Federal/Lake City XM855PD

[andyhinds]

I found with an Olympic AR-15 CAR that my ejector was prematurley worn from using the steel cases..replaced the part and used brass ever since.  The corrossiveness part of my statement was told to me by a Gun Shop Owner/friend that stated that Wolf/Silver Bear are mildly corrosive, and will (in time) cause damage to your bolt assemble by way of pitts and such. (I trust his judgement...) And if someone warns me of danger, or trouble..I will steer clear of that potential hazzard as not to cause needless damage to my investments.  I spend the little extra to buy the better stuff,  and no worries.  If its good enought for the US Military, its good enough for me.  Call it assurance if you will.

"If a horse falls into a hole at night with zero visibility...he will never EVER fall in that same hole twice"    Why do we fall in the same hole over and over again.....aren't we smarter than a horse?

We learn..."its our witts that makes us men."

First off, I could create lists that would have you rolling in the aisles of what gun store owners and employees have tried to pass off as truth.  Some of it is WAY out there.  Regardless, does this dealer sell Wolf ammo?  Does he sell brass cased ammo?  Which costs more?  

As far as your ejector...  I haven't ever owned an Oly AR (nor will I ever), so I can't give any first-hand info on them - I build most of my AR's from DMPS, RRA, or BM forged parts.  I try to stay away from cast metals in my AR's.  

  Paco is exactly right.  I'll bet ten to one you'll find he's selling you brass ammo because there's more profit in it.  

  Number 2.  Even if Wolf was mildly coorosive... I'd recommend cleaning your gun after you fire it.  

  As to your parts.  Paco is very right.  DON'T use cast parts.  Forged parts won't care what ammo you run through them.  They'll also be a lot more reliable for a much longer period of time.  Hence the reason the older Soviet/Chinese guns run forever.  

All my sh1t is stock, I shoot Wolf, never clean guns and never had a problem.  I think the whole Wolf issue is rumours anyways.

[azsarge]

I've found better deals than ammoman.

Everyone suggests that place, yet when I compare prices with others, ammoman is more expensive.

Example.  Case of xm855pd - 219 shipped

Same thing from Mirage - 169 shipped.  Thats a 50 dollar difference.

And I refuse to use Wolf ammo in my gat.

Out of curiosity; why?

Because I have heard things that are echoed in this thread by others.  

Whether or not it's true, I have heard it can damage extractors (never heard anything about it damaging the ejector, and I'm not sure how that could happen) and also the chamber.  

It's supposed corrosivity is not an issue because I clean my weapon throroughly after each trip to the range.

These issues may or may not be true, but I don't want to risk it.

One thing I DO know, from firing others ARs with Wolf, is that it burns dirty and leaves tons of crap in your bolt carrier and on your bolt.

For what I can get a box of M855, M193, or other rounds for these days, the only advantage to Wolf (it's price) is nonexistent.  I'm sure some day I will fire wolf ammo through it, but it's not going to be anytime soon.

[Mugen]

The parts in that Olympic were that of a COLT H-Bar.  (Forged) and was built, cleaned regularly and babied...till I sold it.
 I am not telling you what to shoot,  I am just simply saying that I WILL not shoot Wolf or Bear....if it works for you..great.  But I will not use it.  I spend the few extra dollars for the battle pack.

The shop owner/friend did not sell the steel cased stuff....nor did I buy ammo from him.  I had a wholesaler that sold me surplus ammo.

[Paco]

I've found better deals than ammoman.

Everyone suggests that place, yet when I compare prices with others, ammoman is more expensive.

Example.  Case of xm855pd - 219 shipped

Same thing from Mirage - 169 shipped.  Thats a 50 dollar difference.

And I refuse to use Wolf ammo in my gat.

Out of curiosity; why?

Because I have heard things that are echoed in this thread by others.  

Whether or not it's true, I have heard it can damage extractors (never heard anything about it damaging the ejector, and I'm not sure how that could happen) and also the chamber.  

It's supposed corrosivity is not an issue because I clean my weapon throroughly after each trip to the range.

These issues may or may not be true, but I don't want to risk it.

One thing I DO know, from firing others ARs with Wolf, is that it burns dirty and leaves tons of crap in your bolt carrier and on your bolt.

For what I can get a box of M855, M193, or other rounds for these days, the only advantage to Wolf (it's price) is nonexistent.  I'm sure some day I will fire wolf ammo through it, but it's not going to be anytime soon.

Okay.  If price isn't an issue, then I don't blame you for going with XM193 over Wolf.  For plinking ammo, price is an issue for me, so I generally use Wolf.  However since price isn't an issue for you, I certainly wouldn't be using the XM193PD though...  especially since it's only ~$10 cheaper per 500 rounds.

Some recent XM193PD ammo results:

Doing CQB ready ups this morning and had a total failure of my weapon. Doing some research on this board it seems it was a matter of time before someone had a problem. I wish I would of had a warning prior to my "Balistic Dissasembly". Total removal of the left side of my upper reciever, bulged the lower reciever and cracked it at the mag release button and behind the front takedown pin, pushed the ejection port cover out, sheared off the bolt carrier release, and blew up my last 20rounder. Yhe bolt carrier has mushroomed at the end and the bolt has "bloomed" like a lily. Send this stuff back from where it came! learn from me! In my 15 years in the Army I have seen a few of these "incidents". This one was a doozy! WEAR EYE PRO! I had a huge chunk hit my left lens and I got powder burned around my cheeks and lips. Im ok otherwise.
Hope this helps

I just find it ironic that so many are rejecting Wolf on the basis of third-party dealer reports of it possibly being corrosive or bad for your extractor or chamber, but the PD-designated ammo is "good to go"!

An enlightening read if you like to use the Lake City "PD" ammo:

http://ak47.net/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=16&t=238962&page=1

[Paco]

Some Lake City "PD" ammo:

[Reaver]

All I can say is Yikes.  Although, it would be nice to know if there were any flaws in the gun as well.

[Paco]

All I can say is Yikes.  Although, it would be nice to know if there were any flaws in the gun as well.

There's one more kaboom pic that I have seen that happened when using XM193PD ammo - but I'd have to look through my vast array of bookmarks to find it.  The one above is an Olympic and the other was a Colt.

[PHX COBRA]

Here is a thread on AR15.com detailing the naming for the "PD" suffix:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=16&t=241144

Paco, if you can find the pictures of the Colt AR blowing up, please post as I have a friend im trying to prove wrong on PD ammo being just as good as regular XM193.  He is saying it was just because it was an Olympic

[Paco]

Here is a thread on AR15.com detailing the naming for the "PD" suffix:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=16&t=241144

Paco, if you can find the pictures of the Colt AR blowing up, please post as I have a friend im trying to prove wrong on PD ammo being just as good as regular XM193.  He is saying it was just because it was an Olympic

Don't count on me finding it...  I'll take a look for a few minutes through my old bookmarks when I get home.  All I remember for certain was that it was a Colt (don't recall if it was an older one or new one) and that it was due to XM193PD.  The kaboom didn't look as bad as the Oly one though.

[PHX COBRA]

Here is a thread on AR15.com detailing the naming for the "PD" suffix:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=16&t=241144

Paco, if you can find the pictures of the Colt AR blowing up, please post as I have a friend im trying to prove wrong on PD ammo being just as good as regular XM193.  He is saying it was just because it was an Olympic

Don't count on me finding it...  I'll take a look for a few minutes through my old bookmarks when I get home.  All I remember for certain was that it was a Colt (don't recall if it was an older one or new one) and that it was due to XM193PD.  The kaboom didn't look as bad as the Oly one though.

Alright well, if you can find it, thanks.  But no Biggie.

And for a guy that shoots this stuff out of CIIIs and F/As, even a little kaboom will seriously ruin his day

[azsarge]

Paco, I've seen those pics, read those posts, and asked around.  Having a decent ammount of experience inspecting, preparing, and loading mags by hand, I know what to look for in a bad round.  Those 2 rounds you posted are funny, but would never get loaded into one of my mags.

My point is that the XM855PD ammo is definitely not the best, but it's the cheapest brass-cased ammo out there, and is good enough for punching paper.

That said, the 1,000 rounds of the XM855PD, and 380 rounds of reloaded M193 functioned just as well as the Winchester 55 grain that costs five times as much ($12/20).

The main thing that deters me from firing Wolf is the crap it leaves in the weapon afterwards.  It burns dirty and leaves the weapon dirty.  A big deal?  No, just a personal preference.

[Paco]

The main thing that deters me from firing Wolf is the crap it leaves in the weapon afterwards.  It burns dirty and leaves the weapon dirty.  A big deal?  No, just a personal preference.

If you don't clean your weapon after every range outing, then that's a legitimate reason not to use Wolf.  

[andyhinds]

The main thing that deters me from firing Wolf is the crap it leaves in the weapon afterwards.  It burns dirty and leaves the weapon dirty.  A big deal?  No, just a personal preference.

If you don't clean your weapon after every range outing, then that's a legitimate reason not to use Wolf.  

Really?? I NEVER clean any of my guns, except my carry gun.  Once they start 'jamming' (which has never happened) then I'll clean them.  I've put at least 3,000 rnd of Wolf through my Olympic Arms AR, never had a jam and it cycles just fine.

[Paco]

The main thing that deters me from firing Wolf is the crap it leaves in the weapon afterwards.  It burns dirty and leaves the weapon dirty.  A big deal?  No, just a personal preference.

If you don't clean your weapon after every range outing, then that's a legitimate reason not to use Wolf.  

Really?? I NEVER clean any of my guns, except my carry gun.  Once they start 'jamming' (which has never happened) then I'll clean them.  I've put at least 3,000 rnd of Wolf through my Olympic Arms AR, never had a jam and it cycles just fine.

Touché.

Let me fix it:

If you don't clean your weapon after every range outing, then that's PROBABLY a legitimate reason not to use Wolf if you are one of those that MUST clean your weapon after every range outing.

 

[Reaver]

The main thing that deters me from firing Wolf is the crap it leaves in the weapon afterwards.  It burns dirty and leaves the weapon dirty.  A big deal?  No, just a personal preference.

If you don't clean your weapon after every range outing, then that's a legitimate reason not to use Wolf.  

Really?? I NEVER clean any of my guns, except my carry gun.  Once they start 'jamming' (which has never happened) then I'll clean them.  I've put at least 3,000 rnd of Wolf through my Olympic Arms AR, never had a jam and it cycles just fine.

  Andy.  There are times you scare me.