PMC 55 grain .223/Federal Fusion MSR 62 grain

In a recent thread, there was some discussion of how PMC 55 grain .223 hit compared to Federal Fusion MSR 62 grain and the very similar Gold Dot load. I have been zeroing my carbines at 50 yards with 62 grain MSR Fusion/Gold Dot and practicing with 55 grain .223 PMC.

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Today, I needed to do some zeroing, and decided to drag out four carbines and shoot PMC 55 and Fusion 62, and compare POI at 50 yards. Mostly I shot five shot groups with the PMC and three shot groups over the PMC group with the Fusion. I used a 1-6 Kahles on one AR, and a red dot plus 3x magnifier on the three others. I was using a 30 round mag as a monopod off a bench only for support. This ain't Molon level testing, so take it as something between anecdotes and data.



Here is a BCM 16 inch upper with an EXPS.

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The first five rounds of PMC had four almost touching, and one flyer.

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Here are the Fusion over the top.

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Puzzled by the flyer, I shot three more PMC.

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And three more Fusion over the top.

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Here is another BCM with an AEMS.

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First, PMC.

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Fusion over the group.

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A SR-15 with a Kahles 1-6.

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First PMC.

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Fusion over the top.

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I also zeroed a RMR07 6.5 moa offset optic. I was concerned about how big the dot was, but it shot fine.

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I took one shot at a steel at 300 with the RMR and hit it.



I also shot a SCAR 16. First PMC.

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Then the Fusion over the top.

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The SCAR had more divergence in POI than the three AR's, but I don't think it was enough to make practicing with PMC a problem. Probably needs a click or two left when I get to the range again.

That doesn't surprise me at 50 yards. You should see a big accuracy difference the further out you go. I handload the 62 grain Gold Dots and they shoot under an inch at 100 yards out of my bolt gun with a 1:7 twist. You'll be hard pressed to get a 55 FMJ bullet to shoot under 1.5" at that distance.

The Gold Dots all shoot better than the 64 TBBC in my experience.

Good comparison. In my experience, PMC Bronze is so underpowered that it may short stroke in properly gassed carbines.

I know with PMC X-TAC M855 Sighted in at 50 yards the Federal Fusion MSR always prints higher with multiple AR15s with different barrel lengths. Thankfully it never did anything different horizontally, so it was easy to account for.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Clusterfrack

Good comparison. In my experience, PMC Bronze is so underpowered that it may short stroke in properly gassed carbines.

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I have a very different experience, with multiple cases of PMC Bronze .223 fired from a total of 6 different firearms (Colt AR15A4 20", multiple mid-length 6960s 16" , multiple BCM mid-length BFH ELWs 16").

Now, PMC Bronze is definitely less blasty than something like Winchester or IMI M193, but always exhibited good function and solid ejection.

In fact, many of the carbines above have never shot anything else but PMC Bronze (after being zeroed with Fusion MSR 62 grain which is also in my case loaded in "SD/GP" mags).

I'm not trying to argue, I'm genuinely interested in knowing more about your experience before I order a few more cases from a lot that ends up being severely underpowered. All my PMC experience is with ammo bought 2021-to date.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MTP

I have a very different experience, with multiple cases of PMC Bronze .223 fired from a total of 6 different firearms (Colt AR15A4 20", multiple mid-length 6960s 16" , multiple BCM mid-length BFH ELWs 16").

Now, PMC Bronze is definitely less blasty than something like Winchester or IMI M193, but always exhibited good function and solid ejection.

In fact, many of the carbines above have never shot anything else but PMC Bronze (after being zeroed with Fusion MSR 62 grain which is also in my case loaded in "SD/GP" mags).

I'm not trying to argue, I'm genuinely interested in knowing more about your experience before I order a few more cases from a lot that ends up being severely underpowered. All my PMC experience is with ammo bought 2021-to date.

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That’s very interesting. All of my PMC Bronze is way older than that. I’ll try to dig up chrono data when I get home from a trip.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MTP

I have a very different experience, with multiple cases of PMC Bronze .223 fired from a total of 6 different firearms (Colt AR15A4 20", multiple mid-length 6960s 16" , multiple BCM mid-length BFH ELWs 16").

Now, PMC Bronze is definitely less blasty than something like Winchester or IMI M193, but always exhibited good function and solid ejection.

In fact, many of the carbines above have never shot anything else but PMC Bronze (after being zeroed with Fusion MSR 62 grain which is also in my case loaded in "SD/GP" mags).

I'm not trying to argue, I'm genuinely interested in knowing more about your experience before I order a few more cases from a lot that ends up being severely underpowered. All my PMC experience is with ammo bought 2021-to date.

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Same experience here with the PMC Bronze 55 grain -- been shooting it for years with many AR, SCAR, AUG carbines. It is my standard practice ammo.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Clusterfrack

That’s very interesting. All of my PMC Bronze is way older than that. I’ll try to dig up chrono data when I get home from a trip.

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Nice. I don't have my own chrono data, but a very recent SGAmmo test shows an avg 2814 ft/s for PMC 223A which is the exact load we are discussing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MTP

I have a very different experience, with multiple cases of PMC Bronze .223 fired from a total of 6 different firearms (Colt AR15A4 20", multiple mid-length 6960s 16" , multiple BCM mid-length BFH ELWs 16").

Now, PMC Bronze is definitely less blasty than something like Winchester or IMI M193, but always exhibited good function and solid ejection.

In fact, many of the carbines above have never shot anything else but PMC Bronze (after being zeroed with Fusion MSR 62 grain which is also in my case loaded in "SD/GP" mags).

I'm not trying to argue, I'm genuinely interested in knowing more about your experience before I order a few more cases from a lot that ends up being severely underpowered. All my PMC experience is with ammo bought 2021-to date.

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Same here too. I shot a bunch of PMC .223 with not an issue out of an original M&P 15 (not sport) and a franken gun that I used for 3 gun comps.

55gr .223 is listed at 3200 FPS
55gr X-TAC is listed at 3270FPS

I seem to recall that the older loading of .223 Remington was a lower velocity (2975?), but I may be mistaken on that. Regardless it's ran and performed well for me in the past and I still have a can loose packed with it.

All my 223A boxes are marked "2900 FPS"
Which is consistent with SGAmmo's recent test I linked above