[ammojoe]

Hello,
Does anyone have any experience with American Tactical 62gr FMJ using it with the SIG 556? My 556 is still very new and I am trying to figure out what ammo works best for me. So far I have bought many different kinds of ammo, but this stuff really surprised me. At the range last Sunday, I had 3 30 round boxes of the American Tactical and a bunch of the Federal 62gr green tips. I shot about 60 rounds of the green tip stuff first at 50 yrds with 5 inch groups! Then I ran through 60 rounds of this stuff from the same distance with .75 inch groups. Does it sound like I found the right ammo for my gun? Any experiences with this Ammo good or bad? Thanks for the help!

 

[SkyPup]

Not all 62 grain NATO like M855 rounds are the same.

You've got to be careful, some of the green tip bullets are just copper coated lead bullets that are relatively short while some are real steel and much longer in length (the bullet length not the cartridge overall length).

Anyways, most of the military type ammo (X-193, M-855, etc) is not "Match" grade ammo quality with sub-MOA accuracy but is perfectly fine for general blasting purposes.

Most likely there is a difference in the composition of the bullets in these two rounds as well as different powder loadings that you are using.

Here is a photo of some "supposed" SS109 NATO green tip bullets from "M-855" rounds:

On the far left is a imitation 62 grain copper coated lead bullet, the middle is a real NATO M-855 SS109 Copper coated Steel penetrator bullet, and on the right is a copper coated 69 grain B THP.

You can see how short the non-steel 62 grain is compared to the steel 62 grain. The steel 62 grain is as long as a lead 69 grain....

 

[ammojoe]

Skypup,
Thanks a lot for the reply and the great comparison. I guess I didn't think to actually compare the bullets themselves. The picture helps a lot. These are supposed to be manufactured to NATO spec but who knows. Might try pulling one apart and comparing it to the lake city stuff.