Snapshots: Range Reports

**Molon** · 04-12-15, 11:22

Snapshots are brief . . . looks at a variety of ammunition loads commercially available for use in the .223/5.56mm AR-15 platform. A typical “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. A representative 10-shot group fired from my Krieger barreled AR-15 using hand-loaded the 62 grain Berger HP bullet is pictured below.

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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”.

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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”.

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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”.

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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. A 10-shot group fired from my Krieger barreled AR-16 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 0.88” and a mean radius of 0.27”.

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*No animals were harmed during the testing of this ammunition.

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**Molon** · 04-12-15, 11:22

Australian Outback Sierra 55 Grain BlitzKing

When chronographed from a 20” Colt M16A2 barrel over an Oehler 35-P chronograph with “Proof Screen Technology”, the Australian Outback Sierra 55 grain BlitzKing load had a muzzle velocity of 2972 FPS with a standard deviation of 20 FPS.

A 10-shot group fired off the bench at a distance of 100 yards from one of my AR-15s with a Krieger barrel that has a 223 Remington chamber and a 1:9" twist had an extreme spread of 0.98".

I also fired another 10-shot group of the Australian Outback load from one of my AR-15s with a Krieger barrel that has a 5.56mm match chamber and a 1:7.7" twist. That group had an extreme spread of 0.92".

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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.

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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 graoup had an extreme spread of 3.1".

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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.

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**Molon** · 04-12-15, 11:23

Federal Tactical 62 grain Bonded SP

The Federal Tactical 62 grain load uses a bonded soft point bullet with a cannelure (62 grain TBBC). (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”.

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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 3039 fps. A 10-shot group had an extreme spread of 3.18” and a mean radius of 1.06”.

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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”.

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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 some of 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”.

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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”.

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Hornady 5.56mm 55 grain GMX Superformance

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Hornady 223 Remington 50 grain GMX "Full Boar"

Hornady’s 223 Remington 50 grain “Full Boar” ammunition is loaded with the monolithic, gilding metal 50 grain GMX bullet.

When chronographed from a 20” Colt M16A2 barrel with a NATO chamber, chrome lining and a 1:7” twist, the 50 grain Full Boar load had a muzzle velocity of 3277 FPS with a standard deviation of 17 FPS.

A 10-shot group of the 50 grain Full Boar load fired from a Lothar-Walther barreled semi-automatic AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards, had an extreme spread of 1.85”.

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to be continued . . .

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**Molon** · 04-12-15, 11:24

Winchester 223 Remington PDX1

60 Grain "Split Core" Hollow Point

This load had a muzzle velocity of 2975 FPS and a standard deviation of 37 FPS when chronographed from the 20" Colt barrel. A 10-shot group fired at a distance of 100 yards from one of my Krieger barreled AR-15s had an extreme spread of 1.77" with a mean radius of 0.65".

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Winchester 64 grain PowerMax Bonded with "Protected Hollow Point"

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Speer 5.56mm 64 grain Gold Dot

This load had a muzzle velocity of 2834 FPS from the 20" Colt barrel with a standard deviation of 17 FPS. A 10-shot group fired from a free-floated Colt 16" HBAR had an extreme spread of 1.42" at 100 yards.

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Hornady Steel Match 75 grain BTHP

This load had a muzzle velocity of 2694 FPS with a standard deviation of 26 FPS fired from the 20" Colt A2 barrel. A 10-shot group fired from a Lothar-Walther 20" barrel at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 0.95".

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Hornady Steel Match 55 grain HP

This ammunition is loaded with a 55 grain hollow-point bullet. The muzzle velocity from the 20" Colt barrel was 3017 FPS with a standard deviation of 19 FPS. A 10-shot group fired from a Lothar-Walther 20" barrel had an extreme spread of 1.36".

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PMC Bronze 55 Grain FMJ

I evaluated the accuracy (technically, the precision) of the PMC Bronze 55 grain FMJ ammunition using my 20” stainless-steel Lothar-Walther barreled AR-15. This barrel has a 223 Wylde chamber with a 1:8” twist.

Three 10-shot groups fired in a row from the bench at a distance of 100 yards had the following extreme spreads:

2.22”
1.82”
2.15”

for a 10-shot average extreme spread of 2.06”. The 30-shot composite group had a mean radius of 0.72”. Unfortunately, my cocker spaniel chewed-up my chronograph data for this load.

The smallest 10-shot group . . .

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Wolf Military Classic 55 Grain FMJ

Bi-metal 55 grain bullets loaded in steel cases. Muzzle velocity of 3009 FPS with a standard deviation of 34 FPS from the 20" Colt barrel. A 10-shot group fired from a free-floated 16" Colt HBAR at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 2.82".

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Hornady 223 Remington 55 grain GMX Superformance

This load had a muzzle velocity of 3105 FPS with a standard deviation of 17 FPS from the 20" Colt barrel. A 10-shot group fired from my 20" Lothar-Walther barrel at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 1.59".

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American Eagle 223 Remington 55 grain FMJ

This load had a muzzle velocity of 3104 FPS with a standard deviation of 23 FPS when fired from the 20" Colt barrel. A 10-shot group fired from my Lothar-Walther barreled AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 2.4".

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IMI “Razor Core” 77 Grain OTM, LR, Mod 1

This load is topped with a 77 grain OTM bullet with a cannelure. The case mouth is sealed and the primers are crimped and sealed. When chronographed from the 20” Colt barrel, the load had a muzzle velocity of 2866 FPS with a standard deviation of 21 FPS.

A 10-shot group group fired off the bench from my Lothar-Walther barreled AR-15 at a distance of 100 yards had an extreme spread of 0.95”.

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**2ac** · 04-12-15, 17:10

Great info, thanks!
I really need to work on speeding up my 69 & 77 gr Nosler handloads. It just seems hard to keep them accurate.

**Gunnar da Wolf** · 04-12-15, 17:54

Thanks for taking all the range time to compile that information. Interesting to see that some of the factory stuff that wasn't stellar in my rifles wasn't any better in your Krieger.

**Molon** · 04-12-15, 19:45

Originally Posted by Gunnar da Wolf

Interesting to see that some of the factory stuff that wasn't stellar in my rifles wasn't any better in your Krieger.

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear; even if you fire the sow's ear from a Krieger barrel.

**Molon** · 04-12-15, 19:57

Originally Posted by 2ac

Great info, thanks!
I really need to work on speeding up my 69 & 77 gr Nosler handloads. It just seems hard to keep them accurate.

Nosler 77 grain BTHP

In 2003, Nosler introduced their 77 grain Custom Competition BTHP bullet as an obvious competitor to the 77 grain Sierra MatchKing. The shape and ballistic coefficient of the Nosler bullet is very similar to that of the Sierra MatchKing. The Nosler bullet does have one major difference from the Sierra MatchKing; it is constructed using the thinner J4 copper jacket.

I recall an early Nosler advertisement for their Custom Competition bullet that included a phrase saying the bullet was “ideal for military and law enforcement,” hinting at the possibilities of improved fragmentation due to the thinner J4 jacket. Thanks to the works of Dr. G.K. Roberts and B&T Ammo Labs, we know that the 77 grain Nosler bullet loaded to mil-spec velocities has superior terminal ballistic properties to that of the 77 grain Sierra MatchKing loaded in MK262. The terminal ballistic properties of the 77 grain Nosler bullet loaded to mil-spec velocities rival that of the Hornady 75 grain 5.56 TAP load.

Courtesy of Dr. G.K. Roberts

Courtesy of B&T Ammo Labs

The Nosler 77 grain Custom Competion bullet is typically sold without a cannelure, however Nosler occasionally releases the bullet with a shallow cannelure similar to the one found on the 77 grain SMK loaded in MK262. The cannelured version of the 77 grain Nosler will be the focus of this report.

For the first phase of testing, I hand-loaded the cannelured version of the 77 grain Nosler BTHP to a typical SAAMI velocity (approximately 2600 fps from a 20” Colt barrel) to establish an accuracy baseline. No case mouth crimp was applied at this phase. As per my usual protocol, accuracy testing was conducted from a concrete benchrest at a distance of 100 yards. The forend of my Krieger barreled AR-15 rested in a Sinclair Windage Benchrest, while the stock of the rifle rode in a Protektor bunny-ear rear bag. A Leupold Competition Scope was used for sighting. Wind conditions were monitored using a Wind Probe.

Three 10-shot groups were obtained which had extreme spreads of:

0.797”
0.827”
0.812”

for a 10-shot group average of 0.812”. The three groups were over-layed on each other using RSI Shooting Lab to form a 30-shot composite group. The composite group had a mean radius of 0.26”. This test shows that the Nosler bullet itself is capable of consistent sub-MOA accuracy at 100 yards when fired from a semi-automatic AR-15.

For the second phase of testing, I safely worked up a load for the 77 grain Nosler BTHP to a nominal muzzle velocity of 2800 fps from a 20” barrel using a non-canister grade military powder. (In previous testing, I found that the average muzzle velocity from seven different lots of Hornady 5.56 TAP was 2808 fps from a 20” barrel.) No case mouth crimp was used in this phase of testing either.

Since my Krieger barreled AR-15 has a 5.56mm Match chamber that is “a little too tight” for mil-spec pressure loads, I used my AR-15 with a 20” Noveske DCM barrel for this phase of testing. This Noveske barrel has the “Noveske Match Mod 0 chamber which is designed to offer 100% reliability while retaining maximum possible accuracy. The chamber body is slightly larger than the 5.56mm NATO minimum, but within the 5.56 NATO tolerance. The throat is redesigned for proper bullet alignment with the axis of the bore. This chamber was developed to fire MK262 Mod 1 on AUTO in hot environments."

Accuracy testing using the Noveske barreled AR-15 and Nosler 77 grain BTHP at a muzzle velocity of 2800 fps was conducted in the same manner as described above in the first phase of testing. Three 10-shot groups were obtained from 100 yards. Those groups had extreme spreads of:

0.880”
0.857”
0.845”

for a 10-shot group average of 0.860”. These groups were over-layed on each other using RSI Shooting Lab to form a 30-shot composite group which had a mean radius of 0.29”.

For the final phase of testing I added a taper crimp to the case mouth of the previously described load used in phase two. A 10-shot string of this load fired over the Oehler 35-P chronograph from my 20” Novekse barrel had a muzzle velocity of 2801 fps with a standard deviation of 12 fps.

Three 10-shot groups fired from 100 yards from the 20” Noveske DCM barrel had extreme spreads of:

1.033”
0.914”
1.241”

for a 10-shot group average of 1.063”. As before, the three groups were over-layed on each other using RSI Shooting Lab to form a 30-shot composite group. The mean radius for the composite group was 0.31”.

Previous accuracy testing of the 75 grain Hornady 5.56 TAP load from my 16” Noveske barreled AR-15 produced a 10-shot group average of 1.22” at a distance of 100 yards with a 30-shot composite group mean radius of 0.37”.

As previously mentioned the 77 grain Nosler BTHP has terminal ballistic properties on par with the TAP load. This testing shows that the 77grain Nosler BTHP bullet loaded to a muzzle velocity of 2800 fps, is capable of accuracy that is slightly better than that of the TAP load.

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