Reviews on Freedom 55 gr .223?

runawaygun762 · Jan 14, 2015

I got my wish and am shooting the MO 3 gun match at Lead Farm instead of going to Florida for the S&W Steel Nationals, and now need to focus on that type of shooting more than I thought. Freedom has very good prices on cases of 55 gr FMJ .223, but for slightly more I can get Federal .223 from Cheaper Than Dirt. I know Federal's quality and it shoots straight out of my Stag, but I am wondering whether Freedom's stuff is as good or better.

I have read of problems with Freedom's ammo on several different places, but I put very little stock in reviews from anonymous sources. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who just had to build their own ARs and when they suck, the ammo is automatically blamed. Likewise, I imagine that like any other industry, there are competitors who troll the internet leaving bad reviews to try and steer buyers their way.

Who here has shot plenty of this particular load through quality rifles and can give me advice on what to go with? Is it better used as inexpensive practice ammo, or is it good out to 500 yards on large steel? I know Freedom is a site sponsor and if I'm out of line, by all means delete this post. I'm not asking whether or not it's bad ammo, just whether it should be considered for use in what will be the largest match I've shot so far (I've shot a whopping five 3 gun matches now). I'd love to buy shitloads of the 69 gr load, but at 570 bucks a case, that's probably not an option for me. Thanks for any informed opinions and any random thoughts.

racnsoonr · Jan 14, 2015

I've shot about 2k rounds of their blaster version 55grn and had great success with it..no fail to fire that I can remember. .good velocity through the chrono. I don't get to shoot much past 100yds anymore in 3gun so I can't speak about accuracy at distance but I'd buy with confidence. I'm not saying it's better than federal just that it's good ammo and I'm happy with it and would buy it again if I weren't reloading their 55grn bullets

Tuflehundon · Jan 14, 2015

Get the new ammo instead of the reman. It's only a few dollars more. I had issues with the reman several months ago and ended up getting refunded for 1500 rounds. I fired 2000 rounds before I had my issue, but when the issue hit, it was consistent. Had 7 rounds out of 16 fired from a single box of the reman split in half at the annealing when I shot it. Rear half would extract, and the front half would get stuck in the chamber. Had it happen with 2 different guns to. I tried my ammo in my friends S&W M&P Viking Tactics gun to double check that it wasn't an issue with my gun and it did the same thing. One of the rounds front section was stuck to the point that I had to jam a chamber bruch into it, use a rod from the other end and tap on the rod with a hammer to get it out.

Wall · Jan 14, 2015

Tuflehundon said:
Get the new ammo instead of the reman. It's only a few dollars more. I had issues with the reman several months ago and ended up getting refunded for 1500 rounds. I fired 2000 rounds before I had my issue, but when the issue hit, it was consistent. Had 7 rounds out of 16 fired from a single box of the reman split in half at the annealing when I shot it. Rear half would extract, and the front half would get stuck in the chamber. Had it happen with 2 different guns to. I tried my ammo in my friends S&W M&P Viking Tactics gun to double check that it wasn't an issue with my gun and it did the same thing. One of the rounds front section was stuck to the point that I had to jam a chamber bruch into it, use a rod from the other end and tap on the rod with a hammer to get it out.

you need a broken shell extractor
http://www.makereadyproshop.com/broken-shell-extractor/

Tuflehundon · Jan 14, 2015

Ya, didn't have one at the time, do now. But have not had any issues since then. I ended up switching to Fiocchi 223 ammo.

jtischauser · Jan 15, 2015

Cheap ammo and 500 yards don't go together. Cheap ammo = 100 (or maybe 200) yards an in IMHO.

Tuflehundon · Jan 15, 2015

Jesse brings up a good point. So many of my friends have $2000 rifles and feed it the cheapest ammo they can find. Which is fine out to 100 or 200. But when we get a chance to shoot 300+, they wonder why I'm getting 1st shot hits and they aren't. Skill comes into play, but ammo quality really comes into play. I use Fiocchi 55gr for anything inside of 200, and handloaded 60gr Hornady VMax for anything beyond that.

CPWSA · Jan 15, 2015

As has been stated previously, shoot pretty much anything that is reliable for short range, but use match grade factory rounds or handloads at long range. I generally use PMC Bronze 55 gr FMJ or Federal XM193 for anything 100 yards and in. I use Hornady 75 grain TAP for everything beyond 100 yards just because that load shoots really well in my barrels. I like the heavier bullet at long range as the wind doesn't affect it as much and it seems to hit the flash targets a little harder to ensure the RO can see the hits easier. I buy all my ammo and have no affiliations with any ammo manufacturer referenced above. Unless you are buying from a major ammo manufacturer, I would caution you to buy a small lot and try it before investing in large quantity purchases.

runawaygun762 · Jan 15, 2015

I think I'll take the advice here and buy some for shorter range practice, since I need to work on target transitions and trigger manipulation anyway. I found Hornady 68 gr BTHP bullets for 19 buck/100, and I think I'll try to work up a load (huh huh, he said..."work") for that. Thanks for the advice. I kinda new better anyway, but was hoping to find something inexpensive to use. Damn real life for sticking its nose in my fantasy world.

jtischauser · Jan 15, 2015

I know a guy that has 2000 69gr Sierra MK for sale in the classifieds.

wgm2011 · Jan 15, 2015

For 100 yards or so I have had excellent results with XM193, American Eagle 223J and PMC Bronze. I have no fear using the XM193 and AE223J out to 200 yards.

Beyond 200 I use a home brew brew accuracy load starring Nosler 77gr CC JHP.

Since much of my shooting is at "hoser" distances, I find that just about any reliable ammo is more than acceptable. And with prices for .223/5.56 falling every week, I'm stocking up on factory ammo and putting my reloading components into long term storage.

Bill

runawaygun762 · Jan 16, 2015

Jesse Tischauser said:
I know a guy that has 2000 69gr Sierra MK for sale in the classifieds.

I know a guy whose wife won't let him buy it because all he's talking about is how badly he wants his shotgun worked on and how badly he needs to ditch the current shotshell holders for a quad load setup. That would be nice, though.