Some of the guys from work and I went in on a group buy of Georgia Arms "canned heat" .223 Rem (55gr) stuff for practice with our AR's (Colt 6920's and RRA E/T's). The price is $150/1K, shipped with orders over $500. That's a little more than Wolf, but it's brass cased and that matters to some people (I've shot about 2K of the new poly-Wolf with no issues except diminished muzzle velocity). This is commercially reloaded, not new ammo. It's advertised at 3150-FPS (unknown barrel length) and uses Lake City 5.56 brass casings. The cases are highly polished and I didn't find them occasionally dented like my stand-by Lake City M193 ball (currently shooting lot 40).
Anyway, I looked at the ammo and the crimp is not always in the same part of the cannalure. The OAL is not consistant, but not very far off either. I pulled apart (kinnetec puller) several rounds which by my eyes were fairly far apart on OAL and here's what I found.
G.A. cartridge #1: LC-01 case
2.234" OAL
1.770" case length
23.7 gr. powder charge (unknown powder)
55.1 gr. bullet wt.
G.A. cartridge #2: LC-98 case
2.242" OAL
1.770" case length
23.7 gr. powder charge
55.1 gr. bullet wt.
G.A. cartridge #3: LC-01 case
2.252" OAL
1.765" case length
23.8 gr. powder charge
55.3 gr. bullet wt.
That got me to thinking so I went to the cabinet and grabbed a box of Federal-Lake City XM193 ball, lot #40. The brass is all LC-02. The OAL wasn't the same. either, but the variance in the box I chose wasn't as large as the Georgia Arms ammo. I pulled them apart and here's what I found.
L.C. cartridge #1: LC-02 case
2.240" OAL
1.755" case length
27.5 gr. powder charge
55.3 gr. bullet wt.
L.C. cartridge #2: LC-02 case
2.243" OAL
1.755" case length
27.5 gr. powder charge
55.0 gr. bullet wt.
L.C. cartridge #3: LC-02 case
2.249" OAL
1.753" case length
27.5 gr. powder charge
54.8 gr. bullet wt.
I was able to get to the range the other day before this God-forsaken flu took hold and I fired off 240 rounds of the Georgia Arms ammo. It fed flawlessly and I had no malfunctions in my recently cleaned and oiled Colt 6920. It was gusty/snowing moderately at the time so a true accuracy test will have to wait for another day, but at 50 yards it was the same elevation as the Federal Lake City XM193 ball ammo. I found the group off to the right just about 3/4 to 1", but that could easily had been the weather and lighting. Unfortunately I forgot to bring XM193 for a control group (duh).
The recoil seemed right on par with XM193 ball, but once again, I didn't have a control group handy and was going off of shoulder-memory. The GA definitely had more recoil than Wolf .223, though. The GA was no dirtier than XM193 and noticibly cleaner than Wolf. Also, it did not smell acidic like Wolf can be from time to time. Cleanup was a breeze. Finally, I was a little concerned because I don't know if GA crimps in their primers. Whatever the case, no primers popped out in the 240 rounds I fired. I have had the occasional primer pop out in XM193 but I've fired so many rounds of the stuff it was bound to happen. 240 rounds of the GA isn't really a true test in that respect.
I wish I had a chronograph but velocities and accuracy will have to wait for another day. Until then, I'm very optimistic about this for blaster/practice ammo.
Anyway, I looked at the ammo and the crimp is not always in the same part of the cannalure. The OAL is not consistant, but not very far off either. I pulled apart (kinnetec puller) several rounds which by my eyes were fairly far apart on OAL and here's what I found.
G.A. cartridge #1: LC-01 case
2.234" OAL
1.770" case length
23.7 gr. powder charge (unknown powder)
55.1 gr. bullet wt.
G.A. cartridge #2: LC-98 case
2.242" OAL
1.770" case length
23.7 gr. powder charge
55.1 gr. bullet wt.
G.A. cartridge #3: LC-01 case
2.252" OAL
1.765" case length
23.8 gr. powder charge
55.3 gr. bullet wt.
That got me to thinking so I went to the cabinet and grabbed a box of Federal-Lake City XM193 ball, lot #40. The brass is all LC-02. The OAL wasn't the same. either, but the variance in the box I chose wasn't as large as the Georgia Arms ammo. I pulled them apart and here's what I found.
L.C. cartridge #1: LC-02 case
2.240" OAL
1.755" case length
27.5 gr. powder charge
55.3 gr. bullet wt.
L.C. cartridge #2: LC-02 case
2.243" OAL
1.755" case length
27.5 gr. powder charge
55.0 gr. bullet wt.
L.C. cartridge #3: LC-02 case
2.249" OAL
1.753" case length
27.5 gr. powder charge
54.8 gr. bullet wt.
I was able to get to the range the other day before this God-forsaken flu took hold and I fired off 240 rounds of the Georgia Arms ammo. It fed flawlessly and I had no malfunctions in my recently cleaned and oiled Colt 6920. It was gusty/snowing moderately at the time so a true accuracy test will have to wait for another day, but at 50 yards it was the same elevation as the Federal Lake City XM193 ball ammo. I found the group off to the right just about 3/4 to 1", but that could easily had been the weather and lighting. Unfortunately I forgot to bring XM193 for a control group (duh).
The recoil seemed right on par with XM193 ball, but once again, I didn't have a control group handy and was going off of shoulder-memory. The GA definitely had more recoil than Wolf .223, though. The GA was no dirtier than XM193 and noticibly cleaner than Wolf. Also, it did not smell acidic like Wolf can be from time to time. Cleanup was a breeze. Finally, I was a little concerned because I don't know if GA crimps in their primers. Whatever the case, no primers popped out in the 240 rounds I fired. I have had the occasional primer pop out in XM193 but I've fired so many rounds of the stuff it was bound to happen. 240 rounds of the GA isn't really a true test in that respect.
I wish I had a chronograph but velocities and accuracy will have to wait for another day. Until then, I'm very optimistic about this for blaster/practice ammo.
