The Box O' Truth - Educational Zone #21 - Accuracy of AR15 Ammo

The Box O' Truth - Educational Zone - Buick O' Truth - Low Light Essentials - Curios & Relics - Forums

Tman - Bio - Disclaimer - Safety Rules - Newsletter - Donations - Advertising - Links - Contact - Use - Privacy - Sitemap

Educational Zone #21 - Accuracy of AR15 Ammo - Part 2

My friend Chapperjoe sent me a note asking if I would test some ammo that he had bought. Mainly, he was interested in the Guatemalan ammo that AIM Surplus had on sale, but he also had some other ammo to throw in the mix. He sent me a few rounds of each and we filled in with some stuff we were interested in.

Then, off to the range.

We had done a test on the accuracy of military spec ammo a while back.

Here it is: Accuracy Part 1

But this "new" ammo was just now becoming available and we decided to give it a try.

Here we are at the range.

I am shooting my DPMS Model A-15, with a heavy stainless 1 in 9 barrel.

This has proven to be a very accurate rifle and usually capable of sub-minute groups with handloads.

Here's the results.

Group #1 - Handloads, .87 inches. (I can usually do better)

#2 - Guatemalan 55 gr, 2.43 inches (opened badly by a flyer)

#3 - SS 109, 2.7 inches.

#4 - Wolf polymer, 6.1 inches.

#5 - Blackhills Mk 262, 1.88 inches.

Second target:

#6 - Blackhills 52 grain, 1.68 inches.

#7 - Winchester 45 grain, 1.52 inches (4 shot group)

We decided to let Tman take a try.

Last target:

#8 - Handloads, .91 inches.

#9 - Tman shooting Guatemalan, 1.64 inches.

#10 - Tman Winchester 3131A, 1.48 inches

Conclusions:
1. These are 5 shot groups. If we shot a lot more of them, we would have a better average group size. However, we were just looking at a snapshot of what kind of groups these rounds would shoot out of a high quality rifle.

2. The Guatemalan surplus seems to shoot within 2 inches. This is actually pretty good for Milspec ammo. The government requires 2 MOA, and that's about what they get.

3. The SS 109 was some hot stuff, meaning it was loaded hot. But its accuracy wasn't particularly great.

4. We shoot a lot of Wolf Polymer. It's great for plinking, but it's only about Minute of Pie Plate. That's fine, as long as you know what you are getting for the money.

5. And lastly, as I noted in Part 1, anyone that says they routinely shoot sub-MOA groups with iron sights and military ammo has a problem with truthfulness.