My apologies if this is covered elsewhere - I didn’t see a sticky and the search is generating database errors…
I got my BCM lightweight middy a couple of weeks ago, and shot my first carbine match today with it. I was shooting the cheapo Tula 55 gr steel case today, and on my 3rd magazine I started getting stuck cases. Prior to that I’d only shot about 40-50 brown bear rounds, and I cleaned the chamber last night prior to the match. I guess maybe I can’t get away with shooting cheapo ammo like I was hoping. That said, what is generally the least expensive brass case ammo that you’ve used reliably? I got the gun for carbine matches, run-and-gun type stuff, so I am not really concerned with how accurate/consistent the rounds are.
I’ve found PMC Bronze to be a great combination of accuracy and reliability. IIRC I’ve been paying $309/1000 for 55 grain and $319/1000 for M855 62 grain.
I don’t shoot steel cased ammo because most of my barrels are stainless steel (Noveske) and the manufacturer doesn’t recommend it. However, I would agree that PMC Bronze, Remington UMC, Federal American Eagle, and Winchester USA are very good lesser cost alternatives to premium match type ammo.
I have shot thousands of rounds of these 4 manufacturers and never had a problem.
Stay away from the steel laquered cases. I have run into the same problem when the barrel/chamber got warm from repated firing. The silver bear should be ok as it is zinc coated but all in all I would go with something with a brass case.
If you’re shooting in a match like I believe you said you were… look out for the M855 if there is any steel targets in the match. They might be pissed if you jack up their steel, unless it’s beat already.
I run Federal American Eagle .223 and it can be bought for right at $311 Shipped per 1k rounds.
I still haven’t found anything better/less expensive in the brass department.
FWIW, I’m just finishing up my first k of Brown Bear 62 HP between two BCMs and have had no issues in matches and training classes. This Brown Bear 55 FMJ is $200/k. I only point this out because that’s 3k rounds of Brown Bear for the price of 2K rounds of pretty much any brass-cased ammo on the market.
At the same store, look at XM193C in the 500rd cases. $149.75 per box, so $299.50/k plus the $12 shipping. I just got two boxes last week. Can’t figure out why 2 500rd boxes are cheaper than 1000rd bulk pack, but I’ll go with it.
PSA are great folks, I’ve met the owner and three other employees–all gun guys with a NICE NEW storefront. Federal Xm193x has been good to me…Others have said otherwise. Except for Hornady’s training ammo I personally STAY AWAY from steel cased, com-bloc mfg’s…That is just MHO…
Excellent training ammo, and believe it or not it is LACQUER coated steel case. :fie: There are guys that have shoot thousands of rounds of this stuff in carbine courses and haven’t had any more problems than guys using brass cased M193. Hornady uses cleaner powders which helps.
All steel cased ammo generates more carbon buildup in the chamber because steel does not swell as much as brass does. So, the tighter chambers of western military rifles were having problems with stuck casings. Eastern Europe ammo is not only steel cased, but it is DIRTY. That is 2-strikes against it for the western market. Silver Bear and Golden Bear to not generate as much carbon buildup because they use slighly cleaner powders than brown bear. Wolf also started using cleaner powders in their ammo.
Clean your chamber with a chamber brush after shooting and it isn’t a problem.
Since steel cased ammo doesn’t swell as well as brass does, you get more gases escaping into the chamber. This causes lots of variations velocity and thus, accuracy. Military steel cased ammo is primarily issued to general infantry with open sights, or machine guns. Even the Ruskies use brass cased ammo for their precision weapons. Steel cased ammo is decent at giving combat accuracy with open sights at typical combat ranges which are under 200m.
Privi-Partizan & PMC ammo has always done well by me. Too much conflicting information regarding steel/bi-metal casings, so I tend to eschew them in favor of not worrying about malfunctions.
