Since Lake City XM193 and Winchester Q3131A prices have been on a steady incline I went looking for a cheap practice ammunition for 50 yards and closer. After much consideration I decided to try Wolf's new polymer-coated 55gr FMJ round. I bought a thousand rounds and it worked beautifully in my AR carbine.
On my first trip to the range I shot about 400 rounds through it before experiencing a few malfunctions. When inserting a fresh 20-round magazine (GI issue) the top round occasionally failed to chamber when it's nose jammed on the front of the magazine body. These magazines were loaded to full capacity. When I down-loaded the mags to 18 rounds the problem disappeared. No other malfunctions were experienced... NONE at all! I usually load my 20-round mags with 18 rounds and 30's with 28 rounds, but someone else was loading my mags and wasn't aware of my usual routine.
The ammunition does not feel as "hot" as my normal 5.56 fodder. I'd guess its at least 100FPS slower than XM193 or Q3131A. The POI of the targets below support my suspicion. I do not have a chrono to test the Wolf ammo.
Wolf is definitely dirtier than Lake City, Winchester, and TZZ. It's not horribly filthy, but does require a little extra cleaning. It also smells different that the brass-cased ammo I usally shoot.
My gun is a "frankencarbine" with a PWA Commando lower and a Bushmaster 16" Superlight upper with a 1:9 twist barrel and Vortex G6 flash supressor. The gun has a GI trigger group (unmodified) and an Aimpoint ML2 for an optic. I shot the two pictured groups from prone position at 50 yards.
My "control" load was Winchester Q3131A. I shoot this regularly along with Federal XM193 ball. Both use a 55gr FMJ/BT bullet and are loaded to military velocity. As you can see from the group, I was able to put 3 shots in one hole at 50yds with the total 5 shot group of only 1.26". This is typical accuracy for this load (and Federal XM193) in my AR. The 10:00 shot was a called flyer.
The Wolf ammo was new poly-coated 55gr FMJ. It is VERY reliable in my gun but accuracy is not quite up to par with the Winchester or Federal loads. Point of impact was about 1" lower than Winchester Q3131A. The Wolf group opened up a bit and again, the 10:00 shot was a called flyer. (At least I'm consistant)
Groups were measured outside edge to outside edge... the real way. There was only a VERY slight breeze blowing left-to-right. Temp was about 75 degrees F and lighting was slightly overcast if these sort of things matter to you. I'd say shooting conditions were excellent.
I would not choose Wolf as my primary fighting ammo. The bullet is not designed like the military 55gr bullet and reportedly will not fragment. However, for practicing at ranges ~50 yards it suits my needs perfectly. I've shot 2000 rounds of this ammunition and it has proven to be reliable, reasonably accurate, and at about $100/1000rounds (delivered), considerably more affordable than anything else out there on the market.
I'll throw in a little plug for my supplier, Larence. He has fantastic prices on Wolf ammo and has filled several orders from me quickly and courteously. Lawrence is great about returning e-mails quickly, also.
[email protected]
Winchester Q3131A
On my first trip to the range I shot about 400 rounds through it before experiencing a few malfunctions. When inserting a fresh 20-round magazine (GI issue) the top round occasionally failed to chamber when it's nose jammed on the front of the magazine body. These magazines were loaded to full capacity. When I down-loaded the mags to 18 rounds the problem disappeared. No other malfunctions were experienced... NONE at all! I usually load my 20-round mags with 18 rounds and 30's with 28 rounds, but someone else was loading my mags and wasn't aware of my usual routine.
The ammunition does not feel as "hot" as my normal 5.56 fodder. I'd guess its at least 100FPS slower than XM193 or Q3131A. The POI of the targets below support my suspicion. I do not have a chrono to test the Wolf ammo.
Wolf is definitely dirtier than Lake City, Winchester, and TZZ. It's not horribly filthy, but does require a little extra cleaning. It also smells different that the brass-cased ammo I usally shoot.
My gun is a "frankencarbine" with a PWA Commando lower and a Bushmaster 16" Superlight upper with a 1:9 twist barrel and Vortex G6 flash supressor. The gun has a GI trigger group (unmodified) and an Aimpoint ML2 for an optic. I shot the two pictured groups from prone position at 50 yards.
My "control" load was Winchester Q3131A. I shoot this regularly along with Federal XM193 ball. Both use a 55gr FMJ/BT bullet and are loaded to military velocity. As you can see from the group, I was able to put 3 shots in one hole at 50yds with the total 5 shot group of only 1.26". This is typical accuracy for this load (and Federal XM193) in my AR. The 10:00 shot was a called flyer.
The Wolf ammo was new poly-coated 55gr FMJ. It is VERY reliable in my gun but accuracy is not quite up to par with the Winchester or Federal loads. Point of impact was about 1" lower than Winchester Q3131A. The Wolf group opened up a bit and again, the 10:00 shot was a called flyer. (At least I'm consistant)
Groups were measured outside edge to outside edge... the real way. There was only a VERY slight breeze blowing left-to-right. Temp was about 75 degrees F and lighting was slightly overcast if these sort of things matter to you. I'd say shooting conditions were excellent.
I would not choose Wolf as my primary fighting ammo. The bullet is not designed like the military 55gr bullet and reportedly will not fragment. However, for practicing at ranges ~50 yards it suits my needs perfectly. I've shot 2000 rounds of this ammunition and it has proven to be reliable, reasonably accurate, and at about $100/1000rounds (delivered), considerably more affordable than anything else out there on the market.
I'll throw in a little plug for my supplier, Larence. He has fantastic prices on Wolf ammo and has filled several orders from me quickly and courteously. Lawrence is great about returning e-mails quickly, also.
[email protected]
Winchester Q3131A
