Ed Harris
Member
SAVE YOUR MONEY and don't buy these.
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NOT same profile as LC M118, bullet diameters run small, .3075-.3078 vs. .3082-.3085 for LC M118. Lead cores flush with ragged base closure of jacket, rather than being well seated and smoothly radiussed as LC.
Accuracy-wise these are NOT match grade, but only equivalent to machinegun, linked-pack grade. They are not as accurate as RG94 or DAG93 NATO Ball tested side-by-side on the same day.
Test groups were 10-shots each, fired from a Winchester Model 70 bullgun with 10X Unertl scope at 200 yards, because our purpose was to test the ammo, not the rifle.
An average of five consecutive 10-shot groups with Wideners Sniper Bullets averaged 6 inches, whereas Lake City M118 pulls from mixed lots of "brown-box" Special Ball averaged 3.5 inches. UK and German NATO Ball both averaged 4 inches, and 168 Sierra Matchkings averaged 2.5 inches.
All handloads were assembled in LC once-fired brass with CCI250 primers and 42 grs. of RL-15 assembled on a Dillion RL550B. Each group was fired in an elapsed time of about 2 minutes, then a brass heatsink rod inserted into the bore and the barrel allowed to air cool for 5 minutes between groups, then cooled for an additional 10 minutes between ammos.
In my experience the best bang for the buck in 7.62 NATO ammo is to get German DAG 1990s production or UK surplus Radway Green 1990s production ball from either AIM Surplus or Cheaper than Dirt. You save having to buy powder, primers and bullets, not to mention your time in loading the ammunition. While it is true that the Berdan primed brass is not reloadable, you can sell it to the scrap man when you are done.
Sometimes handloading isn't worth the trouble.
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NOT same profile as LC M118, bullet diameters run small, .3075-.3078 vs. .3082-.3085 for LC M118. Lead cores flush with ragged base closure of jacket, rather than being well seated and smoothly radiussed as LC.
Accuracy-wise these are NOT match grade, but only equivalent to machinegun, linked-pack grade. They are not as accurate as RG94 or DAG93 NATO Ball tested side-by-side on the same day.
Test groups were 10-shots each, fired from a Winchester Model 70 bullgun with 10X Unertl scope at 200 yards, because our purpose was to test the ammo, not the rifle.
An average of five consecutive 10-shot groups with Wideners Sniper Bullets averaged 6 inches, whereas Lake City M118 pulls from mixed lots of "brown-box" Special Ball averaged 3.5 inches. UK and German NATO Ball both averaged 4 inches, and 168 Sierra Matchkings averaged 2.5 inches.
All handloads were assembled in LC once-fired brass with CCI250 primers and 42 grs. of RL-15 assembled on a Dillion RL550B. Each group was fired in an elapsed time of about 2 minutes, then a brass heatsink rod inserted into the bore and the barrel allowed to air cool for 5 minutes between groups, then cooled for an additional 10 minutes between ammos.
In my experience the best bang for the buck in 7.62 NATO ammo is to get German DAG 1990s production or UK surplus Radway Green 1990s production ball from either AIM Surplus or Cheaper than Dirt. You save having to buy powder, primers and bullets, not to mention your time in loading the ammunition. While it is true that the Berdan primed brass is not reloadable, you can sell it to the scrap man when you are done.
Sometimes handloading isn't worth the trouble.
