In case some of you were wondering, like I was, I decided to test out the Wolf Gold 223 Tiawanese ammo that I keep seeing around. If you look on the web, you'll find some reviews saying it's loaded up to 556 specs. Well, the primmer is crimped and sealed. The bullet is also crimped. Now , to the velocity/ fragmentation part. I tested it out in a 20" 1/8 twist msar and a 1/12twist 20'" ar-15. The temperature for the day was around 25degrees. Seeing how I don't have any ballistic gel, I did the wet newspaper test. I let the newspaper soak for a couple hours in the house so it wouldn't freeze. When i was ready i got the chronograph out and set it up about 20' from the muzzle.
Now, here comes the interesting part, the velocity out of the Msar was right around 3100 fps, the low being 3088 and the high being 3111 for 5 rounds. i started to think to my that this was a little low for a 20" gun. Especially when other people have said they have gotten 3200 fps. So than i decide to try it in the AR. this time the speed averaged 3124fps. Still kind of low. So now I'm thinking that the ammo isn't loade as hot as some people say it is, or that the cold really slowed it down, even though i kept the mag in my front pants pocket to keep it warm until I was ready . I than ran 2 round of 55gr Winchester 5.56 loads from 2002 that I still have threw the AR to serve as a control round for my test. And guess what, they averaged 3144 fps. So, it looks like the Wolf is loaded almost as hot as the Winchester. What was causing the velocity loss. Either the cold was affecting the ammo, or the chrony is my guess.
With regards to fragmentation, all the bullets I pulled out, be it the wolf or the Winchester, showed jacket fragmentation. The funny part is, the bullet didn't flatten with the base breaking apart at the cannelure like what other ballistic test show. Instead, the upper half of the bullet wasn't distinguishable. It was just a a jagged mess of jacket and lead around around what appeared to be the base. I did dig out chunks of jacket from the paper. And like I said earlier, even the winchester rounds did this. When I got home I measured the thickness of the jacket on the Wolf rounds that i recovered and they were showing .021-.022", which is within spec for m193 bullets.
So, there you go. Is Wolf Gold true m193 spec ammo. I don't know. Did my wet newspaper represent a good test media to show reliable fragmentation ,and Was the temperature affecting the velocity that much, is my question. Thanks
Now, here comes the interesting part, the velocity out of the Msar was right around 3100 fps, the low being 3088 and the high being 3111 for 5 rounds. i started to think to my that this was a little low for a 20" gun. Especially when other people have said they have gotten 3200 fps. So than i decide to try it in the AR. this time the speed averaged 3124fps. Still kind of low. So now I'm thinking that the ammo isn't loade as hot as some people say it is, or that the cold really slowed it down, even though i kept the mag in my front pants pocket to keep it warm until I was ready . I than ran 2 round of 55gr Winchester 5.56 loads from 2002 that I still have threw the AR to serve as a control round for my test. And guess what, they averaged 3144 fps. So, it looks like the Wolf is loaded almost as hot as the Winchester. What was causing the velocity loss. Either the cold was affecting the ammo, or the chrony is my guess.
With regards to fragmentation, all the bullets I pulled out, be it the wolf or the Winchester, showed jacket fragmentation. The funny part is, the bullet didn't flatten with the base breaking apart at the cannelure like what other ballistic test show. Instead, the upper half of the bullet wasn't distinguishable. It was just a a jagged mess of jacket and lead around around what appeared to be the base. I did dig out chunks of jacket from the paper. And like I said earlier, even the winchester rounds did this. When I got home I measured the thickness of the jacket on the Wolf rounds that i recovered and they were showing .021-.022", which is within spec for m193 bullets.
So, there you go. Is Wolf Gold true m193 spec ammo. I don't know. Did my wet newspaper represent a good test media to show reliable fragmentation ,and Was the temperature affecting the velocity that much, is my question. Thanks
