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Accuracy Testing .223 Ammo

I grabbed a box of Corbon .223 Remington (5.56) 55 gr FMJ to include in the range bag for this test session.  Corbon is pretty well known for some of their self defense ammo.  Looking online, I noticed they have offerings in the hunting cartridge lineup as well.  The manufacturer states 3000 FPS velocity on the end flap of the box.  Price was $8.99 per 20 round box. 
 

The list wouldn't be complete without something from the Hornady line.  The order included a box of Hornady .223 Remington 55 gr FMJ-BT.  A velocity of 3240 FPS is claimed but barrel data is not known.  Price was $25.99 per 50 round box.
 

Since I had good luck with some Fiocchi .22LR ammo in my Ruger 10/22, I thought a box of the same brand might bring good luck in this test.  I found some Fiocchi .223 Remington 50 gr V-MAX ammo and ordered it with the rest.  The V-MAX bullet is another polymer tip bullet and in this case, it is made by Hornady.  This was the only cartridge in the group that ran a 50 grain bullet.  The Fiocchi product catalog shows a velocity of 3300 FPS.  Price was $9.99 per 20 round box.

So there is the run down of the "contestants" that I used in this accuracy test.  Now before we get too far into it, I limited this test to a single 5 shot group.  If I was seriously writing this for some magazine review, I would have shot multiple strings with each cartridge and then averaged them for a final result.  I don't have the budget to burn through 10 strings of 5 shots for each cartridge.  What I was looking for was a couple of factory loads that showed some sign of promise in my EA-15.  At the same time, I was hoping to demonstrate that not all ammo is created equal.....or put another way.....a gun can have a particular like or dislike for a certain brand/load. 

I chronographed all of the shots using my PACT MKIV-XP during the same range session.  I've been using this chronograph now for a couple of years with good results.  The chronograph keeps a running average of both velocity (Feet Per Second) and Standard Deviation for the shots in each string.  If I'm at the range to test factory ammo or work up a load, you can bet the rounds will be going down range over the sky screens.
 

This was the 5 shot group from the M193 Military Ball ammo and measured 5.18".  The group averaged 2971 FPS with a 35.9 SD.  Having shot the same M913 ammo before, the poor performance came as no surprise. 
 

This was the 5 shot group from the Winchester 5.56 55 gr FMJ ammo and measured 2.51".  The group averaged 2855 FPS with a 12.6 SD.  If you throw out the shot furthest to the right, the group drops to 1.35". 
 

This was the 5 shot group from the Remington UMC 55 gr ammo and measured 2.27".  The group averaged 2865 FPS with a 15.3 SD.  It is my intention to run a few more groups using this ammo given the fact that three of the shots shared the same ragged hole. 
 

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