ZQI, Turkish ammo

Good ammo and great brass if you reload. Use with confidence.

And yes its loaded to nato spec, therefore a little warmer than most domestic brands. The 9mm works great on plates.

I've been shooting the ZQI 556 NATO in my MP15 and they were more accurate than the AE223 I was shooting. 2" vs 3" so maybe 62 grain shot more accurate than the 55 grain so I'm stocking up on ZQI 556 NATO and they were cheaper too. $10/30 rnd vs $13/20 rnd.

Today I picked up 5 boxes at Walmart to add to my collection. By the way, the AE were hollow points so I got a value box of 100 AE223 FMJs to see any difference.

I just bought 2 box of 9mm NATO & a box of 556 NATO.. Every time I get paid, I will at least buy a,box of each as supplies last

I have a Steyr L9-A1 and it is fussy. I have spent a fair amount of time proofing what it will accept. Not long ago I bought a box of the ZQ 9mm and had one FTF in a 15 round magazine, so it's hot but not as hot as 124 gr Aguila or the TulAmmo BrassMaxx. And those little 100 round "cans" of TulAmmo are hard to pass up.

I've put over 100 rounds of the 5.56 that's been on sale at Wally World for just under $10 a box through my M&P 15. That stuff goes bang real nice. I agree about the brass too, it looks like good stuff.

Arik said:

ZQI is the US distributor. The actual ammo is MKE. It's good. NATO spec.

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I ran into this at WM and did some checking. I bought a box, in fact. I was especially curious about the Markings (NATO STANAG 4172) which is supposed to represent a 5.56mmX45mm cartridge with an SS109 penetrator (steel core) plug (or a US designation for SS109 being M855).

The box DOES say "This high quality ammunition is made to NATO Specifications and Lot tested to assure less than one minute of angle at 100 meters."

IT DOES NOT, however, bear a NATO cross & circle head stamp signifying it has been tested and accepted by NATO.

All this said, I have no doubt they tested it to the MOA and velocity requirements of the particular STANAG, but I see no evidence whatsoever by what they produce as product or by packaging that shows it is a true NATO round. Everything I've seen in researching this with my limited resources says this ammo works and shoots great. This is my opinion and I could be wrong, certainly. I just think if they were approved, then the head stamp would show the cross +circle like my Lake City penetrators do.

It also does not have any markings other than "MKE and a 2-number date code". Despite being steel-core, it does not have a painted tip, and the only way you can tell is to put a magnet to it and see.

Gaffer23 said:

I ran into this at WM and did some checking. I bought a box, in fact. I was especially curious about the Markings (NATO STANAG 4172) which is supposed to represent a 5.56mmX45mm cartridge with an SS109 penetrator (steel core) plug (or a US designation for SS109 being M855).

The box DOES say "This high quality ammunition is made to NATO Specifications and Lot tested to assure less than one minute of angle at 100 meters."

IT DOES NOT, however, bear a NATO cross & circle head stamp signifying it has been tested and accepted by NATO.

All this said, I have no doubt they tested it to the MOA and velocity requirements of the particular STANAG, but I see no evidence whatsoever by what they produce as product or by packaging that shows it is a true NATO round. Everything I've seen in researching this with my limited resources says this ammo works and shoots great. This is my opinion and I could be wrong, certainly. I just think if they were approved, then the head stamp would show the cross +circle like my Lake City penetrators do.

It also does not have any markings other than "MKE and a 2-number date code". Despite being steel-core, it does not have a painted tip, and the only way you can tell is to put a magnet to it and see.

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When Wally World dropped the price on the 30 round boxes of ZQI 5.56x45 ammo to $9.97, I bought a small amount to try. (10 boxes)

A lot of NATO 5.56 steel penetrator ammo is made world wide. American production will always have green tips, Non-USA production, usually doesn't. I have bought Turkish and Swedish 62 gr. 5.56, neither were green tipped. I read somewhere it had to do with some early US-issued rifle barrels having different twist rates than current production, and our allies all adopted the 5.56 round years later when the twist rate was "standardized"

I had 300 bangs 0 failures. I am a casual shooter, don't compete or do training courses where 500 rounds a day are spent. I couldn't differentiate the ZQI from the Lake City M855. Neither are spectacularly accurate, but shoot minute of milkjug easily. The ZQI powder has a slight ammonia smell when fired and the primers/projectiles do not appear to be sealed. (which may be why it can't have the NATO stamp?)

I started buying the ZQI every couple of weeks whenever at WalMart. Usually 10 to 20 boxes are available. A couple of months ago they marked it down further, to $7.95 a box. I bought all in stock from the 3 local stores, thinking it was going to be discontinued. The price is now back to $9.97 and still available here.

Still buying it semi-regularly and have filled several of the Plano plastic 30 cal ammo boxes. Between the Lake City I bought before it went through the roof and the ZQI my 5.56 stash is close to 4,000 rounds. Never used to even consider keeping that much ammo on hand, but times have changed.

desmodue said:

Never used to even consider keeping that much ammo on hand, but times have changed.

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X2 I buy a few when I've got pocket change. Just going to keep putting it away for whatever.

The original 5.56 X45mm ammunition for the M16 was called the M193. It was loaded with a 55 grain FMJ lead-core bullet. Developed primarily for the FN Minimi (AKA M249 SAW), the M855 round uses a 62 grain bullet with steel penetrator, which later became standard for all 5.56 mm U. S. military weapons. It was given a green tip to distinguish it from the M193 round which had no tip marking. The longer and heavier bullet (SS 109) of the M855 round requires a tighter rifling twist (1:9" minimum) to ensure bullet stability. The old 1:12" and 1:14" M16 barrels from the pre-Vietnam and Vietnam-era M16 rifles will not adequately stabilize the 62 grain M855 bullet, as it is too long. On the other hand, the M193 round can be used in any 5.56mm gun. I was at the range several weeks ago with some guys who were shooting the VQI 7.62X51mm round, and it seemed to be satisfactory. I didn't shoot any of it myself however. It can be sold as STANAG-compliant if it meets the basic STANAG requirements. It would need to have the circle-cross NATO identifier headstamp ONLY were it being procured for actual military use. Wal-Mart is not a military supplier. While the VQI ammo is no doubt good stuff, it probably does not have the extensive manufacturing quality control used by military ammunition manufacturers.

By the way, the latest current U. S. military 5.56mm round is NOT the M855, but the M855 A1 which has a lead-free bullet with penetrator. There is also a much improved 5.56 round for long-range use fielded by the Navy called the MK 262, made by Black Hills using a 70 grain Sierra Match King bullet. Truly superb stuff, effective out to almost 1000 yards with astounding grouping capability.

I just found a box of ZQI in 7.62x51. Indeed, it says MKE on the headstamp, but it does not have a NATO cross. Anybody hear anything bad about this? It was only about 50 cents a round, which for this size round, seems to be a good deal.

Shot a box of 5.56 through my old Bushmaster V Match a couple days ago and see no difference from other 62gr ammo that I've tried. It shot 1.5 groups for 5 shots and ran just fine so last night I went back and bought 5 more box's, what's not too like.

My WM seems to jump back & forth between 2 offerings of the ZQI 5.56.
One version is in a pale Green box 5.56 x 45MM (SS109) that actually states "NATO 62 grain FMJ Boxer Primed, Non-Corrosive" in the bottom left corner.
The other version is a plain White box 5.56 x 45MM (no SS109 marking) that simply states "NATO Stanag 4172" in the bottom left corner.

I've shot both offerings and haven't really noticed any difference (accuracy-wise, or recoil) between the two

HalfStack said:

Maybe the magnet is broken.

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Not really, it's just a brass magnet.

The 5.56x45 is magnetic. The 7.62x51 is not magnetic.

When you run the numbers you can't really can't load 62gr ammo for the price WM is selling this 5.56 ammo for.

RobzGuns said:

My WM seems to jump back & forth between 2 offerings of the ZQI 5.56.
One version is in a pale Green box 5.56 x 45MM (SS109) that actually states "NATO 62 grain FMJ Boxer Primed, Non-Corrosive" in the bottom left corner.
The other version is a plain White box 5.56 x 45MM (no SS109 marking) that simply states "NATO Stanag 4172" in the bottom left corner.

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Huh I'm checking like 8 diff Wally's mostly 4 on a somewhat regular basis but all I have ever bought was the White Stanag 4172 box.

Saw it the other day in an LGS for $25 a box.

Vegetaman said:

I just found a box of ZQI in 7.62x51. Indeed, it says MKE on the headstamp, but it does not have a NATO cross. Anybody hear anything bad about this? It was only about 50 cents a round, which for this size round, seems to be a good deal.

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If ZQI's printing on their ammo boxes are correct, then the ammo is made or being made to NATO STANAG standards. This doesn't mean that this ammo is NATO qualified, thus sans the NATO symbol on the headstamp.

CTG_COLLECTOR said:

If ZQI's printing on their ammo boxes are correct, then the ammo is made or being made to NATO STANAG standards. This doesn't mean that this ammo is NATO qualified, thus sans the NATO symbol on the headstamp.

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Ah, that makes sense.

Took my one box to the range today and it all fired flawlessly. I'll be buying some more.

My local Wally world sells it for $9.97/box of 30 rounds, I have shot over 200 rounds of it and it shoots great, I have also tried the 9 mm ammo and it seems a bit dirtier than that of others but since my Walmart got in aluminum case Federal Champion 9 mm 50 round at 9.97 and my XD shoots it really well. I also shoot the aluminum case in 45 by Federal at my wally world it goes for 14.97 a box of 50, not bad for plinking ammo

schgsd said:

Huh I'm checking like 8 diff Wally's mostly 4 on a somewhat regular basis but all I have ever bought was the White Stanag 4172 box.

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Dunno what to tell you about what your WM stocks, but Here ya go...
The Pale Green box was bought a couple Months ago.
The White box was bought a week or so ago.
Hopefully the printing in the Bottom Left of each box is legible.

RobzGuns said:

Dunno what to tell you about what your WM stocks, but Here ya go...
The Pale Green box was bought a couple Months ago.
The White box was bought a week or so ago.
Hopefully the printing in the Bottom Left of each box is legible.

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I've bought both at WM. Haven't seen any white box ZQI for 5-6 weeks. Haven't seen the green box for 3 weeks.

I don't know if it's just my store or if the supply is drying up.

The labeling on the white vs green box is of no concern to me. Chalking it up to whiz-bang Marketing BS.