Posted: 4/23/2005 5:56:19 PM EDT
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Range Report Range: Atterbury DNR Range, Indiana Weather: Overcast, about 40 degrees, winds about 15-20 MPH crosswind, with higher gusts. Weapons: 1. AR-180B, with muzzle brake partially cut, turned down, and threaded, flash suppressor installed. 2. Armalite M15A2C, with muzzle brake removed and flash suppressor installed, A2 stock repaced with carbine stock. 3. CMMG AR pistol, 10.5" barrel, 1:7 twist, ACE receiver extension kit with standard carbine buffer/spring. Ammo: 1. Winchester Q3131A 55gr. FMJ, current manufacture. 2. Surplus M855 62gr., 1996 headstamp. 3. Swiss G90 62gr. Range objective: Given the weather, this was more a function test range session than an accuracy session. The winds caused my eyes to water, and the cold was not conducive to comfortable aimed shots. This was more of a workout of the brand spanking new CMMG pistol, and the firing of the other weapons was purely for ammo burning fun. Results: 1. AR-180B: Gobbled up all the G90 and Q3131A I could feed it. Didn't like the surplus M855 at all. Several failures to eject with the M855, as had been observed in previous range sessions. This ammo appears to fire very dirty, and appears to somehow gum up the ejector with carbon or some other matter of crud. The ejector actually does not come all the way out of the bolt face to it's normal position, hence the failures to eject. The expended case stays on the bolt face while a new round is chambered with the forward movement of the bolt. After firing a few rounds of the G90 or Q3131A, the ejector cleans up and the rifle sings as usual. 2. M15A2C: Exact same result as the AR-180B. Doesn't like the M855, ejector gets gummed up. Otherwise, runs like a champ. 3. CMMG Pistol: Eats up the M855 as fast as I can feed it. Chews through the Q3131A without a hiccup. Does not like the G90 at all, appears to be short stroking. The expended case gets stuck between the bolt face and forward edge of the ejection port, without chambering a fresh round. Conclusion: Based on todays range session, and previous range sessions with the rifles, the Q3131A appears to be the best all-around choice to feed all of my .223 guns. Walmart report So I get home from the range, and my wife is ready to go shopping. I decide to go along, because I'm looking to get some more Q3131A from Wally World. We get to the store, and my wife heads off to the groceries and clothes with my 13-year old daughter, and I head off to sporting goods and toys with my 9- and 4-year old daughters. I get to the sporting goods department and there's nobody working the counter. Peering across the counter to the opposite under-counter storage area, I can see the Winchester white box .223 ammo. It looks like it's 55gr. FMJ 40 round packs priced at $7.75. I wait a few minutes, and look down a couple of aisles, and I don't see any employees. So while I'm standing there, I notice there's a phone on the counter, and it has a button clearly marked "Page". Hmm... So I pick up the handset, hit the Page button, and say "Would an assocaiate from sporting goods please come to the sporting goods counter." Maybe I was optimistic, maybe naive, but I thought that would get some sort of response. Not so. My 9-year old is giggling, my 4-year old doesn't realize what I've done. I stand there for about 10 more minutes, getting a bit annoyed. I'm plotting my next pages. The next one will be the same as the first, just asking for some assistance. My third one will be "Would any employeee who is the least bit concerned about customer service please report to the sporting goods counter". My fourth one will be "Attention Walmart shoppers, we are having a Michael Jackson special in our clothing department, where little boys pants are half-off." At that point, I'll leave without getting any ammo. I'm torn between hoping someone comes to get me some ammo, and hoping no one comes at all. So I'm waiting, and a couple shows up. Apparently, the guy needs something from the case, like I do. So when that 10 minutes is up, I repeat my first page. The newly arrived couple are amused. About a minute later, the phone starts ringing. And ringing. And ringing. It rings longer than a customer calling sporting goods would be expected to let a phone ring. Maybe it just seems that way. I'm thinking it's some store employee calling, hoping I'll pick up, to tell me to stop using the page. But I think that's just paranoia. Anyway, about a minute after the phone stops ringing, an employee from another department shows up. She's eyeballing me, and without asking if I need something, she pages an associate or manager to sporting goods. Hmm... maybe I'm not so paranoid. I tell her that I've done that twice, and it didn't do any good. She waits a minute and pages a manager to sporting goods. I notice that she's not asking for an associate at this point. So after a minute or so of her making excuses, a manger shows up, but he hasn't got the keys to the ammo cabinet. About 10 seconds later, another manager shows up, and he does have the keys. Now that we have a couple of mangers there, I ask to see a box of the Winchester white box .223 ammo. The other guy asks for a box of .40 SW Winchester white box. After some fumbling around, I get my box of Q3131A. The price is $7.73. I inspect it, and it's what I want, so I ask him how many boxes he has. He says eight. I say, "Gimme all of them." He pulls them out and says he has one more. I say "Gimme that one too." He does. The other manager says he thinks he sees a couple more boxes in the back of the shelf. I say " Gimme those too." The mangers share an uneasy glance. The other manger says he sees some more in the back, seven or eight more boxes. I look at what I've got already, 11 boxes, and that's 440 rounds. Two more boxes will put me over the 500 round mark, so I say "Gimme two more boxes." A longer uneasy glance between the two, but I get the ammo. He starts to ring it up, but I ask if I can pay for it up front with my other stuff, pointing to my shopping cart which contains about 25 cans of dog food, my 4-year old (who has apparently expended her enduance), and mysteriously, a green volleyball. He says yes and seems happy to have me away from there. I really wish I had asked for the rest of the ammo they had on hand. Not because I need it, just to see the look on their faces. And I really wish I could have heard the conversation that ensued after I left. 
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Its probably not "real" Q3131A.... just the 40rd boxes of USA FMJ that are made in Isreal... same componenets, even sealed at the neck and primer, but not quite as hot of load... |
Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought Q3131 was US made Winchester white box, and Q3131A was Israeli made white box. Maybe I better burn a white candle on the ammo altar, prostrate myself, and beg for knowledge once again from the ammo oracle. "Oh mighty and omniscient ammo oracle..." |
wm blows! i am going to try that next time i go
One time when shopping in a Virginia walmart (the MD walmarts near my parents' house do not stock buckshot, much less value-packs of buckshot for some reason), I told'em I wanted every value-pack of buckshot they had in stock and had to repeat myself because the clerk didnt believe me. It was only four boxes, but the looks on the clerk's and the other patrons' faces were priceless. One dude asked how many deer I was going to kill, I told him however many broke into my home after sunset.  Kharn |