Lake City Ammo?

[Lone_Gunman]

I see this advertised from time to time, usually SS109 5.56 mm ammo advertised as US surplus.

Ammoman currently has this stuff on his website. It is labeled M855, says it is "composite core", and the site of the cardboard box is stamped "For training use only"

Does anyone know about the quality of this ammo? Is Lake City a US military arsenal? Why is it labeled training only?

 

[riverdog]

Don't what they mean by composite core or why it's marked training use only. You might want to check with Eric, he's the best person to answer this Q.

Personally, I go with the 55 gr Lake City XM193 FMJ. Good stuff, no issues with it at all.

 

[Jim K]

Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, Independence, MO, is the only currently active military small arms ammunition factory. It is a GOCO (Gov't Owned, Contractor Operated) facility, currently operated by (I think) Alliant. All its ammunition is to military specs and is high quality.

A Hungarian manufacturer uses the trademark "Lake City" on ammunition sold in boxes that resemble the old GI Match boxes. The ammunition is very good, and reasonably priced, but is not USGI and the factory has no connection with the U.S. government.

Some carbine ammunition made in China and marked LC was sold a while back; it is corrosive primed, not good for carbine ammo.

Jim

 

[EBRDude]

I use Lake City exclusively, and it is very high quality. The composite round is 62gr, copper gilded over a small (+/- 10gr) hardened metal penetrator, and a lead base.
It is not cleaned, so it looks ugly, but it is very stout and I have never had any failures.
If in doubt that is it USGI surplus, it will have LC and a two digit number (date of manufacture) with a NATO circle and cross.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jim K]

Forgot to say that the Hungarian "Lake City" ammo has the "L C" headstamp, but the commercial cartridge name, like "L C/45ACP". The military ammo has the "L C" and the two digit year of manufacture.

Jim

 

[P0832177]

Federal ( owned by ATK ) runs the Lake City Ammunition Plant. Federal market XM193 55gr FMJ. It is good ammo, but there is documented cases of lack of neck sealent and other inconsquential things. The same goes for runs of M855 62gr FMJ with penetrator. I.E. Sportsman's Guide has both for sale.

Otherwise the CMP has been selling M118LR 308 ammo for a very decent price which is produced at Lake City. That comes with 175gr SMK.

And, there are other Federal offerings of mil spec 9mm and 45ACP.

 

[Sam Adams]

Is there anywhere to get genuine Lake City brass that is UNused?

 

[HankL]

Jeff Bartlett

 

[m60a3]

might want to be cautious of any military ammo marked for training use only, it often does not meet the accuracy standard for that particular load. Also be cautious of any ammo originally marked for use in belt fed machineguns as it often is loaded to provide a built in cone of fire( read built in inaccuracy)

 

[g56]

Be aware that since SS109 has a steel penetrator in the bullet that some ranges won't allow it to be used. If you have been to a range and seen the magnet test, they are checking for any steel cores in the bullets.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I look for Lake City over all the others when I buy .308

 

[Lone_Gunman]

might want to be cautious of any military ammo marked for training use only, it often does not meet the accuracy standard for that particular load.

Does anybody else have any insight into this?

The ammo is marked training us only. Is it less accurate?

 

[Cacique500]

Take a look at the Ammo Oracle: http://www.ammo-oracle.com/body.htm - everything you ever wanted to know about .223/5.56 ammo.

You also may want to drop by www.ar15.com and look through the ammunition forum...I know this topic has been discussed a couple of times.

 

[dghboy315]

Lake City m193 always worked fine for me as training ammo. a few malfunctions magazine related) and decent accuracy in the 2000 rnds i shot. but, quality control seemed spotty. i would get a huge fireball every few rounds when doing low light drills. apparently this is normal for LC, according to the other guys in the training course (3 day carbine class at FIRE institute). the other guys on the line were not particulary happy w/ me blinding all of them. since then i have tried wolf, which did not have the fire ball effect, but seemed less accurate and MUCH dirtier. i'm testing winchester Q3131 now.