Let me first apologize to those that have posted recently about how weak PMC Bronze ammo is! Your right! I bought a case just before the crazy hit - the LGS had a couple cases and the price was good!
I hadn’t chronied any Bronze for a couple of years ! Last time I got 3025 fps out of a 16" carbine! Didn’t write down that lot# sorry. The Current Lot # is 223A-0546 on the batch I shot today. The following chrony data was from a Savage Hunter 11 22" barrel chrony at 10’!:mad:
They must have read about the airline that saved money by taking one olive out of the salad they served. 1 grain of powder out of how many rounds equals a shit ton of savings?
Just a theory.
It’s designed to run in overgassed guns - the usual suspects - Shrubmaster, Delton, RRA, DPMS, CMMG, et.al. - all the rifles no self-respecting M4C regular would ever own. :haha:
I posted what I saw running a Noveske 16" and 10.5" on ARFcom and was practically lynched. It was very low powered and some were so low powered that accuracy was all over the place. I spent twice as much ammo as normal. @ 160 yards some would drop way out in front of my target. I sold it all and stopped a Cabelas order before it arrived. Glad to see from here and the other forums I have been vindicated from my findings!! I will say they (PMC) should have spent more time with loading spec than ascetics because the ammo was very pretty.
I have never had good luck with PMC ammunition. It has not been accurate out of 3 carbines and 2 match rifles. It’s the slowest factory 55g ammunition I have fired and below the accuracy node for my rifles. I use it for practice and matches inside 100 yards.
Here are some average muzzle velocities out of my duty carbine with 16" barrel for reference:
All velocities were measured at 15 feet from the muzzle at a temperature of 55 degrees farenheit. The S&B 55g FMJ, Malaysian M193 and Federal M193 all measured between 3240 fps and 3260 fps out of my match rifle with 20" stainless barrel.
While bronze is very slow it is not as bad as you are claiming. It is not so slow that it is going to drop into the dirt at 160 yards. If it was dropping in front of the target it was the way you were aiming. If you look at the posted differences in velocity that is not enough to go from on target to dropping in the dirt on the next shot. The only explanation would be that you were shooting in the dirt. Even if your target was 8 inches above the ground. The bullet is not dropping that much.
Op you might be having some chrony problems. Either weather or setup. The only other thing i could see is a mix up of bronze and xtac. Your velocity of 3025 from a 16" barrel is very fast. Bronze seems to range from 2650-2750 for a 16.
Is it not properly functioning in your AR? As much as people complain about it being under powered, I’ve never had a problem with it functioning & cycling correctly. It runs fine in all my ARs (6920x2, LMT MRP, DD LW Middy, Colt Sporter) including a brand new DD MK18 SBR during Pat Rogers COC. The accuracy wasn’t that bad at all but I’ve never shot it past 100 yards. It’s acceptable for my needs (training), but so is Wolf & Brown Bear, so I drive on with it.
750rds no hicups but I could barely hear it hit the steel with my ear pro. Dont get me wrong I have used PMC often over the years but the bronze is a third place.
I’ve never had a cycling problem in my 16 inch midlength with H buffer, 16 inch midlength with with A5, 16 inch carbine with C buffer, nor in either of my 11.5 SBRs with H2 buffers.
All of my Colts are carbine length guns, and thus also over-gassed.
Just sayin.
PMC runs in my guns. Not a great load for fighting or long range, but works fine when you are in a carbine class and doing NSRs from the 50 and in. You also end up with brass instead of steel on the ground, should you care to pick it up.
I put a bunch of new PMC bronze 55 grain through the chronograph yesterday that averaged 2700 fps (Colt 6920). It grouped well and functioned perfectly but I too thought it was on the slow side for factory ammo. For practice purposes I have no complaints.
I think it is odd that people have problems with pmc running their AR’s. Pmc bronze will run in my bcm 14.5" midlengths with up to an h2 buffer. Have not tried h3, and i normally run standard h buffers. I know it is not fast, but it has always been reliable. Accuracy is not match, but better than 193 for me
Yep, slow stuff. I chrono’d some a couple of years back and it was slow. Nice mellow round if you don’t need that max. XTAC is the max. The good news is they got the pressure curve right, since pretty much everyone’s gun runs on it, mine included.