The Firearms Forum banner

worst .223 ammo I've ever shot

65K views 67 replies 21 participants last post by  Dog Soldier 
#1 ·
Month or so ago I ran across this "Perfecta" ammo at Walmart, just under $20 for 50 rounds. I figured it'd be worth it even if it was just for the brass to reload. Picked up 500 rounds and stowed it away. Was shooting the 1:7 build today and had brought along a few magazines of this to try out. Had been shooting some FC headstamp stuff while dialing in the scope a bit better at 50 yards and decided to switch over and try some of the Perfecta.
First shot, I thought maybe the scope had come loose, so stopped and checked the rings and mount. Nope...so shot again. And again. My buddy Paul grabbed the spotting scope and took a look "Looks like you shot it with a shotgun"...and he wasn't lying.

Switched back to a mag of FC stamped, and right back on the money. I'm going to pull 20 of these and measure OAL, as we took a look at them and on some we can see a LOT of the cannelure, some just a tad, and others we can't see a sign of it. Then I'll pull bullets on five or six and weigh powder, since they all shot low I'm betting that it'll be close to minimum, if that. My reloads with a starting weight of 23grs shot better than these...I may just pull bullets on the 450 rounds that I have left, dump powder and reload.
 
See less See more
1
#5 ·
If you have a true 1in7 that is too fast for that bullet. Try it in another rifle and see. I have a 1` in 7 that shoots 55 gr ammo like that also. However with the right ammo I can put 10 round in a dime at 100 yrds.
 
#6 ·
I had the same problem with independence ammo in my springfield EMP 40 and I could change back to something else and get my accuracy back...
 
#7 ·
I like Soundguy's idea, and maybe take it a step further, seeing that you have about 500 rounds:

I would dis-assemble 10 rounds and wiegh each of the powder charges and bullets very carefully. Then I would use my micrometer and measure each case and check the case lengths. I assume, looking at your group, that the charges will vary a few 10ths of a grain from one-another. From your description of the cannelure depths, I would assume that the case lengths will also show sloppy variance.

If the above is the case, if it were me, I'd record the powder charge wieghts of those 10 rounds and determine an average. Then I would trim the cases to minimum length per a reloading manual. After that, I'd pull the decapping pin from my full length size sizer die and run them thru it after the cases are all brought to a standard case length. Finally I'd re-charge the cases with the powder you pulled down with the charge that equals the average from those pull-downs, and reload them, and test fire them for accuracy and see if it has dramatically improved.

I'm thinking two things here - sloppy manufacture and also bullet wieght vs barrel rifleing twist. Granted, it IS a lot of work, but you already have the components on hand. The worst case scenario is 10 more wasted rounds. Best case scenario is 500 rounds of practice ammo that shoots better than it does now.
 
#10 ·
I like Soundguy's idea, and maybe take it a step further, seeing that you have about 500 rounds:

I would dis-assemble 10 rounds and wiegh each of the powder charges and bullets very carefully. Then I would use my micrometer and measure each case and check the case lengths. I assume, looking at your group, that the charges will vary a few 10ths of a grain from one-another. From your description of the cannelure depths, I would assume that the case lengths will also show sloppy variance.

If the above is the case, if it were me, I'd record the powder charge wieghts of those 10 rounds and determine an average. Then I would trim the cases to minimum length per a reloading manual. After that, I'd pull the decapping pin from my full length size sizer die and run them thru it after the cases are all brought to a standard case length. Finally I'd re-charge the cases with the powder you pulled down with the charge that equals the average from those pull-downs, and reload them, and test fire them for accuracy and see if it has dramatically improved.

I'm thinking two things here - sloppy manufacture and also bullet wieght vs barrel rifleing twist. Granted, it IS a lot of work, but you already have the components on hand. The worst case scenario is 10 more wasted rounds. Best case scenario is 500 rounds of practice ammo that shoots better than it does now.
Would resizing really be necessary when they haven't been fired? They all chambered and ejected fine.

I don't mind the work of "recharging" them for practice rounds, have plenty of rifle powder on hand, my chronograph should be here Monday and plenty of ink in the printer for targets!
 
#9 ·
It's a true 1:7. I didn't expect super accuracy for that reason, but the 55gr FC headstamp ammo I was shooting through it prior to and after was at least in one of the squares adjacent to the bull. I'll measure, weigh and break down some tomorrow and see what I find. I'm thinking it was cheap because they have minimum powder in them. Empties landed pretty much exactly where the others did. I have a 1:9 and a 1:8 as well, I may run some through both to back up any observations, but at this point it looks like I bought bullets and brass. If it isn't any better in the other two AR's, I'll probably pull bullets and reload with some good Hodgdon's powder.

The Perfecta info I've found online don't mention the .223, and the other calibers are manufactured by Fiocchi. I've shot a lot of Fiocchi, never with this sort of problem.
 
#12 ·
Well, it might just be that rifle, it kinda looks like. I broke five down and everything was well within what it should have been, the only variable I can't determine would be the burn rate of the powder. OAL was good on all with only one in the 20 I measured at 2.214, the rest were at 2.22 or 2.223. Case length ran from 1.750 to 1.756. Powder weight only varied from 24.4 to 24.8grs. Bullets were all 55gr. Everything is right at what I load myself with BL-C2. Bullet's have less of a cannelure and a more pointed tip is all I could see. Looks like the 1:9 and 1:8 are going out with me next weekend...
 
#15 ·
http://i.imgur.com/2WcWxfN.jpg >this is a 50 yard zero i shot cold with my 1:9 mp15 sport with 223 perfecta, i was pretty impressed. I'm a very new shooter so the errant rounds were probably my own error. the cheap federal m193 i started with was kinda junky, i don't have a pic, also i had several rounds of that stuff fragment after leaving the barrel (sorry not sure what the technical term is but they left a spray pattern on the target at 50 yards like they disintegrated)

so anyway.. just my two cents on perfecta i bought just now (approx 2/20/15)
 
#22 ·
Well, I kinda like supporting Walmart...my daughter has worked there through four years of college, they were only ones that would hire her straight out of high school with no work experience. They employ 1.4 million people in the United States alone, I bet those people appreciate those who shop at Walmart and help them get a paycheck.
 
#23 ·
Love wally...and I love freedom-if you don't like wally,don't shop there,pretty simple.I guess if you're a union or gov't worker you can afford to pay big bucks...a lot of Americans can't-because the unions/gov't are killing us with their low productivity/high pay.
 
#24 ·
People used to rant about Walmart and their imported goods...finding American made stuff is nigh on impossible in most cases, and if you do then you pay four times over. I wear an oddball size of jeans, only place I can buy them for under $40 is through Walmart's website, 36' waist and 38" inseam is tough to find
 
#26 ·
I'm in the process of buying an AR15 with a 1:7 (Palmetto State Arms) I went with it because of the twist rate. I could of had a DPMS for $100.00 less that was a 1:10. I thought that the faster rate would handle a heavier bullet. Never knew it could be a problem shooting the 55 grain. Or am I confused?
 
#27 ·
I have .223/5.56 rifles with 1:10, 1:9, 1:8, and 1:7 twist rates. I shoot 55 grain bullets in all of them and haven't had a problem of any kind with any of them. I did kind of have a problem with shooting a 69 grain bullet through the one with the 1:10 twist. The bullets wanted to key hole just about every shot, they were still fairly accurate, they just hit the target sideways!!.
 
#29 ·
The 1:7 that I had shot my reloads great but varied widely on factory loads, the 1:9 of course did great with all the 55gr bullets but I have yet to try it on anything heavier, just got in some Hornady 68gr BTHP to work up loads with so will see. I've settled in on 1:8 twists on my last two builds, they work great with even the cheap 55gr stuff.
 
#30 ·
mogunner, does the info on the Perfecta box say what country it originated from? Just curious. Many times "foreign" ammo here in the US does really well, like most of the Serbian stuff, etc. But not in Perfecta's case as you report.
Wonder where Walmart sourced this Perfecta from. If Fiocchi, it's surprising. Never had any bad results with the Italian stuff in any caliber.
 
#31 ·
If you look online, a search for Perfecta ammo takes you to Fiocchi's website, however, the only specs there show HPBT projectiles which it isn't. It also shows the packaging with Ficchi's name on it as well, which it doesn't have, at least not like on their site. If you look at the original posts on this thread, you'll see that those rounds have long ago been shot up and probably the brass reloaded at least once, lol... the last "active" post was April of last year until a new member posted on a zombie thread and brought it back to life!

If I remember correctly, the box said made in Italy and distributed by Tulammo
 
#33 · (Edited)
I've shot about 200 rounds of this stuff using a 1:7 twist. No problems to report. Theses were all .223. I wish I could find some 556 rounds and something heavier than just the 55 grain to try. It can't be too bad because it flies off the shelves. My Walmart has an area for 9 mil which I wish had even one box when I go there. They are always gone. As far as being dirty I clean my guns every time I use them. I haven't seen anything significantly dirtier with this ammo than more expensive rounds. Here's some info on them. I haven't figured out which .223 I'm buying. Does anyone know. There's a bunch of them listed. Also the velocity is in meters. There are 3.281 feet in a meter so if you want to know the speed in feet multiply the meters by 3.281. http://www.fiocchiuk.com/site/search_prod.php?act=prodotti&search=Perfecta+.223&CERCA=Search
 
#37 ·
I started reloading shortly after my original post, still have to watch out for Perfecta brass as their flash holes are off center enough to break a pin if you deprime and size at the same time. I don't, but still have the pin move the brass a bit when depriming on my Lee universal die. Haven't bought a factory-loaded round in .223, 9mm or .38SPL in a looong time! And not missing it a bit!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top