55gr seems to be the most common and best all around bullet for rifles in the 1-7 to 1-9 range. The other weight bullets have jobs in which they are very good at and better than the 55gr but for all around plinking or 100 yard or less target shooting the 55gr seems to set the standard. I will eventually load some 75 to 77 just because at longer distances they receive less deflection from wind and such but it is the length of the bullet and not the weight that does the work. Some Coyote hunting friends of mine in GA swear by the 52 or 53 grain bullet, they claim it is longer than the 55 and sails better, this too I will check out.
55 grain vs. 62 grain
- Thread starter Mots0311
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storeyteller
Member
I'll swear by the 53's. Havn't shot the 52's cause I got the 53's first!
imku
Member
I zeroed my red dot with xm855 @ 50yrds, and have about 1k of xm193. I'll be shooting it next range trip i take. I'm interested to see if I'm going to have similar results... With that said, I have a 1:8 twist, so its probably going to work differently.
This is a little more expensive than "plinking" XM855, but it sure shot better groups.
Ammunition To Go : 20rds - 5.56 Winchester ZQ3314 Open Tip 62gr. FBI Training Ammo [ZQ3314] - $12.95
Ammunition To Go : 20rds - 5.56 Winchester ZQ3314 Open Tip 62gr. FBI Training Ammo [ZQ3314] - $12.95
I talked to a guy at the range the other day and he was getting lousy groups with the green tipped rounds with the steel pin in them. I mean at 50 yds he was getting 6 to 8 inch groups. With his hand loads he was getting less than i" groups.
BoDog
Member
Each gun has its own preferances, generally The longer the bearing surface of the bullet the faster the rifling needs to be. The heavier the bullet and the length the bullet is at bore diameter will effect the accuracy. There are many variables including distance the bullet jump to the lead of the is. You have to load for each bullet in every gun,do you want minute of angle or minute of buck?
batmann
Member
I'm not a very good shot, but my M&P likes the 55 gr FMJ better than the 62 gr Green tip @ 100 yards. Mine is a 1/9 twist and I'm not sure how it will stabilize heavier rounds.
storeyteller
Member
1:9 twist should be good up to 70gr.
MPDC
Member
This is the accepted wisdom. All else being equal, at shorter distances, 1:9 bbl.s stabilize almost anything. This ability diminishes with range BUT at 50 yards you shouldn't notice variances not due to inherent characteristics of the ammo in any bbl.
rojodiablo
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I can tell you one thing, that is a certainty: XM855 and Wolf WPA ammo are equally as accurate, with XM193 being a bit more accurate and it does hold a bit better groups.
Federal Fusion hunting ammo in 62 gr. is really, really accurate stuff.
Federal Fusion hunting ammo in 62 gr. is really, really accurate stuff.
storeyteller
Member
Also my experience, although I must admit, I don't shoot at 50yds. My 1:9 twist RRA will shoot 70gr bullets 1 MOA, while 80gr bullets are 3 MOA and keyholed at 300yds. As you get closer to point blank range the groups will tighten up but this is true with any barrel whether it is rifled or smoothbore.
MPDC
Member
Yes, the actual number that has been mentioned by ballistic folks on other sites has usually been deterioration begins about 200 yards. I mentioned fifty because many consider the home defense, anti personnel rounds used by Police departments as not good for their home defense with an AR. I am a proponent of the AR for home defense as opposed to a shotgun but that is a different thread.
At the distances contemplated for AR use in home defense or close quarter combat (which is the realm of unmagnified red dots and 1-4 power scopes many of us buy) the heavier, hollow point anti personnel rounds produced by Hornady, etc. will serve just fine and have the same advantages they offer in 1/7 bbls. Of course the 1/8 bbl. will also do fine with it, even at longer than the 200 yd. distances I had mentioned.
Very long military rounds, intended really as mid distance sniper rounds that can be used in ARs without going to larger calibers, may present problems due to their lengths and require as fast a twist as possible.
An interesting sidenote is that in the early years of military use of the AR, the tendency of the bullet to spin, end over end, was touted as a big advantage in close quarter combat and the twist rates were much higher (like 1/12) than in common use today.
imku
Member
M855 vs XM193
Finally got back out to the range and was looking for differences between the two for my rifle (1/8 twist). I am shooting off the bench with a rest, no magnification using a Aimpoint PRO (2MOA dot). The M855 is Federal and XM193 is American Eagle. 200 rounds each, 15 rounds per group. In my opinion, the XM193 was slightly more accurate holding groups of 3-6", the M855 was 4-8"...I almost always have a flyer. Here a pic of a 15 round group of XM193 and my best lookin 5 round group of M855. Targets are 1" squares
Finally got back out to the range and was looking for differences between the two for my rifle (1/8 twist). I am shooting off the bench with a rest, no magnification using a Aimpoint PRO (2MOA dot). The M855 is Federal and XM193 is American Eagle. 200 rounds each, 15 rounds per group. In my opinion, the XM193 was slightly more accurate holding groups of 3-6", the M855 was 4-8"...I almost always have a flyer. Here a pic of a 15 round group of XM193 and my best lookin 5 round group of M855. Targets are 1" squares
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gunfighter48
US Veteran
The best I could do with my Sport with M193 was 3 - 5 shot groups into a 3X4" box at 100 yards. I put a free float handguard on my Sport and 3 shot groups with M193 were cloverleafs at 100 yards, when I could hold still enough to get good groups. Here's the M193 at 100 yards 3 shot groups. The red bullseye is 1.5" in diameter.
My Sport really likes PMC 223 55 grain. Gets even smaller groups at 100 yards.
I shot a 200 yard 100/100 3x at Saturdays highpower match, rapid sitting with 69gr Sierra matchkings. It was a group of just under 6" so I guess at 100 yards that would be about a 3" group. Not great as far as groups go but good enough. I am trying to shoot up all my 69gr ammo so I can switch over to 77's since that is the new cats meaw for 223/5.56
I load the pull down M855 projectiles for my wife to shoot, at her favorite distance of 50yards, I can't tell any difference between the M193 and M855, both of these rifles are 1/7 though.
I load the pull down M855 projectiles for my wife to shoot, at her favorite distance of 50yards, I can't tell any difference between the M193 and M855, both of these rifles are 1/7 though.
ParadiseRoad
Member
...168 grain works for me...
Matthew Courtney
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Green tip is less accurate than many loads out of most guns. Before you spend big $ to replace a barrel, try some other 62-69 grain projectiles.
Wraith413
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Maddmax
US Veteran
Might also try 52 grain BT hollow points using IMR 4895 powder. Very stable out past 250+ yards and plenty of knockdown for Coyote. Mini 14 with a wide angle 3-9x40 scope.
Maddmax
US Veteran
...168 grain works for me...
Nice seeing an old best friend that could and would reach out and touch at 800 yards. Reliable and one of the best.
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