snayperskaya wrote:
I don't know about .223/5.56 military bullets but I can tell you that I weighed a batch of 20 pulled Russian steel-core 7.62mm bullets (7.62x54r .311") and the variation in weight across the 20 was smaller than the same quantity of Prvi/PPU bullets and once reloaded were much more accurate than Prvi/PPU factory rounds.Even the old pulled 180gr Egyptian military lead-core bullets I have are more consistent than Prvi/PPU!!!.
Also wanted to jump on the Privi bashing band wagon... I bought 400 x 8mm Privi bullets and almost half of them measured as .322" diameter, and after neck sizing my 8x57 cases I found the ID to be .321 so I was only getting half a thou neck tension... You could push the bullets in by hand. I bought some SMK's and some S&B bullets and I've found them to measure .323" correctly. On the other hand, their brass is good!
Back on topic; I bought some 55gr 5.56mm bullets a few years ago, I recall the brand name to be "ACM", and they were in a plastic bag with nothing other than the calibre, weight and quantity displayed. Grouping was 3 MOA at absolute best and the overall length was very inconsistent. No amount of load development improved this. When using 69gr SMK the rifle shoots sub-MOA easily.
I also bought some 145gr 7.62mm bullets with the same brand name "ACM" on the bag with the same details. Grouping was difficult to get below 5 MOA, and when it did it was purely due to statistical anomalies. Overall length again, very inconsistent. Lapua 155gr bullets group at 0.5 MOA easily.
I've given up buying cheap bullets; you get what you pay for. With the quantities of Lapua I buy I find them to be reasonably priced and am happy to pay the cost (something like £25 per 100 posted for 6.5mm and .30 call bullets).
