I understand the original intent of the round but is there any reason to choose it over some of the 64-75gr barrier blind/bonded rounds thst are available today?

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:
I understand the original intent of the round but is there any reason to choose it over some of the 64-75gr barrier blind/bonded rounds thst are available today?

It's a lot cheaper!

I personally avoid it because I shoot at my own steel targets more than paper, and I don't want to chew them up with that hardened penetrator.

2 totally different purposes, punching through military armor vs. barriers such as car doors, windshield glass. M855 isn't all that great or consistent terminal performance-wise so no, I wouldn't choose it to be a primary defensive round. It is good to have a large stash of since it costs less though.

I go with bonded SPs such as Federal Fusion for defense, whatever is low cost/decent quality for practice.

quote:

Originally posted by djpaintles:

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:
I understand the original intent of the round but is there any reason to choose it over some of the 64-75gr barrier blind/bonded rounds thst are available today?

It's a lot cheaper!

True, but doesn't seem nearly as accurate as my current 64gr gold dot and fusion msr loads, which seem to be as cheap as it gets for "defensive" rounds.

For cheap FMJ range ammo, M193 or AE223 is just as good. For general defensive purposes M193 is better. For punching through common barriers that civilians might encounter such as soft body armor, windshields, or car bodies, M193 is better, and not nearly as good for penetration (or accuracy) as bonded or solid bullet ammo like Federal Fusion or Speer Gold Dot. I have a case or so of M855 that I’ll probably sell for a kilobuck if we have another attempt to ban the stuff after the next election.

Like sigfreund, I have some but prefer other rounds for defense and in general would take M193 over M855 if I had to choose.

I hammer my steel with it and yes it pockmarks it at but so far no issues. If it’s cheaper than M193 when I’m buying plinking ammo I’ll take it.

I shot some at a Car and was quite impressed in the holes that it made through both sides of Brake rotors. If for some reason you needed to stop a vehicle I think the M855 would be far more impressive - which is part of why the Military uses it.

For soft tissue there's bound to be quite a few more effective options but it still wouldn't hurt to have a mag of it available for certain situations. While at first that may seem far fetched there has been all too many examples lately of vehicles driving into crowds of people etc .........dj

They tend to work well against polymer rifle plates.

Really a choice between m855 and 64gr GD, for me anyways. Seems like an easy answer, just trying to figure out if there is any advantage at all to m855 from a performance standpoint

Several years ago I tested a limited number of rounds of M193, M855, and 64 grain Gold Dot on an old 1976 pickup. The Gold Dot performed the best in the penetration tests through the windshield and performed well into into the engine compartment. Through double wall sheet metal the M193 did best. M193 and M855 performed very poorly through the windshield.

M855 through double wall sheet metal and into witness paper on the other side of the truck bed. The smaller #2 hole was caused by bullet breakup or (possibly) a plug of the bed wall metal.



M193 through double wall sheet metal and into witness paper on the other side of the truck bed. Notice virtually no bullet deformation or breakup.



64 grain Gold Dot through double wall sheet metal and into witness paper on the other side of the truck bed. The two smaller holes were caused by bullet breakup or (possibly) plugs of the bed wall metal.



64 grain Gold Dot into engine.



By comparison, Hornady 75 grain TAP through double metal bed wall. This was at close range behind the wall when the bullet was still losing lead:



Through windshield:

64 grain Gold Dot. The bullet lost weight, but penetrated completely though a stack of soaked newsprint and through the back window. The bullet was somewhat deformed, but most of the small holes were evidently caused by glass fragments.



The following bullets all stopped in the test medium behind the windshield.

Hornady 75 grain TAP



M855



M193



Despite the appearances of the witness papers, some of the bullets made it through the other side of the bed of the truck. The two 75 grain Hornady and the 64 grain Gold Dot bullets did better than the M193 and M855.

Pretty awesome Test Sigfreund! Looks like I need a case or two of Gold Dot! :-D

quote:

Originally posted by djpaintles:
Pretty awesome Test Sigfreund! Looks like I need a case or two of Gold Dot! :-D

Palmetto runs deals on them from time to time for 9.99 shipped. Thats usually whem I stock up. PReviously I had been working my way through the last of my 75gr TAP, down to about 30 rounds now. Its old enough that its been relegated to range use.

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:
I understand the original intent of the round but is there any reason to choose it over some of the 64-75gr barrier blind/bonded rounds thst are available today?

The simple answer is no.

M855 was designed to do one thing, penetrate a Soviet steel helmet at 600 meters. It does this very well, but is out classed by just about everything else for just about everything else.

I'd buy it for cheap just for fun shooting, but I'd rather have M193. (Remember when M193 was truly cheap?)

For any specific purpose, there are better choices.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I'd buy it for cheap just for fun shooting, but I'd rather have M193. (Remember when M193 was truly cheap?)[

For any specific purpose, there are better choices.

bought a case of it back in the early 80's for 7cents a round,
TW headstamp iirc

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

I did pick up a couple cases of it. 3 of the 4 rifles I tried it in liked it pretty well. Seems to shoot to the same POI as other 62gr rounds I've used. They are now loaded with it as my HD rounds.

It's not cheap at about twice the cost per round as M118 for .60cents a round isn't too ridiculous either.

Ordered a couple more cases.......... :-)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: parabellum,

Sigfruend, Thanks again for your post. I tried the Gold Dot in 3 more rifles today. It shot well and is my new standard HD round. Ordered a couple thousand more rounds.............dj

quote:

Originally posted by djpaintles:
Sigfruend, Thanks again for your post. I tried the Gold Dot in 3 more rifles today. It shot well and is my new standard HD round. Ordered a couple thousand more rounds.............dj

I was going to wait for the Palmetto deal to roll back around agian but have you found it for less than 10.00 a box?

quote:

Originally posted by WARPIG602:

quote:

Originally posted by djpaintles:
Sigfruend, Thanks again for your post. I tried the Gold Dot in 3 more rifles today. It shot well and is my new standard HD round. Ordered a couple thousand more rounds.............dj

I was going to wait for the Palmetto deal to roll back around agian but have you found it for less than 10.00 a box?

Palmetto was a better deal but they were out of stock. I paid 60cents a round. Its 65cents a round by the box. I got it from www.sgammo.com