5.56 & 223 Inexpensive Ammo Accuracy Review using M&P 15 Sport II

A quick, non-scientific look at some less expensive 5.56/223 rounds.
1. ZQI SS109
2. PMC X-TAC 62 grain
3. PMC Bronze 223 55 grain
4. PPU M193
5. PPU M855
6. Federal American Eagle 5.56 55 grain
7. BBM M193
8. Norma Tac-223 55 grain
9. Fiocchi Exacta Match 223 69 grain
10. Hornady Steel Match 223 55 grain
*Price per round paid and stats listed last minute of video

[@Swede109g]

Federal Gold Medal Match with the 69gr Sierra HPBT will shoot sub MOA in my Sport II, so the Sierra MK bullet is not too long for the 1-9 twist. My hand loads have not beat the GMM ammo as of yet, but I'm getting close... Nice review..

[@myronmaghirang2654]

awesome! thank you for testing the ammo's for the sport 2

[@danielbowman7226]

Thank you dear sir. I was a little worried the 556 would create some problems with the gun...when the army starts selling their ammo I'll start using that. In my neck of Eastern Europe woods you can still get decent 223 Sellier&Bellot ammo for cca 50 cents. It is local made, good to very good quality, no import fees etc. 556 is not too common, even bit cheaper but it is some dodgy Russian deal.

[@JESSEPAVON]

Hey guys I free float my rifle (m&p sport 2), put an adjustable trigger screw and a trigger job (polish). My rifle was shooting OK but nowhere near where I wanted it to be. After free-floating it and working on the trigger I can cover a three shot group at 150 yards with a quarter. When I first got the rifle I was kind of disappointed because I wanted extremely accuracy for long shots cause I do coyote hunting, now it’s a striper. My rifle likes almost all ammo, frontier 68gr bthp , tolammo 62gr hp, many of the Hornady 53gr to 75gr. I’m now very exited with my rifle.

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Jesse James glad to hear you got such a positive effect from your upgrades. I did end up free floating my rifle with a Midwest rail, and put in a ssa-e trigger. Interestingly, both had a nominal impact on accuracy for me. The ammo was the deciding factor for accuracy in my rifle, although I may be the weak link beyond a certain threshold. Great rifle out of the box, and if you’re getting sub moa with cheaper factory ammo that’s really impressive! Hope the info in the test was informative and entertaining.

[@crazrehabkid88]

Man I wish you could still find ammo for .30 a round vs .60 a round like now. The good ol days. Hopefully it comes back down in a few months. Great video 🤘

[@CurtDegree]

One year in the future, and finding standard 5.56 ammo for less than 80c is nearly impossible, and finding match for less than a dollar is a miracle in and of itself.

[@patriotrising6214]

Testing an firing several hundred rounds through a MP2 using over a dozen different brands of ammunition the 1st round is always best shot , accuracy after that very much matters on time between rounds fired!

[@shadowironbank5469]

I had a similar issue with my first 5 shots grouping close and as the barrel heated up the groups would open up. In my case it had to do with my reciever not being square with my barrel. So I bought the reciever lapping kit and “walla!” My groups tightened up by an inch! Initially I was getting 3.5” groups at 50 yds but ill take 2.5” and continue to work on other accuracy concerns.. I’ve done more work to this gun and still cant get under 1.34” at 50 yds. Im thinking its the cheap ammo thats out there.. 62 gr green tip seems to perform the best in my gun. Its either bad ammo or I need a match barrel.. this is what I have done.. lapped reciever, recrowned barrel muzzle, installed a triggertech diamond trigger, bolted shut my upper and lower reciever so no play between upper and lower, I shoot with bipod, and vortex 4-24x50 scope with rear sand back. My 22lr does 1.4” at 155 yds, so this AR gun shoots like crap compared to my cz rimfire! Just sayin..

[@trailertrashtactics]

This is a great video. I had massive poi change from 223 compared with 556. Like a foot plus up to the right. Leading me to similar testing. Forgot to mention this was with my 10.5 pistol. It must just not like 556 much

[@tracydillon6160]

The barrel harmonics change as the barrel heats.

[@user-mt5zh2pz7q]

Barrel heating is the issue that's leading to group size increasing...the low power 4X scope isn't sufficient for precision work at +100 yds, but at 50 yards you'll get fairly good results. You can see it in these results. The 1st groups are always tight...3 or 4 shots are sub MOA then a flyer with the 5th as the barrel gets hot. Then the following groups all seem to be in the 1.5 - 2 MOA range as the barrel is anywhere from warm to hot. It would be interesting to see this same test performed over time with cold bore 3 shot groups where you waited a good 30 minutes with action open between groups to allow for a complete cool down period...I suspect we would see what this rifle and the ammo is truly capable of then.

[@pinhigh1]

Good video! I've done some testing (with an M&P15 also) of some of the same rounds you've chosen. If its of any interest I have found very similar results. However my gun seems to do really well with that Norma Tac-233 over extended firing. Ive also had very similar results to yours with the heavier stuff. Generally my rifle throws the 69+ grain stuff in a high vertical string. Really similar results with the Hornady Steel Match and PMC Bronze. The PPU results were very similar also. I also tried some Tula, which initially looked really promising actually, but it ended up getting pretty wild after the first 2 groups.

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Don Rolstan thanks so much for the info! I have tried some sub 55 grain loads recently and will be doing a video on them shortly. So far the only rounds that have outperformed the steel match are the federal gold medal match and the hornady super performance varmint. I believe it was 53 grain for the hornady. That round has been exceptional for accuracy- nearing half MOA consistently with 5 round groups. The black hills match also did very well. I’ll post the review and stats in the next couple days. Thanks for commenting!

[@MethosOhio]

Thank you for this test. Very detailed.

[@littledaddynesbit4193]

...shooting 63grn Geco FMJ through my Lithgow .223 and the barrel temp made a huge difference in groups @100 yards. First 3, 0.75" then opened up to 2". Federal GMM 69grn was 0.5" regardless of shots, 3 X 3 grps back-to-back...

[@goodoboyde]

Thank you. very good

[@trailertrashtactics]

God I wish they still made hornady steel match. I have about 900 left still

[@Cotton088]

Non free floating barrel while using a bipod can cause all kinds of results and then add in barrel heating

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Interesting- I ended up free floating the M&P with a midwest rail and noticed no real improvement of accuracy. May be that I'm the weak link in that equation- or the fact that I use a 4X scope on it. The match ammo did however get me well sub MOA results before and after floating it. Thanks for the comment!

[@hobbesesq.8841]

@K.M. Smith Yup, get a low profile gas block if it's a carbine and you want a rail that will extend beyond the gas port. I personally like a 13" rail on a 16" barrel. Different rails attach with different barrel nuts I believe. I think the midwest one I used is their proprietary one that came with it. You can do the work yourself, but need some tools. May want to have a smith do it once you get the parts. But, I found little accuracy benefit with my upgrade. If you use a red dot and not a scope as your optics I really like the A2 front sight and would stick with that as personal preference. Hope I've been helpful! Happy to answer any other questions.

[@Cotton088]

K.M. Smith there are all kinds of videos on KZbin. It isn’t that hard but you need the correct tools. All of my AR’s shoot MOA or better and are all free floated . The 308 will shoot 3/4” 5 shot groups

[@blackbeard5273]

Great video

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Thank you. Glad you found it to be useful

[@pinhigh1]

Have you tried any sub 55gr loads yet?

[@nicolaipetersen6031]

Hi :) Are all the targets shown shot at 50 yards?

[@rusty_shakleford3395]

What's your opinion on best cheapest ammo for that gun. Just got one. Looking to stock up on as much ammo as possible of the best cheapest 55 grain Ammo.. And does your gun runfine on steel casings? Any info you could help with would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

[@hobbesesq.8841]

I think it’s all overpriced right now due to the public health concern and run on buying ammo. Steel always worked fine in the rifle, but I do usually buy brass. I think it depends on your application. I’d likely wait to stock up until prices hopefully drop no matter which way you go. If you are looking for accuracy specifically, or looking for something that will get you passable accuracy that is inexpensive but reliable, or if you need it for varmint hunting- I’d suggest different things. I stocked up on fiocchi brass a while back- it was cheap, accurate, and brass cased.

[@rusty_shakleford3395]

@@hobbesesq.8841 Ok thanks. I'll try and hold off till prices drop back down around normal. Not looking for accuracy as much as I am dependability. I want to know it's gonna pow every time. Not jam. Misfire. I'll hone in for accuracy but if I need it to bang it better bang.

[@ronaldcoleman1323]

Shoot the same test at 200 yards. Very good test.

[@jorgesolis9468]

Winchester 5.56x45 55 gr gave me less than an inch group at 100 yards from a bench

[@TheBlazewizard]

New to the AR platform. I had a question for you guys. I was zeroing my AR at 25 yards starting with 5.56 55 gr and I was able to get 2 inch groups which im sure a lot factored into human error but! whenever I threw 55 gr 223 my shots were like 6 inches high every time. Does this mean I only have to specifically use 556 for this setup or am I missing something? I was under the impression I could use either 223 or 556 and not have to rezero my optic between caliber. I knew it was gonna be a bit of a difference with point of aim, point of impact but 6 inches high? is this normal? Any feed back is appreciated - thank you.

[@hobbesesq.8841]

6 inches is a pretty large difference, especially if you are seeing that difference at 25 yards. I’d imagine you’d see much less than that between most 5.56 and 223 loads in terms of variance. But, if you are going for accuracy I’d set the sights for 1 particular type of ammo. The fiocchi 223 was a good compromise for me of accuracy/reliability/cost, so I stocked up on that and sighted my rifle in for that load particularly. But, if you are just looking for combat accuracy- my experience is there hasn’t been a difference that large between most 5.56 and 223 rounds. Not much more than there is between one 5.56 to another, or one 223 to another.

[@TheBlazewizard]

@@hobbesesq.8841 I appreciate the quick response. I figured this was the case as it seemed like a drastic difference. Im more so looking for combat accuracy so a 2 inch group is perfectly fine with me but you'd imagine my surprise when I was seeing a 6 inch difference. Im using a mp15 with a 1/9 twist and both were 55 gr. It honestly could be me not being able to get a good zero as I honestly struggled with it. I might just try to rezero at 36 yards with 5.56 and then shoot some 223 and see how far off it is. Once again I appreciate the advice and input.

[@Mossberg590Mariner]

Can you try out the PMC 77gr OTM SMK and the PMC XTAC Match 77 gr? curious how itll do in a 1:9.

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Sorry for the late reply- I gave that rifle to my uncle a few months back, so to do further testing I'd need to have him bring it out to the range sometime. Great rifle. Probably more (or just as) accurate as my BCM, but I don't tend to collect much, so it has a good home with him. If I set up a date to hit the range with him in the near future I'll look into those rounds! I tried a few 77 grain rounds and honestly didn't see too much destabilization at 100 yards though. Some 77 grain rounds did really well in terms of accuracy- others not so much. Thanks for the comment!

[@gonagain]

Copper fouling in a barrel will destroy accuracy. Do you regularly remove copper?

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Fairly regularly- but i find my groups are tighter with a slight bit of carbon fouling. Not sure if that is true for most- just my experience. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@gonagain]

@@hobbesesq.8841 Thank you, I enjoyed your video.

[@bsmith2947]

Nice Test Thanks.

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Thanks man! Glad you found it useful.

[@carlossales8710]

How did you change the Handguard up front next to the front site

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Carlos Sales the hand guard is in two pieces. You pull down on the delta ring towards the rear of the rifle. Some are stubborn, most you can do by hand- but a tool makes it easier. It’s a very simple thing to do one of the drop in hand guards like I had on this rifle when I did this video.

[@Johnyrocket70]

exreme spread in their velocity sends flyers

[@hobbesesq.8841]

JB for cheap ammo I've found the hornady steel match to perform extremely well. Sub MOA and often sub 1/4 MOA at 100 yards with my stock m&p15. If you don't mind running steel, and/or don't reload, it's the best I've found in terms of accuracy for my rifle- even beating out other high end match brass. Just bought some varmint rounds to test as well. Thank you for the info.

[@gerardomiranda1613]

Yahhhhhhn! You had the energy of someone giving a eulogy.

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Gerardo Miranda Hahahaha.

[@647lapua5]

Thats a pretty good shooting rifle for a standard AR, I seen worse.

[@hobbesesq.8841]

I was very impressed by the rifle, thanks for watching and commenting!

[@joesinegal8167]

Combat Accuracy Is Good Enough For Self Defense Or SHTF With Whatever Rounds You Have To Defend Yourself! AZ Trigger Here On KZbin Also Did An Accuracy/Round Comparison That Yielded Pretty Good Results From His M&P Sport II. Thanks For The Video! ✌️🇺🇸✌️

[@garythalmann5005]

In my humble opinion, a hot barrel does affect accuracy.

[@ticktock1963]

I agree as the barrel expands from the heat the rifling does not grab the bullet as much.

[@bobbythompson3544]

Would probably suit bolt action hunting!

[@Ultra-Lawyer]

So what’s better for the M&P Sport II-.223 or .556?

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Depends on your purpose I suppose. They tend to make more 223 that is geared towards match level accuracy and consistency. Never had an issue with the gun running either type.

[@Ultra-Lawyer]

@@hobbesesq.8841, you know-you’re spot on. I’ve been shooting anything I can get my hands on, such as Israeli, Australian .556, and found some Winchester .223. All of which, a real pleasure to shoot at 75-100 yards at dusk with a light and red dot. But I’m still interested on finding that one bullet that I can always rely on for self-defense. Still searching.

[@hobbesesq.8841]

@@Ultra-Lawyer I’ve had good luck with black hills ammo in terms of a combination of reliability and accuracy. I bought a huge amount of fiocchi a few years ago that’s been great. But, you’re right- it’s just hard to get your hands on much of anything currently. I’ve had very few manufacturers that didn’t provide excellent reliability and decent accuracy out of that gun. It’s like I heard a sound engineer say about microphones. What’s the best mic? The one in your hands.

[@hobbesesq.8841]

@@Ultra-Lawyer thanks for commenting, hope the material is helpful!

[@bigtrev761]

🇦🇺😎👍Noice

[@trailertrashtactics]

One question, did you have the same zero the whole time?

[@hobbesesq.8841]

Pierce Foss I started zeroed with the ZQI- I changed the zero once during the entire testing process (I have 3 videos in this series). I had a relatively small change from round to round though- whether it was 223 or 5.56. At most 4 inches of difference between different round types and model/manufacturers. Still likely “combat effective” without zero changes. But, I did notice a trend that the bulk of the rounds were running high left- so I rezeroed as I was testing group sizes and not differences between POI shift of the different rounds. Thanks for watching and commenting! Hope this was helpful!

[@trailertrashtactics]

@@hobbesesq.8841 thank you for the reply! And years later. Seriously respect that. Subbed!

[@trailertrashtactics]

@@hobbesesq.8841 subbed!

[@trailertrashtactics]

@@hobbesesq.8841 forgot to mention my POI shift up and right was just with a 10.5" upper. I havent done any testing with my regular rifles yet but I know the change in POI isnt near as much (10+ inches)

[@hobbesesq.8841]

No, problem @@trailertrashtactics glad it was helpful

[@MS-oz2wu]

Suggestion 50 yd test basically does little. 100, 200, 300 + are telling. Get on out there.

[@frankopanklaric]

Was this at 100 yards?

[@hobbesesq.8841]

50 yards, but the stats are in MOA

[@kevpachakey]

That scope is 2x as much as the gun 😂

[@hobbesesq.8841]

I got the previous gen after they had updated to the new model- so it actually was the same cost as the rifle instead of 2x! Great scope, wouldn't hesitate to recommend

[@SheepDogNumber6]

Pros would agree. Spend on glass.

[@bigfoot3866]

I put an acog on mine lol

[@jefferybrown1806]

You just cant shoot