I pulled some and they're flat base. The Gold Dots have a boat tail. Also look where the cannelure is placed on one relative to the other.
I pulled some and they're flat base. The Gold Dots have a boat tail. Also look where the cannelure is placed on one relative to the other.
No disrespect but why bother reposting info that you cannot confirm the legitimacy?Originally Posted by Unobtanium
Unobtanium,
You yourself opened a box of these and found mixed Trophy Bonded Bear Claws and Gold Dots? If not, someone may be pulling your leg my friend. I myself bought two lots of this ammo and a friend bought some and I was able to inspect his and shoot all three lots of it.
The three lots of this ammo were purchased over multiple days from PSA, the first batch had all TBBC, no gold dots, the date codes were 2014, the cases were exactly the same as LE223T3 except the cases were not nickel plated like LE223T3, but the stamping was identical to my LE223T3 except the le223t3 were stamped 12, for 2012 The XM556fbit3m had a 2014 date code. The Meplats were uniform and very few dents or dings, the ammo was pristine, not Hornady immaculate, but certainly tumbled in media. The neck and primers were lightly sealed with clear sealant. The Factory defect was denoted by a white sticker that said Clock #47544 E
The next lot I bought from PSA was also 200 more rounds of nothing but TBBC, No Gold Dots. This lot had a orange sticker with almost the same reject code, Clock # E 47544 (the sticker was a different color, and the E was at the beginning. This ammo, was still tumbled, but the necks and primers had a blueish sealant applied, maybe a little bit more than necessary, the meplats were varying in consistency, not slop but not as pristine as the 1st batch I bought. Date code was again 2014, same base cartridge with same markings as LE223T3
The third batch a friend of mine bought, This was exactly the same as the lot #2 I bought. Same date code, same reject sticker and code and a little heavy on the sealant on the necks and primers, I've seen some sloppy TBBC over the years, some better than others for sure.
TBBC is one of my favorite rounds, naturally when I went to clock this stuff my chrono malfunctioned, honestly that's the only thing I cared about, as the deficiency was obviously to fast or to slow. As far as the ammo performing, I shot it with LE223T3, XM556FBIT3 and XM556SBCT3. Reason I like TBBC is the Hague convention is annoying and we were prohibited from using it obviously. Post military retirement, I like to keep a fair amount of it for rainy days, you never know what might trigger a 2012 panic buying melee, 2012 was an annoying year, when it came to buying any ammo.
Anyway, We shot a few hundred rounds of this stuff out of a 14.7 Wilson barrels and a 16" One was a 16" ARP 1/8 Wylde. For accuracy we stabilized on an Atlas tripod and a rear bag for direct comparison. it seemed to shoot every bit as good as XM556FBIT3 and XM556SBCT3, not having a working Chrono really sucked. (I love TBBC, but as anyone knows, it's not precision ammo, but it's good ammo. Other than plinking, my two go to rounds are TBBC and Black Hills 50gr. In that order.
I suspected perhaps a light charge might have been the reason it got a clock speed deficiency, I was going to pull every single one and reload them, but I didn't bother as it performed well, so I left it as it came.
PS, I apologize for posting on a few week old thread, but I was curious what other have experienced with this ammo, was kind of hoping that someone chrono'ed it. Not sure what to make with mixed Gold Dot and TBBC, but I don't believe everything I see.
I might would think someone was pulling my leg, if the pulled Gold Dot's pictured didn't have the same sealant evident on them. There is no factory Gold Dot load that got that sealant, of which I am aware. It seems a very far reach to say someone went and sourced whatever sealant Federal uses for the FBIT3 load, and placed it on the Gold Dots, loaded them, then unloaded them, etc. etc. etc. It's craziness.No disrespect but why bother reposting info that you cannot confirm the legitimacy?
Unobtanium,
You yourself opened a box of these and found mixed Trophy Bonded Bear Claws and Gold Dots? If not, someone may be pulling your leg my friend. I myself bought two lots of this ammo and a friend bought some and I was able to inspect his and shoot all three lots of it.
The three lots of this ammo were purchased over multiple days from PSA, the first batch had all TBBC, no gold dots, the date codes were 2014, the cases were exactly the same as LE223T3 except the cases were not nickel plated like LE223T3, but the stamping was identical to my LE223T3 except the le223t3 were stamped 12, for 2012 The XM556fbit3m had a 2014 date code. The Meplats were uniform and very few dents or dings, the ammo was pristine, not Hornady immaculate, but certainly tumbled in media. The neck and primers were lightly sealed with clear sealant. The Factory defect was denoted by a white sticker that said Clock #47544 E
The next lot I bought from PSA was also 200 more rounds of nothing but TBBC, No Gold Dots. This lot had a orange sticker with almost the same reject code, Clock # E 47544 (the sticker was a different color, and the E was at the beginning. This ammo, was still tumbled, but the necks and primers had a blueish sealant applied, maybe a little bit more than necessary, the meplats were varying in consistency, not slop but not as pristine as the 1st batch I bought. Date code was again 2014, same base cartridge with same markings as LE223T3
The third batch a friend of mine bought, This was exactly the same as the lot #2 I bought. Same date code, same reject sticker and code and a little heavy on the sealant on the necks and primers, I've seen some sloppy TBBC over the years, some better than others for sure.
TBBC is one of my favorite rounds, naturally when I went to clock this stuff my chrono malfunctioned, honestly that's the only thing I cared about, as the deficiency was obviously to fast or to slow. As far as the ammo performing, I shot it with LE223T3, XM556FBIT3 and XM556SBCT3. Reason I like TBBC is the Hague convention is annoying and we were prohibited from using it obviously. Post military retirement, I like to keep a fair amount of it for rainy days, you never know what might trigger a 2012 panic buying melee, 2012 was an annoying year, when it came to buying any ammo.
Anyway, We shot a few hundred rounds of this stuff out of a 14.7 Wilson barrels and a 16" One was a 16" ARP 1/8 Wylde. For accuracy we stabilized on an Atlas tripod and a rear bag for direct comparison. it seemed to shoot every bit as good as XM556FBIT3 and XM556SBCT3, not having a working Chrono really sucked. (I love TBBC, but as anyone knows, it's not precision ammo, but it's good ammo. Other than plinking, my two go to rounds are TBBC and Black Hills 50gr. In that order.
I suspected perhaps a light charge might have been the reason it got a clock speed deficiency, I was going to pull every single one and reload them, but I didn't bother as it performed well, so I left it as it came.
PS, I apologize for posting on a few week old thread, but I was curious what other have experienced with this ammo, was kind of hoping that someone chrono'ed it. Not sure what to make with mixed Gold Dot and TBBC, but I don't believe everything I see.
If I wanted this load, I would buy stuff that wasn't rejects. Saving a buck on premium ammo with a defect is an oxymoron, IMO
Last edited by Unobtanium; 04-03-2016 at 07:09 PM.
I hear what your saying, the sealant with these clock speed rejects seriously has me scratching my head when it came to that sealant. The first lot I bought had crystal clear sealant, and the second lot I bought had Markron green sealant. I'm absolutely sure it was Markron. I stripped a few and put on a fresh coat of it, it dried identical to the 2nd lot.
As far as saving money buying rejects, one needs to shoot similar ammo to their go to ammo, best if you can shoot the exact go to ammo, but when Uncle Sam or your department isn't footing the bill, shooting premium ammo can get pricey to practice with. This served that niche for me.
The cheapest I can buy LE223T3 is $27 per twenty and that's after a leo/mil discount, and thats .223 pressures. Being able to buy nearly the same thing for $11.99 per twenty for training/target shooting isn't such a bad thing. At the end of the day, these PSA XM556FBIT3M aren't relegated as my go to ammo. But if the chips were down, I'd use it. I shot hundreds of these rejects and they shot as I would expect TBBC to perform. I only bought the second lot of this ammo as I was curious why others that bought this ammo were getting a different assortment of it. I didn't buy a lot of it, I simply tip toed my purchase to check it out. But at the end of the day, the cloud hanging over it being a factory second is a factor for sure.
It's like the Keisler $199 9mm 147gr G2 fire sale on that surplused ammo. I bought 1050 rounds of it, at .18cents per round, I cannot buy FMJ at that price. For plinking it's a no brainer deal. Is it my go to round? Definitely not. But just like the black sheep XM556FBIT3M, If I only had surplused Speer G2 9mm147gr vs 9mm FMJ Geco, I'd grab the black sheep G2 rejects every single time if I didn't have my go to 9mm, which are Ranger T's +P+. Not a big deal, 9mm isn't my go to caliber anyway. But having cheap affordable range or plinking ammo isn't a bad thing. Especially since acquiring the new G2 is easier said than done. Pretty sure its department sales only like it was before at most places that sold it. I do know its .60 cents a round for the new stuff in the black boxes.
PS, Don't get me wrong, I normally never buy factory rejects, heck, my sidearms and long guns have never shot an aluminum cased cartridge, and yet in a month I found myself buying not one black sheep product, but two. I don't regret buying either my friend.
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