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AR 15 Pistol Ammunition

little pistol plinking ammo.....55gr Hornady FMJ, 26 gr H335 , CCI 450



Barnes 5.56 chamber spec loads......killer. I picked up a box of 53gr TSX as I understand it they are mean as hell in sbr so stands to reason they might work in a pistol......kinda spendy so I am only working up 3 at a time, no grouping to speak of just speed and some milk just ballistics ......more to follow
 
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25.5 gr H335, 1/10 grain over Barnes data. The cases show no preasure signs so I think I can work up a little from here and get a little more expansion out of the bullet

53 grain Barnes TSX -25.5gr H335- CCI 450- 2.190" OAL.....30 Yards came to rest in the 4th milk jug









My 77gr Nosler load from earlier in the thread, 30 yards a little shrapnel in the second jug the rest stopped in the third jug



 
That barnes bullet looks very impressive to me. Though I expected as much coming from my past experience with the 6.8 spc.

That nosler looks like the jacket is just peeling away leaving the core to do the bulk of the work.
 
Yeah, the Nosler does more damage to the first jug than the Barnes. The Barnes is just barely less damaging.

Then the second jug was damaged more by the Barnes, then it just went in and out of the third jug and was laying in the fourth
 
OK, here is the skinny on CFE223.
I was wrong about it....well at least with lighter bullets.

First I am using Hogdons data for 55gr TSX and CFE223 because there is none for 53gr TSX and the bullets are basically identical besides 2gr

started out in the middle of data and ended .8gr over all running cci450.
The last loads showed ever so slight pressure sign but nothing alarming for 556 power

I could not match the velocity of the H335 that was .1gr over Barnes data (and a few less than the CFE load) running cci450 and showing no pressure sign.....neither data source recommends magnum small rifle for their loads but I am starting to use them in all my loads heavy with spherical powder with no ill affects and they hold up a lot better than standard small rifle primer

I shot a couple through my 18 inch so I know how much I lost in velocity and it was more than I thought it would be , in fact CFE lost the most velocity out of any load yet at 840 FPS...3079 from the 18" and 2240 from the 8"

Good news is I shot jugs at 50 yards and the Barnes 53gr opened just like the closer shots I took earlier in the thread so I think I found my bullet for the pistol because I can retain decent velocity and they perform at 50 yards, I would be willing to bet they open at 100, beyond that its probably a crap shoot

I'm not into revealing this data as its distant enough from published data and there is no gain.....its not worth anyone messing with.........so for now I am going to table CFE for light bullets in short barrels

I may or may not try AR-Comp and 3031 when I pick up more but for now I'm loading the remaining 30 with H335, putting them in a mag and letting them ride

this thread might sit a bit ......I got a bunch of info from this to bring some of the advantage back to an AR pistol or short AR platform some have permission to own.....I take this thing seriously at this point there in nothing about it that's a range toy, its not a rifle and it doesn't really do the work of a rifle but it is formidable a lot farther away than I can throw a rock and with this Barnes ammo its actually scary badass, when my taxes show up it is getting an EOTech XPS
 
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and done....but not fully, I will do some 62's in tsx sometime see if I can get to at least 44 mag energy territory

on paper, these suck for energy. I mean they suck for a "rifle" round. For a pistol they are , on paper, in the 180gr 10mm realm or real hot 357 mag.

I am not opposed to this at all for a 100 or so yard gun, a 30 round semi auto 357 mag , or would be similar to having a 10mm upper.....but I believe this round to be inherently more accurate at any yardage than both these fine pistol rounds

 
Oli, you've shared some really good stuff in this thread.

Not many out there have done so much testing of various things (powder and bullet combo's) to get the performance you require. Thanks for sharing. Maybe when I start loading my own someday I can steal your recipes to use in my SBR.
 


I have to say I've never seen anyone post so many rounds on their bench that they needed a panoramic shot.

Respect!!
 
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