Originally Posted by
Moonshot
After reading the above response, and rereading my OP, I realize I did not phrase my question, or my intro to it very well.
I understand the rational for having a barrier blind round - heavy OTM rounds may cause more damage than a BB round, but the OTM will not penetrate many intermediate barriers well.
Sadly, I cannot afford to simply replace all my OTM rounds with BB rounds, so it will have to be a mix of each.
I place a premium on buying ammo in person, rather than on-line, and if I do buy on-line it's only from a few select places, so that does tend to limit my options.
With this in mind, there are only a few BB loads I can actually find right now to purchase and test - Federal's Fusion, Fusion MSR and LE223T3 (all 62gr, all .223 and all available locally). The GDSP is unavailable in either the 62gr or 64gr weight.
Ammo cost does become a factor. I can buy either Fusion round for under $1 per round, while the T3 is usually well over $2 per round (although if I move quickly I can pick up several hundred rounds at just under $2 per round). The GD is the cheapest of all, but again is unavailable. Is the T3 worth twice what most everything else costs? Is it really that good? We are talking 200 rounds of T3 for $400 vs 200 rounds of Fusion or Fusion MSR for just under $200 or, when you can get it, 200 rounds of Gold Dot SP for $180.
My first AR was a used Bushmaster. It was inexpensive and high quality (or so I thought). After taking a few classes and reading all I could on several forums, I sold my Bushy and bought a BCM upper and placed it on a LMT lower. It cost about double what my used Bushy cost, but I think is a far better quality carbine. Is the LE223T3 another BCM/LMT? Is it worth twice what my other choices cost?
The money I could save by not buying the T3 could go towards twice as many rounds of a different BB round for my inventory, or a spare BCG and LPK, or 500 rounds of training ammo for my next class. I am not trying to talk myself out of the T3. On the contrary - if it's worth the investment I'll buy some, I just want to know that it is in fact worth it. If it isn't, I'll get a small supply of Fusion and wait for the Gold Dot SP.
Again, as the Doctor advised, training and practice is still the key, but if I am going to buy any BB rounds, I may as well get the best "bang for my buck".