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Federal XM193... a little janky?

J

JeffShrugged

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So I have amassed a reasonable collection of Federal XM193 for my M&P 15 Sport. It was pretty cheap, so I bought as much as the store would allow.

This stuff is unpolished, which is fine. It has a very tarnished appearance around the neck, which I understand is fine as well. But this stuff has a lot of dents in it.

According to Federal, the XM ammunition fell short of government standards, but meets consumer standards for ammunition. And yet, I can't find any other commercial ammunition that looks as bad as this stuff, all dented up and janky looking.

Is this low quality ammunition? I am not relying on it for home defense, I have good stuff for that. This is just for plinking. But I don't want to shoot low quality ammo, or I would have bought Russian Tulammo (shudder).
 
Last edited:
Run it through your tumbler for about 30 minutes using the larger corn cob media sold in the Walmart pet department. This discoloration around the neck area is where the brass was annealed and is a sign of quality. The dents will disappear when you fire the rounds. Save the brass...its great stuff for reloading.

Go fourth and plink with confidence. Let the target give you feedback on how well the rounds shoot.
 
I've fired great quantities of XM193 from my Colt 6920, and I can tell you it's not a step down in quality. Yes, it tends to look a little "ugly," but it's gone "bang" for me every time. I'd say it's almost as good as Winchester Q3131.

Also, George nailed it on the proverbial head. 5.56 NATO brass should have annealing marks around the case mouth. It's a sign of things having been done right at the factory.
 
Bought a new Sport a few months ago and so far the only ammo it has seen is the XM193.Probably about 500 rounds down the tube so far and nary a problem.
 
Before you buy any more, shoot some in your rifle and see if it meets your criteria. No sense buying a bunch of ammo your rifle doesn't shoot properly.
 
The Federal XM193 is better quality than the Federal AE ammo in my
opinion. It is loaded to military specifications I believe and is hotter
than the AE stuff. I think a lot of it is removed from machine gun links
before repackaging for sale and that accounts for the finish issues.
 
I just finished chronographing some XM193 loaded in LC11 brass at 3030 FPS in my 16" M&P. The SD is very good. The cheap bullets are the only thing that stops it from being more accurate than it is.
 
I use Federal XM193 in my Stagarms and if I do my part I get dime sized groups at 100 yards and it's been 100% reliable. What more could you ask for!
 
I prefer ammo with the oxide colors on the case necks.
It is a sign that the case necks were annealed.
Annealed case necks are good. They give longer service before either splitting or needing to be annealed again.

I have NEVER had a bad round of Federal ammunition.
I used to prefer Winchester ammo and still do, on occasion
Some Winchester loads have bullet weights/styles that Federal doesn't offer in a particular caliber.
However, Federal ammo, primers, brass, and bullets are top quality.
I prefer Federal primers and brass to all others.

What twist rate does your M&P Sport have?
If it's 1-7", you may get better accuracy from M855.
IIRC, M193 is 55 grain and M855 is 62 grain.
The 1-12" twist is best for 55 grains and under.
1-7" is best for 62 and over.
Then, we have twist rates in between the two.
 
IIRC, if this is "X" ammo coming from government contracts, much of it is WAY overpressure. Others have found rounds that are above proof load pressure levels. Bad stuff can happen, even if one has a true 5.56X45 chamber (and there are some manufacturers who falsely label their chambers as such).
 
Doug M. said:
IIRC, if this is "X" ammo coming from government contracts, much of it is WAY overpressure. Others have found rounds that are above proof load pressure levels. Bad stuff can happen, even if one has a true 5.56X45 chamber (and there are some manufacturers who falsely label their chambers as such).
Click to expand...

Over pressure for .223 Rem, or over pressure for 5.56x45 Nato? They have different max pressure limits.
 
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