Bulk Federal 5.56 M855 FMJ Ball

H

hangglider

Moderator
I couldn't find a similar thread, so sorry if the question has already been answered.

Being a newbie to AR's--I couldn't help scoring an ammo can of bulk ammo at my local store. Looks just like military issue. The brass seems to have a light coat of dark grease on it--defenitely not like the sparkling brass I get in conventional boxes.

Is this something I should be concerned about enough to clean before using?
 
I just bought two 400rd cans of M855 on stripper clips for $139.99ea from PSA.

That darkness around the neck is called annealing and its done on all ammo except the military doesn't care how it looks so they don't waste money polishing it. There is nothing wrong with it and it doesn't effect performance.

8d491997.jpg
 
Federal runs the Gov't owned Lake City Army Ammunition plant under contract. Quite often they have over-runs or lots that for some reason (oily residue, tarnished cases , dented rounds) , fail some Gov't inspectors check. They may have run a lot of brass thru without final cleaning. So they surplus the whole lot and sell it to the public. Probably cheaper to do than to clean and reinspect.
 
Not sure I've got this right, but the annealing a) helps in long-term storage (or is it the can alone?) and b) reduces brittleness if reloading. Supposedly brand new production--I was a bit concerned about whether or not it was new. So is it possible it might actually be bad to clean it to a shine?
 
FWIW:

I have run a whole can of that ammo through my AR without any problems. The first can I bought said "not for duty use" on the large white sticker, and the second can didn't. I have been told that the "not for duty use" batch is factory seconds. Either way, both batches have shot well, no stoppages and consistent off the bench.
 
Hangglider,
Hmmm, I purchase and shoot 855s from Lake City Armory but have never received them with coatings of any kind... personally, I would wipe them down. BTW, you do know the 855s are penetrators... watch your back stop! The photo is a 100 yard shot agains 3/8ths steel plate!

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Hangglider,

That brass is supposed to look like that. As others have noted it is from annealing the case neck to make it less brittle, so that when the bullet is inserted in the case mouth the neck won't split. This is especially desirable when cases are reused.

Double Naught spy,
Those 855 62 grainers can indeed punch through 3/8ths plate:
This is only 1/4", can't find a 3/8" video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dGxRw8Jq70&feature=relmfu

The driving factor is the hardness of the steel, not so much the thickness. In the 200-300 BH range the 855 punches well, but can't get through ~500 BH.

The rod is very hard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vO3RBgzl_4
 
Thanks for the useful info! I suspected it was penetrator if it was the mil version of the Federal round. The cases were sealed on the store floor so I couldn't actually open and inspect--but I think it's a good purchase for the money ($140/420 rds-- same stuff as pictured above) Definitely range only through my bushie 1/9 carbon15--no telling where the round might end up in a home defense scenario!
 
FYI: The ability of the rounds to penetrate has a lot to do with the hardness of the steel used.

The first pic is a Birchwood Casey spinner target rated for center fire handgun, but not rifle and the second pic is a steel target rated for center fire rifle. All of the targets were shot with M855 at 100yds.

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5049e4ab.jpg
 
Shot the LC 855 through my AR for the first time yesterday--holy crap! blew one of the steel frames on my target holder clean through and bending the two parts back several inches at 30 yards or so (my scope wasn't working so I was basically doing point and shoot). The range I shoot at is near a highway and I'm a little concerned about a ricochet. Although many people have shot here for years, and it has a very steep bank of mud, there are some limestone rocks--and if there was even a remote chance of a ricochet I could see this kind of round doing real damage to a passing vehicle (or even myself).

What are the odds that this round would/could deflect off of limestone versus embedding or shattering? I know many people have fired more powerful rounds here and never heard of a problem--but it still un-nerves me a bit when I here a car passing behind me.
 
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