Alright, so given that the Wolf Gold and PMC Bronze .223 are generally around the same price, which is worth the money?
PMC Bronze .223 is generally known as a “meh” weak round, but decent range fodder.
Wolf Gold is apparently the new hotness for folks on a budget.
But I hear good and bad- some guys are claiming awesome performance and accuracy, and other saying it’s still pretty mediocre and not so accurate?
Which is it?
Does anyone have any hard accuracy comparison data between the two?
Chrono data on the two so they can be compared?
Exactly how underpowered and mediocre are we looking at here?
I did not see any direct comparison when I searched, hence the thread.
I shot some PMC Bronze 55g over my Chronograph once or twice, I don’t have the data recorded, but I recall it floated between 26 -2700 FPS. Not very punchy and not very consistent either. I have not shot any wolf recently and have no chronograph data from it to share. I have always found PMC to feed and eject reliably and have had little trouble with it in both pistol and rifle calibers.
I generally roll my own and prefer shooting my loads.
I agree with Eurodriver as well. As far as range ammo goes, just go with the cheaper option. I use PMC Bronze 55gr for range usage and haven’t had any issues to date. I wish I had info on Wolf Gold for you but I haven’t needed to buy more 5.56 yet.
I’ve shot both out of a 20". PMC Bronze did about 2850 fps. Wolf Gold did 3235 fps. It’s been awhile since I’ve shot the PMC, I don’t remeber the accuracy I got. The Wolf did 2-2.25" for 5 shots at 100 yds.
I’ve shot about 3k of each in the last year. For my type shooting, I see zero difference in the two. Both are the same @ 50 yd zero. My deciding factor on what I bring/shoot is if I have/want to leave the brass, the Wolfs are crimped. PMC isn’t. If the brass is going to be left, I leave the Wolf.
JMO
My vote is for Wolf Gold. I have run a case of it in the last month or so and its my new go to. Never a hiccup and the brass is nice. Under $300 shipped makes me smile.
I haven’t shot PMC in a long time and won’t buy it picking even Wolf steel cased over it. PMC is the only ammo that I’ve ever seen the case head separate. 5 rounds out of 100 with visible cracks in 11 more. My Mini is admittedly hard on cases but PMC is still junk. It’s never ripped rims off of any other ammo from Wolf, Brown Bear, Privi, Winchester, Remington, Federal, American Eagle, Israeli surplus, Radway, or anything else that I just can’t remember. I have no faith in a case that won’t hold together when every other brand has.
MAC did a review on Wolf Gold sometime ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z7GB6RD4kI. A 1.5" 10 shot group was shown by MAC with a MR 556 and a 3045 fps average out of the same 16" barrel. It’s loaded more to Nato spec than .223. The cases have sealant and are also annealed. I started reloading so I only buy ammo now when it’s an insanely good deal. I picked up some Wolf Gold awhile ago at $295 for 1000 from Wideners and have had no problems with it at all. I probably have 20-40 rounds left. I would have bought more but I finally found some powder and primers so I went back to reloading.
I didn’t see this thread until now. I am not sure if the OP is still curious. But here is some of my recent chrono data (10 shots each). This is all recent production ammo tested on the same day (about 65 to 70 degrees), same gun, same chrono set up, etc. This is out of a 16" barrel (an AR Performance 1:8 hybrid 5R Melonite/nitride barrel if it matters to you).
PMC Bronze 55gr FMJ
average velocity - 2622 FPS
extreme spread -108
standard deviation - 20
Wolf Gold 55gr FMJ
average velocity - 3030 FPS
extreme spread - 28
standard deviation - 10
Federal XM193 55gr FMJ
average velocity - 3062
extreme spread - 70
standard deviation - 23
CBC Magtech 77gr OTM (MK262 Mod 1 clone)
average velocity - 2629
extreme spread - 121
standard deviation - 30
My informal accuracy tests (at 100 yards) for both PMC and Wolf Gold in this gun shows them to be about the same. It is excellent for both.
I didn’t test the XM193 or CBC Magtech for accuracy in this gun on this day.
If you remember, what kind of groups were you getting with the Gold ammo?
If the weather is good, I may try to get out this weekend and get some un-scientific accuracy data out of a basic PSA 1:7 CL barrel.
Around what Tom reported above, or a little better?
I think you can get a bit tighter grouping. I used a Burris MTAC when I got that group. 2.4 moa dot at a 100yds. With a fine plex I think it would shrink a bit.
Has anyone noticed the Blue Film left behind in the Bore and Muzzle Device from PMC Bronze .223? I don’t notice that crap with any other ammo I’m shooting.
But no really I’m just wondering if that crap would cause corrosion, more so than just the standard black carbon left behind from other ammo. That blue junk is a PITA to remove inside the Muzzle Device. It doesn’t happen when I shoot M193/855, Mk262, FGMM, AE .223 55gr etc.
I agree with PMC bronze not having as much velocity as Wolf Gold. I also found the brass not being ejected as far as almost anything else. Rifle was BCM 16" middy. Shooting prone, PMC brass got maybe a couple feet, where everything else got thrown quite a bit further.