RMR 69 gr OTMs

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I’ve got a pound of it that I picked up locally. I didn’t even consider that it’s new, so load data is scarce. I’ve got other powders that could work with 69s, just looking for an excuse to fall in love with Sta Ball Match. If that powder is as advertised, it would be perfect for shooting to 600yds off a progressive with a regular AR, which happens to be what this bullet seems well-suited for.

I might have been overly optimistic about it being suitable. Hodgdon marketed it for .223, but I just sorted their load data by cartridge and powder, and every .223 load they list with it for 55- 75gr is compressed. Maybe it’s a marginal powder, at best, for the cartridge. I’ll try a different powder when I get around to loading these 69s.

For sure. People always bashed the Russian ammo as cheap junk, but when I tore it down and weighed charges and stuff, it was pretty good quality. The bullet was the weakest part.

People used to report pretty extreme variations in velocity. Don’t remember if it was lot-to-lot, or within the same case. I think sometimes they used fairly shitty powder in general, and with the different brands mostly just being different importers, it was probably difficult to consistently figure out which was good and which wasn’t. Other than the steel case itself, any of the above probably could contribute to its reputation for weak cycling.

I’ve only chrono’d Tula, and it was shockingly consistent. Better than any brass cased 55gr FMJ I’ve chrono’d. I also was hitting reduced silhouette steel with it at 400 (don’t remember which) with a gun zeroed for 68gr Frontier, easy peasy. The rims rip off sometimes, and sometimes the case sticks pretty hard. For functioning, my Hodge hates it the most, but Criterions don’t particularly like it either. Colt and BA don’t give a shit most of the time. I flip the selector 180* with it on a couple poor BA barrels.