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.
continued . . .
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