Federal .223 55gr. TSX Load Effectiveness?

[BushmasterFanBoy]

I bought some of the Federal Premium "Vital Shock" ammo recently, loaded with the Barnes 55gr. TSX bullet. I would have picked a higher grain round, but I wanted to keep the same zero as my 55gr. blasting ammo. I've yet to try any of it, but was wondering what kind of results are to be expected.

How much penetration should I except, what kind of initial disruption, and if anyone has shot this exact ammo, what kind of accuracy should it produce in a typical carbine 1/9 twist barrel? Compared of course to M193 spec stuff, which is pretty much all I feed my AR. Should I expect a different zero? :confused:

I'm wondering if this is a step up from ammo such as Privi m193, or just a moderate improvement, as I'm going to be using the TSX stuff as my "go to" ammo for the foreseeable future.

From what I've seen, many guys on the hunting forums swear by this load, (they cite impressive penetration and reliable upset/expansion) if hunting deer with .223. I'm just curious about how those attributes work on the 2-legged variety of game, or if anyone has done some concrete testing with more "scientific" methods to determine its effectiveness.

[WS6]

75gr T2 TAP is better on soft-targets like people.
DPX is better on deer/cars/where you don't want fragmentation
Your zero may or may not change. My zero out to 100m was all but identical with T2, M855, M193, LE223T3, etc.
Accuracy should be pretty good .5-1.5MOA is my guess, probably more likely a hair over 1 MOA.

[tpd223]

The Cor Bon DPX version of this loading has been tested quite a bit. I believe it is a very good choice for defensive ammo, and it is what I would choose if I were to use a .223 for deer.

[BushmasterFanBoy]

Did some quick, non-scientific testing of the Federal Premium loading of this round the other day. The 55gr. TSX round performed admirably compared to 55gr. M193 Privi ammo.

The test was simply to fire a set of three rounds into two stacks of thoroughly soaked magazines (the reading kind;) ) stacked end to end to ensure the rounds were stopped (this was not the case, read more).

Three of the Privi rounds were fired, and performed as expected, penetrating 8-10 inches of wet print, before violently shearing themselves apart and fragmenting. While they looked quite impressive at this point, on a target, this may well be too late depending on what angle the round strikes, or if it hits an extremity, etc. They continued onward, lodging themselves in the second stack, with roughly all of the bullet above the cannulure intact. One managed to barely penetrate both stacks entirely, nearly twenty inches of wet paper. :eek:

The TSX loads were much more impressive, within 1-2 inches, they had expanded fully, and were leaving roughly 2-3 times the wound cavity of the FMJ rounds. After the first 10 inches of penetration, they entered the second stack, where they simply carved a hole the size of the bullet itself. Two of the three became lodged in the second stack after nearly 16-18 inches of penetration, while the third round had shed its petals and exited the second stack with just enough force to lodge itself in a tree that the two stacks were up against. :eek: Over 20 inches of penetration in wet paper, and then some.

I'm very impressed with these rounds, and they offered performance similar to what I was expecting-- quick upset and expansion, followed by impressive penetration.


Disclaimer-

The Validity of these tests is not as accurate as actual scientific tests. These are simply rough descriptions of what was encountered when using a less than ideal test medium. Hopefully, Doc can chime in about more professionally conducted tests with these rounds and how they stack up with a reliable testing medium.

[tpd223]

Your tests is right in line with the gelatin tests I have done at our range here using M193 and the Cor Bon DPX.

Even in the 55gr loading the Barnes bullets expands quickly but penetrates very deeply. It is what it appears to be, a smaller version of an engineered for high penetration premium hunting bullet.

[BushmasterFanBoy]

Another update.

I hit the range this saturday, and the 50yd. zero with 55gr. Privi M193 is virtually identical to the Federal Premium 55gr. TSX zero. Its' good to know, since the reason I opted for a 55gr. load to begin with was the desire to have a single zero for both practice and serious use.

Since its so close to my "plinking" zero, I'm going to go ahead and use this ammo for self defense. :D I'm very fond of its expansion as well as its penetration. Accuracy wise, it groups just a hair tighter than the Privi at 50 yards (about 1-1.5", depending on my shooting)

My previous "go to" stash of Guat 5.56 from ages ago might finally see some range time. ;)