Federal AE .223 accuracy?

T

TacticoolMallNinja

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So what's the typical group size for federal AE at 100 yards? i've been getting 2moa on average wondering if that's normal for this particular round, 3-9 scope bench rest. I bought 2 boxes from walmart it came in this grey/green box, 55 grain.
Dat_green_box-300x225.jpg

Oh BTW I can shoot and my scope ain't loose:)
 
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Loaded Ammo Question - Not Reloading

For bargain priced, FMJ, what exactly were you expecting?
I would say 2 MOA is about right, good shooting, bulk ammo.
This forum is about reloading so your thread is likely to get moved to one for loaded Ammo.
If the brass is Federal commercial like I believe it is, I have a 1,000 of those empties, and they are not high on my list to reload. The brass is softer than LC.
 
2 MOA on bulk ammo is darn good. As a reloader, I see a lot of variance in the factory bulk ammo: bullets ogive is noticably variable, seating depth of bullet, and I suspect some powder charges are not quite right either. Fine for plinking fun or shooting steel. I usually get closer to 3 MOA with bulk.

There are actually two versions of Federal brass from what I have read. If the "FC" is large, like on their commercial ammo, it is softer than most and should be avoided for reloading much. But their small "FC" brass is better and is found in the Eagle Tactical ammo. It seems to me some boxes if Eagle even had LC brass like the XM193, but I could be mistaken.
 
I love that stuff, actually! I was getting sub MOA from an 18” AR Stoner barrel with it. One 3 shot group, my best ever, was 0.427”


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Like other loads, if you have a barrel length and profile for which it has the right barrel time to serve as a tuned load, it'll be unexpectedly good. Otherwise, not so much.
 
"Federal AE" what bullet?
We're using Federal AE 50 grain JHP in a couple of AR's and 50 grain "tipped varmint" in a couple of others and getting cloverleafs regularly. Both knock the stuffing out of coyotes out to however far you can hit them.
 
What wasn't indicated in OP is the number of shots per group, nor the rifle used. For me, a 10-shot group from a stock A4 20" under 3 MOA is pretty good for bulk ammo. I don't even consider 3 shots to be a "group". So I would consider 2 MOA pretty decent for a brand of bulk out of any rifle. Handloading I wouldn't even look at a load combination that was 2 MOA, but factory bulk that's pretty good assuming at least 7-shot group.
 
IMHO
3-5 shots is enough to determine the accuracy potential of hunting rifles/ammo.
Ten shots is mostly a challenge of the shooter.
 
So what's the typical group size for federal AE at 100 yards?
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That depends on the firearm and the shooter.

In general, all domestic (and most foreign) commercial ammunition is capable of greater accuracy than the firearm/shooter combination shooting it is able to exploit.
 
Ammo matters for groups.

A couple years ago, I tested some ammo for 5 shot groups, 100 yds, DPMS AR 16" barrel.

Federal gold medal match 69g 1.5" group ($1+ per rd.)
Geco 55g 1.56" (~$.40 / rd)

Tula, Brown Bear, Fiocchi, Freedom reloads: around 3+" groups.
 
There's no such thing as a typical group size for Federal AE or any other brand. Every rifle will shoot every brand differently.
"...The brass is softer than..." Federal brass is well known for being softer than other brands. Mind you, Federal also manages the LC plant, as I recall.
"...Ammo matters for groups..." Yep, but so does the trigger, sights, barrel, rest and even the weather.
 
>There's no such thing as a typical group size for Federal AE or any other brand. Every rifle will shoot every brand differently.
"...The brass is softer than..." Federal brass is well known for being softer than other brands. Mind you, Federal also manages the LC plant, as I recall.

"...Ammo matters for groups..." Yep, but so does the trigger, sights, barrel, rest and even the weather. <

Well, there's some real insight. I was wondering why my groups weren't as good when shooting in high winds with gloves on. Now I know it's not the ammo.
 
3-5 shots is enough to determine the accuracy potential of hunting rifles/ammo.
Ten shots is mostly a challenge of the shooter.
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Mobuck, I have to disagree here. 5 shots can tell you if a load won't work...I mean if a 5 shot group is 3 MOA you can rule it out. But, a 0.5" 5 shot groups doesn't mean it's a 1/2 MOA load. More data is necessary to determine that. Could in fact still be a 2MOA or 3 MOA load.

I have said many times, 20 shots without changing ANY other variables gets you to a point where the confidence interval is low enough that more shots makes only marginal improvements.
 
Well, yeah, shooting is a test of the shooter. News flash. It is not that strenuous or arduous to shoot ten rounds at one target!! Some people even practice shooting. Gasp!

Shooting multiple targets for testing does take patience and self discipline. If you want real ammo performance data you have to work for it, like anything worthwhile. 3 shots tells one very little except the shooter is not very patient or healthy I guess.
 
I had the same experience with the 50 grainers, death on coyotes. I had a streak going on over 30 coyotes, no misses, one shot one kill with those using my Remington VS.

One year I took that rifle to South Africa to do some jackal hunting. My friend there had a benchrest match, so I took the VS along. One of the top shots in SA shot a group of 10 shots with my rifle and the 50 grain AE ammo, and almost put them in one hole. He told me that the combo came close to beating the SA benchrest record for the factory rifle/ammo class. I used to buy them for $4/20 in the mid 90's, still have about 500 left.
 
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