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The problem with "5 boxes of this, 2 boxes of that, and some of those".

Toast

Toast

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With the current ammo situation, I've been picking up ammo here and there from time to time when it comes available, usually in 100 - 200 round quantities. As a result, I've got a smorgasbord of different brands. My 5.56 situation may be the worst, because I have a bunch of both that and .223 on hand in various brands. Took a few different brands of .223 to the range this morning to see just how different they are. I knew there'd be a spread, but I was surprised at the extent of it.

First up was some Tula steel case that I got as part my TS freebee this year. Completely off the paper at 100 yards. I have no idea where they were going, and with only 10 rounds on hand I didn't spend a lot of time trying to figure it out.

Next, a half box of Hornady Custom Training. First 5 made a nice group 2 clicks left / one high. Dialed it back over / down and was nicely hitting around the center until I ran out.

Finally, some Federal white box, where the spread doubled and walked halfway to the top of the target.

Sure, I was expecting differences and my 805 with a non-magnified red dot is no one's idea of a tack driver, but what a PITA this is going to be as I burn through the random stuff before I get down to the things where I was able to pick up cases of stuff.
 
Toast said:
With the current ammo situation, I've been picking up ammo here and there from time to time when it comes available, usually in 100 - 200 round quantities. As a result, I've got a smorgasbord of different brands. My 5.56 situation may be the worst, because I have a bunch of both that and .223 on hand in various brands. Took a few different brands of .223 to the range this morning to see just how different they are. I knew there'd be a spread, but I was surprised at the extent of it.

First up was some Tula steel case that I got as part my TS freebee this year. Completely off the paper at 100 yards. I have no idea where they were going, and with only 10 rounds on hand I didn't spend a lot of time trying to figure it out.

Next, a half box of Hornady Custom Training. First 5 made a nice group 2 clicks left / one high. Dialed it back over / down and was nicely hitting around the center until I ran out.

Finally, some Federal white box, where the spread doubled and walked halfway to the top of the target.

Sure, I was expecting differences and my 805 with a non-magnified red dot is no one's idea of a tack driver, but what a PITA this is going to be as I burn through the random stuff before I get down to the things where I was able to pick up cases of stuff.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a great opportunity to add tons of DOPE to your notes.
 
Toast said:
With the current ammo situation, I've been picking up ammo here and there from time to time when it comes available, usually in 100 - 200 round quantities. As a result, I've got a smorgasbord of different brands. My 5.56 situation may be the worst, because I have a bunch of both that and .223 on hand in various brands. Took a few different brands of .223 to the range this morning to see just how different they are. I knew there'd be a spread, but I was surprised at the extent of it.

First up was some Tula steel case that I got as part my TS freebee this year. Completely off the paper at 100 yards. I have no idea where they were going, and with only 10 rounds on hand I didn't spend a lot of time trying to figure it out.

Next, a half box of Hornady Custom Training. First 5 made a nice group 2 clicks left / one high. Dialed it back over / down and was nicely hitting around the center until I ran out.

Finally, some Federal white box, where the spread doubled and walked halfway to the top of the target.

Sure, I was expecting differences and my 805 with a non-magnified red dot is no one's idea of a tack driver, but what a PITA this is going to be as I burn through the random stuff before I get down to the things where I was able to pick up cases of stuff.
Click to expand...
How big of a target where you shooting at?

i have run everything from 1970s Norinco to hornady steel match , FGMM , 223/556 m855 m193 in one sitting and i managed to land all of it with a few flyers into a 6" black bull of a SR 1 target.
But yes your claim is valid your going to get different groups in different places changing ammo. It might even take 10-20 rounds for your rifle barrel to "foul" and start shooting well.
My AR I use for nra will do that.
If I shoot 69 grain bullets for a while then shoot 77s they will not "group" until i shoot 8-10_shots then like magic it snugs right up

Also your not giving that ammo a good chance with the 805 and a red dot. Thats a hits on torso size target set up.......
Just a fun dig. I dont know anything about the 805 bren other than i held one and said , nope not for me. The price did not help either.
 
Using different brands for precision shooting when you only have a couple of boxes of each is a waste of ammo and time.

Unless you are trying to find what shoots best in your rifle.

Different brands, bullet weights and so on will shoot different.

Instead, I would use all the mixed stuff to practice drills, close shooting where you are aiming at a human size target maybe 20-50 yards away. Practice fast reloads, moving, shooting at multiple targets... or use the mixed stuff for new shooters.
 
Nick Leduc said:
The worst part about having multiple brands is that the box size isn't standard. OCD kicks in hard when trying to stack deep.
Click to expand...
How do you ocd folks even cope with shooting at all?
You have to take the gun out of the box , touch it get prints on it, touch the ammo, load shoot it make a mess , get things dirty , wheres that last piece of brass!!!! I dont know how ocd people can function. Must be awful.
 
mac1911 said:
How do you ocd folks even cope with shooting at all?
You have to take the gun out of the box , touch it get prints on it, touch the ammo, load shoot it make a mess , get things dirty , wheres that last piece of brass!!!! I dont know how ocd people can function. Must be awful.
Click to expand...
You sound like my wife. "You have all these guns and you never use any of them". Haha
 
Broccoli Iglesias said:
Using different brands for precision shooting when you only have a couple of boxes of each is a waste of ammo and time.

Unless you are trying to find what shoots best in your rifle.

Different brands, bullet weights and so on will shoot different.

Instead, I would use all the mixed stuff to practice drills, close shooting where you are aiming at a human size target maybe 20-50 yards away. Practice fast reloads, moving, shooting at multiple targets... or use the mixed stuff for new shooters.
Click to expand...

Absolutely this ⬆️

I have nothing more to add.
 
Nick Leduc said:
The worst part about having multiple brands is that the box size isn't standard. OCD kicks in hard when trying to stack deep.
Click to expand...
Stacking ammo is not so much about OCD, but the pain of having to be detail oriented for a stupid task such as stacking ammo.

I hate having to think that the Winchester boxes are bigger than the XYZ boxes so they need to go in the bottom.
 
Nick Leduc said:
The worst part about having multiple brands is that the box size isn't standard. OCD kicks in hard when trying to stack deep.
Click to expand...

Broccoli Iglesias said:
Stacking ammo is not so much about OCD, but the pain of having to be detail oriented for a stupid task such as stacking ammo.

I hate having to think that the Winchester boxes are bigger than the XYZ boxes so they need to go in the bottom.
Click to expand...
1619889437722.png
1619889461628.png


1619889516069.png
 
Nick Leduc said:
The worst part about having multiple brands is that the box size isn't standard. OCD kicks in hard when trying to stack deep.
Click to expand...

mac1911 said:
How do you ocd folks even cope with shooting at all?
You have to take the gun out of the box , touch it get prints on it, touch the ammo, load shoot it make a mess , get things dirty , wheres that last piece of brass!!!! I dont know how ocd people can function. Must be awful.
Click to expand...

Nick Leduc said:
You sound like my wife. "You have all these guns and you never use any of them". Haha
Click to expand...

Broccoli Iglesias said:
Stacking ammo is not so much about OCD, but the pain of having to be detail oriented for a stupid task such as stacking ammo.

I hate having to think that the Winchester boxes are bigger than the XYZ boxes so they need to go in the bottom.
Click to expand...

Lady Radtekk calls it "ammo tetris". She likes laughing at me while I try to rearrange. Not ocd, just trying to fit 8 lbs of crap into a 5 lb bag...
 
mac1911 said:
How do you ocd folks even cope with shooting at all?
You have to take the gun out of the box , touch it get prints on it, touch the ammo, load shoot it make a mess , get things dirty , wheres that last piece of brass!!!! I dont know how ocd people can function. Must be awful.
Click to expand...

The hardest part is wearing gloves when loading mags...don't want fingerprints on the brass! [laugh]
 
mac1911 said:
How do you ocd folks even cope with shooting at all?
You have to take the gun out of the box , touch it get prints on it, touch the ammo, load shoot it make a mess , get things dirty , wheres that last piece of brass!!!! I don't know how ocd people can function. Must be awful.
Click to expand...
I can attest to the fact that it ain't easy. [dance]
 
What brand gun/barrel? What twist and length? What size target at what distance?

POA/POI def change and sometimes a lot. If you are going to buy different types of ammo, at minimum stick with the same grain and type. Usually that would be 55gr ball.
 
Jumping back to add, please make sure you zero your gun with a specific brand/type and then only load your mags with that ammo when not training.

My primary rifle is zeroes with 77gr Sierra SMKs. All my mags are loaded with this ammo. When I train I just assess the POI of what I'm using and go Kentucky windage.
 
xtry51 said:
What brand gun/barrel? What twist and length? What size target at what distance?

POA/POI def change and sometimes a lot. If you are going to buy different types of ammo, at minimum stick with the same grain and type. Usually that would be 55gr ball.
Click to expand...
CZ Bren 805, 16" barrel, 1:7 twist, 6" bull on 10" x 10" target at 100 yards, unmagnified RDS.

If it likes the ammo, this will spit out 3" to 4" groups, and that's more a comment on me than the rifle (the rifle is more accurate than I am). If it doesn't like the ammo, things open up to 6" to 8" groups.

Sure, I can find the ammo it likes, but if you can't get what it likes ......
 
Toast said:
CZ Bren 805, 16" barrel, 1:7 twist, 6" bull on 10" x 10" target at 100 yards, unmagnified RDS.

If it likes the ammo, this will spit out 3" to 4" groups, and that's more a comment on me than the rifle (the rifle is more accurate than I am). If it doesn't like the ammo, things open up to 6" to 8" groups.

Sure, I can find the ammo it likes, but if you can't get what it likes ......
Click to expand...
I had a Bren 805 S1 and I can say I've never gotten 6 to 8 inch groups out of it. Not saying it isn't your gun, but I'm definitely saying that's not working as intended.
Worst case was roughly 3-4" out of Tula and Wolf and best case for me was 1.5" out of 69gr SMK with 5 shot strings. But mostly floating around 2.5" with general brass Federal, S&B, and PPU. Which sounds about right for a service gun that is intended to deliver 2-4"
MOA that gun will never be, but having something opening up that much sounds wrong too. I gave a pretty lengthy write up on the gun something like 3 years ago on here. Haven't played with the 2nd gen ones yet at all, we shall see eventually. I know there has been some teething issues on the 7.62x39 model which was the one that interested me more.
 
I sight in with my defense ammo and then just run trigger and reload drills with my steel case and odd ball stuff. Precision rigs gets handloads or large lot purchases of the optimal load. I found hiding it in the closet or in ammo cans helps me from trying to re sort the whole shelf after I use half a box of ammo. The worst for me is when I run out of space on a shelf for a certain caliber and don’t have space for the remaining cases. With the surrounding shelves and space already taken up with other calibers.
 
Glockster30 said:
The hardest part is wearing gloves when loading mags...don't want fingerprints on the brass! [laugh]
Click to expand...
44gyb9.jpg
 
Broccoli Iglesias said:
Stacking ammo is not so much about OCD
Click to expand...
oddly, my ocd is just that, stacking and sorting. i don't care if my guns are filthy, my range bag is a mess too. but by god my ammo is sorted neatly. reloads have to be stacked, each caliber in a different color plastic box. i was in deep shit back in the day when they only made green boxes. i stack and restack and rearrange constantly. same with books, cd's, old school records, it's horrible cause the rest of my house is a damn mess. i knew i had a problem when i was young. when i bought a vinyl record album back in the day, i'd agonize over how straight and centered the album title was in the spine. i had been known to even ask to have a new case of a record opened so i could pick the best one. not a fun condition to have but satisfying when you've just completed the perfect sort.
 
Toast said:
CZ Bren 805, 16" barrel, 1:7 twist, 6" bull on 10" x 10" target at 100 yards, unmagnified RDS.

If it likes the ammo, this will spit out 3" to 4" groups, and that's more a comment on me than the rifle (the rifle is more accurate than I am). If it doesn't like the ammo, things open up to 6" to 8" groups.

Sure, I can find the ammo it likes, but if you can't get what it likes ......
Click to expand...
Next time out use a bigger clean backer and really see whats going on. I dont expect much from steel case. Sure theres been good lots but I have also opened up wolf steel case box and clear as day could see 3 different bullets.
Matters not in current times if you do not have ammo and want trigger time you buy what you can when you can.

If you are using wolf 55 grain are they soft points? 1/7 might be to fast and the jackets might be peeling and causing the bullets to go puff ? I have shot as light as 52 grains through 1/7 with good results but I also have had some older “varmint” bullets that go puff at 20 yards.

heres a little test I did 7 years ago. Noticeable shift in impact and group size but not off the chart?
Fun stuff
www.northeastshooters.com

A quick comparison of different bullets/ammo

Not the best day to go test loads but was only time I had. steady rain gusty winds I took my AR varmint build out. 223 wylde chambered wilson match barrel 1/8 twist with matched bolt. 1985 vintage VXIII and remaining parts scavenged from on hand supply. Raining windy day, 100 yards slow fire...
www.northeastshooters.com www.northeastshooters.com
 
Last edited:
Broccoli Iglesias said:
Stacking ammo is not so much about OCD, but the pain of having to be detail oriented for a stupid task such as stacking ammo.

I hate having to think that the Winchester boxes are bigger than the XYZ boxes so they need to go in the bottom.
Click to expand...
Yeah no... that's not ocd at all....

I have 4 big bins of 556... steel varmint green tip 223 all goes in the bin then the next one gets filled.

I'm shooting offhand at 1-200 yards with no magnification on either irons or a dot... im not that worried about being moa
 

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