Couple ammo questions about the Federal XM193 and the South African in the battle packs.I was told buy a local dealer the xm193 was made buy Lake City and is mill spec ammo just packaged by federal?He also went on to say it was better ammo than the south african?I have shot the south african and I thought it shot pretty well for the price and was just wondering if the xm193 was better I can get it for 90 dollars for 500 rounds

There's alot of stories about where Federal XM193 comes from. Search the forums and you'll find plenty.

Relatively speaking, the SA is slower burning and not as hot with smaller flash than Federal XM193. Accuracy seems about the same. I've not had any malfunctions from XM193, but I've had a few with SA having shot much less. The SA is much older, and the storage on the SA wasn't perfect, but it hasn't suffered much for it. One real difference is that SA has an ammonia smell to it when fired that's hard to miss.

I wouldn't say one is much better than the other. It probably has more to due with luck of the lot you get than anything else. I shot about 100 rounds SA and 200 rounds XM193 today alternating and they worked fine.

SA is occasionally priced very attractively relative to XM193.

Q. Holy earache Batman!  This Q3131A/Lake City XM193 is really loud and it launches a FIREBALL from my muzzle!  Everyone at the range is looking at me now.  What gives?

Q. What brands of M193 are available?

Info about LC

LCs Web Page


LC should be more accurate in your AR than SA.  I can get consistent 1 - 1.5" groups at 100yds with LC, and more like 2" groups with SA.

That being said, SA is excellent surplus ammo.  I have a 2700rd tub in the room with me, and since it's cheap, that's what I use for plinking.  I save my LC ammo for emergency situations, since I know it will be flawless.