American Eagle

[FalArAk]

Well,I went to Riley's yesterday in hopes of getting some XM193.Unfortunately,they didn't have it.What they did have was 55gr AE that they advertised as XM193 for $100.Is this the EXACT same as XM193 but just diff packaging ?

Needless to say I didn't buy any.I have run nothing but XM through my Bushy and never had any sort of failure,so I am partial to the stuff.

 

[Len-2A Training]

I seriously doubt it!

AE is Federal's "lower price spread" . . . but I don't know what, if anything, makes it different from the standard Federal label.

XM193 (the REAL stuff) is made to a mil-spec. A lot of stuff is sold as XM193, but really isn't. Some research on the AR15-eList http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AR15-L/ (you may need to register to read it, not sure . . . I've been a member since long before it went to Yahoo) NOT the AR15.com forum should get you more info than you really want from folks that really know their stuff (lots of hacks on AR15.com come across as experts but know little/nothing).

HTH

 

[FalArAk]

Thanks LenS,that is kind of what I figured.I was pissed when I drove all the way to Hookset to find this AE stuff instead of my beloved XM193.

Got some Winchester 40 round value packs at WallyWorld in Hookset for $7.50 a box though,cleaned them out of the 6 remaining boxes.I wanted to buy a lot more so the trip wasn't a total waste,supposedly that was all they had though.

 

[Nickle]

Yup, you did the right thing. The Winchester white box FMJ 223 should be closer to real M193 than the Federal in this case. Both were contractors for the ammo. But, I think you'll find that the military isn't really buying M193 any more. Even the lower priority National Guard/Reserve units have M16A2's now, so, they're using M855.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Ammo

Contrary to popular misconception, .223 (for example, American Eagle) and 5.56mm (XM193*) are not the same cartridge. The SAAMI spec for .223 is shorter than the 5.56mm. While .223 ammo can be safely fired in 5.56mm chambers, it is not generally safe to fire 5.56mm ammo in .223 chambers since the bullets can be longer and actually jam into the rifling.

In addition, the SAAMI pressure spec for .223 is lower than the mil spec for 5.56mm. The SAAMI web site advises that 5.56mm is unsafe in a .223 chamber.

It's generally a bad idea to get a .223 SAAMI chamber unless you are going to be careful to use only .223 ammo, or load your own to SAAMI dimensions. In addition to the mil spec 5.56 chamber, there are various other chambers designed to accomodate both cartridges - for example, the Fulton Armory "5.56 match" chamber, or the Wylde chamber used by vendors such as JP Rifles.

Google ".223 5.56 differences" for details.

* - The XM193 on the civilian market is generally thought to be surplus which either did not pass mil spec testing, was part of a batch where some did not pass, or was not qualified and documented as such. It's still good stuff though.