Thursday, May 24, 2012

Range Report III: Cheaper ‘n Dirt Edition

I originally put this post together before the catestrophic failure I wrote about Monday.

Brown Bear 62gr. Soft Point, $25.95/100:

Brown Bear 62gr. Soft Point

 

Tula 55 gr. FMJ, $24.95/100:

Tula 55gr. FMJ

Both of these were Russian “lacquered steel case” ammo.”  You be the judge, but I’m convinced that they were made by the same company in the same batch, then distributed by different American companies.  Steel case ammo can be particularly hard on rifles and pistols, but these rounds exceeded my expectations.  These targets are smaller than what I’ve posted before.  The rings mark centimeter spacing.

Continuing . . .

RWS Copper Matrix NTF 42gr. Frangible, $14.95/20:

RWS Copper Matrix NTF 42gr. Frangible

Really?

Federal American Eagle XM856 64gr. Tactical Red Tracer, $9.95/20:

Federal American Eagle XM856 64gr. Tactical Red Tracer

Really?

Sellier & Bellot 55gr. SP, $13.95/20:

Sellier & Bellot 55gr. SP

I really like these 8-in. Birchwood Casey “Dirty Bird” targets, BTW.  They are really easy to see downrange, unlike the laser printed ones above.  I highlighted the S&Bs; evidently, one of my rounds missed the target completely.  The large holes are from my .45 USP.  Not bad from 50 yards, except that I had to shoot 20 rounds to get those five hits in the black, with the rest scattered among the neighboring targets.

American Eagle XM855F 62gr. Penetrator, $41.95/100:

Federal American Eagle XM855F 62gr. Penetrator

 

Black Hills 55gr. Remanufactured Seconds FMJ, $24.95/50:

Black Hills 55gr. Remanufactured Seconds FMJ

 

For calibration purposes, here is the PMC Precision 75gr. BTHP Match, $16.95/20:

PMC Precision 75gr. BTHP Match

This is still my favorite, even if it’s a bit pricey.

Finally, let’s use the Black Hills 60gr. Soft Point from last time, except now with the backup iron sights:

Black Hills 60gr. Soft Point

Um . . . yes, well, it looks like those sights may need adjusting!  OTOH, my rear sight is already cranked all the way to the right.  Also, you may recall that the Black Hills shot leftward when I was using the Sightmark.  I could adjust the front post, but when I shot the DRS Hornady 68gr. with open sights last time, they landed in the lower left quadrant.  The Hornady with the Sightmark were in the lower right quadrant, more or less, which may confirm that the front post is fine but the rear sight needs adjusting . . . .

The only generalization I can pull from all this is that it’s important to sight in your rifle with whatever ammo you plan on using.  The Russian ammo seems to be a great bargain if it’s a rifle you don’t want to baby.  Otherwise, the XM855 is a good round for having fun, and the PMC Precision is good for high priority targets.  Some of the rounds may have been more accurate if the sights were adjusted specifically for them, but they tended not to be especially precise for the money.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only generalization I can pull from all this is that it’s important to sight in your rifle with whatever ammo you plan on using.

Exactly. You would be surprised to find out how many people don't understand this. Hollywood teaches us that expert shooters can pick up a strange gun with strange ammo and hit the bulls eye with the first shot.

Giraffe said...

I think you are right with Tula also making Brown Bear Ammo.

My brother bought a bunch of steel case stuff that had the Herters brand, and I would bet that they imported it from the same place.

I think that Wolf ammo is also made in the same place.

Anonymous said...

They are really easy to see downrange

Yeah, I used one of these for the first time the other day, and liked it for the same reason. You can see from 50 or 100 yards where your rounds are landing.