.5” or faster.”



The 69 grain MatchKings that top the Federal Gold Medal Match ammunition are loaded in Federal brass.  The head stamp for this lot reads “FC  13  223  REM”.  The rounds are primed with Federal Gold Medal Small Rifle Match Primers (GM205M).  The primer pockets are crimped and sealed with a blue lacquer sealant.



















The case-mouths of this lot of Federal 69 grain Gold Medal Match ammunition are sealed with asphalt sealant.  The case-mouths have a slight taper-crimp which produces a shallow circumferential crease in the bearing surface of the 69 grain MatchKings.  The pic below shows a pulled bullet on the right (the crease in the bullet indicated by the red arrow) next to a virgin 69 grain MatchKing on the left.









This lot of ammunition is charged with a “ball powder” (though I have seen lots in the past that were charged with a short-cut extruded powder.)  The squares in the red grid pictured below are 1/10th of an inch.










Velocity


When it was first introduced, Federal advertised the muzzle velocity of the 69 grain Gold Medal Match ammunition as 3000 FPS.  More recent advertising lists the muzzle velocity at 2950 FPS.  These figures are from 24” barrels.














I chronographed the Federal 69 grain Gold Medal Match ammunition from a semi-automatic AR-15 with a chrome-lined, NATO chambered 20” Colt M16A2 barrel with a 1:7” twist.









Chronographing was conducted using an Oehler 35-P chronograph with “proof screen” technology. The Oehler 35P chronograph is actually two chronographs in one package that takes two separate chronograph readings for each shot and then utilizes its onboard computer to analyze the data to determine if there is any statistically significant difference between the two readings. If there is a statistically significant difference in the readings, the chronograph “flags” the shot to let you know that the data is invalid. There was no invalid data flagged during this testing.

The velocities stated below are the muzzle velocities as calculated from the instrumental velocities using Oehler’s Ballistic Explorer software program. The strings of fire consisted of 10 rounds over the chronograph.














Each round was single-loaded and cycled into the chamber from a magazine fitted with a single-load follower. The bolt locked-back after each shot allowing the chamber to cool in between each shot. This technique was used to mitigate the possible influence of “chamber-soak” on velocity data. Each new shot was fired in a consistent manner after hitting the bolt release. Atmospheric conditions were monitored and recorded using a Kestrel 4000 Pocket Weather Tracker.









Atmospheric conditions

Temperature: 70 degrees F
Humidity: 76%
Barometric pressure: 30.14 inches of Hg
Elevation: 950 feet above sea level


The muzzle velocity for the 10-shot string of the Federal 69 grain Gold Medal Match ammunition fired from the 20” Colt barrel was 2732 FPS with a standard deviation of 16 FPS and a coefficient of variation of 0.59%.

For those of you who might not be familiar with the coefficient of variation (CV), it is the standard deviation, divided by the mean (average) muzzle velocity and then multiplied by 100 and expressed as a percentage. It allows for the comparison of the uniformity of velocity between loads in different velocity spectrums; e.g. 77 grain loads running around 2,650 fps compared to 55 grain loads running around 3,250 fps.

For comparison, the mil-spec for M193 allows for a coefficient of variation of approximately 1.2%, while one of my best 77 grain OTM hand-loads, with a muzzle velocity of 2639 PFS and a standard deviation of 4 FPS, has a coefficient of variation of 0.15%.









Over the last decade I’ve chronographed several other lots of the Federal 69 grain Gold Medal Match ammunition from a variety of barrels.  The muzzle velocities of those lots are shown in the table below.









Accuracy


I conducted an accuracy (technically, precision) evaluation of the Federal 69 grain Gold Medal Match ammunition following my usual protocol. This accuracy evaluation used statistically significant shot-group sizes and every single shot in a fired group was included in the measurements. There was absolutely no use of any group-reduction techniques (e.g. fliers, target movement, Butterfly Shots).

The shooting set-up will be described in detail below. As many of the significant variables as was practicable were controlled for. Also, a control group was fired from the test-rifle used in the evaluation using match-grade, hand-loaded ammunition; in order to demonstrate the capability of the barrel. Pictures of shot-groups are posted for documentation.

All shooting was conducted from a concrete bench-rest from a distance of 100 yards (confirmed with a laser rangefinder.) The barrel used in the evaluation was free-floated. The free-float handguards of the rifle rested in a Sinclair Windage Benchrest, while the stock of the rifle rested in a Protektor bunny-ear rear bag. Sighting was accomplished via a Leupold Competition Series 45x45mm scope adjusted to be parallax-free at 100 yards. A mirage shield was attached to the objective-bell of the scope. Wind conditions on the shooting range were continuously monitored using a Wind Probe. The set-up was very similar to that pictured below.









The Wind Probe.






The test vehicle for this accuracy evaluation was one of my semi-automatic precision AR-15s with a 24” Krieger barrel. The barrel has a 5.56mm Match chamber with a 1:7.7” twist. Prior to firing the  69 grain Gold Medal Match ammunition, I fired a 10-shot control group using match-grade hand-loads topped with the Barnes 85 grain Match Burner. That group had an extreme spread of 0.56”.














Three 10-shot groups of the 69 grain Gold Medal Match ammunition were fired in a row with the resulting extreme spreads:

0.67”
0.73”
0.67”

for a 10-shot group average extreme spread of 0.69”. The three 10-shot groups were over-layed on each other using RSI Shooting Lab to form a 30-shot composite group. The mean radius for the 30-shot composite group was 0.24”.

The smallest 10-shot group . . .







The 30-shot composite group . . .









Terminal Ballistics







Terminal ballistic testing of the 69 grain MatchKing loaded in the form of Federal’s 223M ammunition has been conducted by Dr. G.K. Roberts with the results of that testing published in Wound Ballistics Review, Volume 3, Number 4.  Fired from a Colt AR-15A2 carbine with a 16” barrel, the average penetration of the 69 grain MatchKing in 10% bare ordnance gelatin was 14.7”.  The average recovered diameter was 0.40” and the average percentage of fragmentation was 60.2%.




…..




1.  Technical Staff.  “Sierra .22 Cal. 69-gr. MatchKing.”  American Rifleman Jan. 1984:  60-61.  Print.



2.  Hunnicutt, Robert.  “Ammo Good as Gold.”  American Rifleman  Nov. 1992:  32-33, 72-73.  Print.



....

LOL thanks Molon for your awesome work I ended up ordering 4 boxes of the 69gr and 4 boxes of the 77gr gold metal match.   hopefully lax ammo ships fast and I can go next weekend to the range.  Ill try the Barnes 85gr next time

I can't say enough good thing about Black Hills Blue.  It is a lot cheaper because it's reloaded.  But it's HIGH QUALITY reloaded.  You can also spend the cash and get the red box.  They're both good.  But I've never felt the need.  I have gotten some great groups with Black Hills Blue.  I would also recommend the 52 bthp load for just 100 yards and testing for accuracy.  Every one of my AR's has liked that bullet.  It's magic.  But they offer a lot of other bullets too.  If yours like the 68's i ASYM, they have the 68's.  You could try the 75's but it sounds like maybe yours might not like them.  I suppose there could be a difference between hornady and black hills, but the black hills blue in 68 is the hornady bullet.  

They also load the sierra bullets.  69 and 77's.  My recce likes the 77's but for some reason nothing has like the 69's so far.  Not sure why.  They also load the hornady vmax 60 grain.  If money were not object, I would just buy black hills ammo.  It has worked really well for accuracy and the price is reasonable in the blue box.  I keep M193 for my stash though because it's reasonable and they don't do an M193 load.

++ on the 50 grain ballistic tip.  My favorite is Fiocchi but I've had very good results with other brands. It will consistently shoot 1MOA 5 shot groups through my 18" 1:8 Rainier barrel.

I focus on varying the weight of the bullets when trying to get a feel for accuracy with a new barrel using factory ammo. I worry less about the manufacturer of the ammo than getting a wide variety of bullet weights.

Also, too many AR shooters narrowly focus on heavy bullets for accuracy. Heavy bullets have advantages with wind drift past 200 yards, but there is no reason light bullets can't excel at 200 yards and in.

Over time, I've learned my good AR likes 50 grain bullets best, followed by 75 grain. It will shoot some 55 grain loads well. 77 grain is OK, but not as good as 75. It does not like 69 grain bullets at all. Keep experimenting.

There's something about those 69's....  Some people's rifles have good luck with them though.

Ammo is coming in today.  Cleaned  you rifles last night really well.  Going out Sunday to the range.  Need to get my new scope zeroed first with some cheap stuff I'll bore snake it and start on the good stuff

FYI... this is last weeks ( The best of the groups ) Fed 50gr Tipped Varmint at 100yds, benched scoped 14x power 20" Kreiger.

Just wanted to show it off....

IMHO, no need to clean in between ammo.  Most barrels group better a little dirty.  In my experience.

All the quarters of the world, WATCH OUT!!!!!     Great shooting.

 
Nice shooting.


I need to pick up some of these Fed 50gr Varmints to try. So far, for me and my rifles, ADI's 55gr BlitzKing load has been awesome. You can find it for $10-11/box of 20, under the "Australian Outback" label.


It's kills ground hogs and prairie dogs real good too

Best part about the Fed. 50gr Tipped Varmint .. was the price, cheapest I have gotten it was $5.79 / 20rd box.... ( Currently $10 / 20rd box. )... should have bought 10 cases....

 
Dang! That's cheap.


I'll have to get some. I bet it works well on whistle pigs, too.

Where do you guys find these deals?  Geeez that's cheap.  Last "good" deal I got was 6.99 of XM193 from PSA.  Shipped for free.  Well actually if I'm honest, I added a BX-25 mag to my order and I didn't get free shipping any more.  I should've left it off.