I would love to see this test with the same four cartridge in a 14.5in , 16in, 18in nd 20in barrels. Because these 4 will be more common than a 26in barrel.
Great test. I’d prefer a 20” barrel - I think the velocities for these rounds diverge from how they behave out of standard AR-15 barrel lengths. They are probably all still faster, but by varying amounts. I suspect the 855a1 is comparatively even better than the others out of shorter barrels.
@@fatihmehmetcevik7299 did you see ak ballistics fire 1 from a .300wm? 130@3790…I run the dd5v3 and been loadin and testin with it over 2yrs and big .30cal fan
Used to train shooting the FN fal against half inch falling plates, the mild steel ones it would go straight through but the armour steel would show hardly any penetration ( 200 metres)
@@ZyklonBeast12 Definitely. M855 is loaded to a "minimum" govt mandated velocity, based on the Nato spec. .223 Rem CAN be loaded to that velocity (with the right powder), but doesn't "have to be", and thus often isn't. Most of the Nato spec defines other characteristics of the ammunition. M855 IS .223 Rem, but with a bunch requirements added to it.
SS109 loads don’t have to have green tips. Green tips are only used if the ammo is made by a country that used M-193, as a way to visually distinguish between the two. I have 400 rounds of British Radway Green that doesn’t have green tips.
@@mikecumbo7531 SS109 is the name of the 62 gn, steel core, boat tail bullet that us used in the M855 NATO spec ammo. M855 ammo, per the NATO spec, must have a green tip on regardless of who makes it.
SS109 is the NATO standard projectile used in the M855 (NATO) round. The SS109 is the 62 gr steel penetrator projectile that is used in the M855 round which is marked by the green tip. In other words, he tested the same round twice (though perhaps from different manufacturers).
One interesting thing is that M193 and SS109 / M855 were OPTIMIZED for a 20 inch barrel; i.e. the "standard" barrel length for the M-16 / A1 / A2 and others like the FNC, etc. 5.56 x 45 velocity PEAKS at about 22 inches of barrel, (It it a fairly dinky case, after all). The M-193 cartridge AND the M-16 rifle were essentially developed in parallel. Hence, after going "all in" on the 14.5 inch M4 concept, a "new" optimized round seems to be in the offing. How this might behave in a LONGER barrel like the M249 is anybody's guess. (chopping the M-249 barrel back to 14.5 inches might just cause a whole lot of new "issues".
I would love to see a side by side comparison of mild steel vs hardened steel vs tempered steel. Maybe another youtuber could do this for him. You could redo all your testing with the other types of steel.
@@dwwolf4636 If you buy it then yes. If you are getting people to make it for you, then you can get it at different stages. This is what I would really like to see.
@@MAZEMIND Can't remember the steel but it's used for jackhammer bits, there's a katana that uses it and claims 10x the hardness of steel normally used, and Shadiversity did a torture test on it and actually believes the claim. I wonder how that would do against bullets. Amazing edge retention too and not as hard as you'd think to resharpen but does of course take longer to sharpen. It's s5 shock steel and it's 10x stronger than one of it's closest competitors: th-cam.com/video/EUS1oHYObgA/w-d-xo.html
I have plenty of M855 and 700 rounds of M855A1, because it’s the best combat 5.56 round out there IMO. It will create a massive temporary wound cavity and is barrier blind. It will also penetrate most body armor outside of level VI and very expensive level 3+ plates. Another great round is the 77 grain MK 262 that you should have a good stock of as well. It’s a very accurate cartridge that is good for distance and has great performance on soft targets. M193 is a target round for me and nothing else. I mean it will still do the job, but it’s one of the least effective 5.56 rounds available in my opinion, because it really relies on velocity from a long barrel. I wouldn’t recommend it with anything less than an 18 inch barrel. Great video!! I have recently become a subscriber and appreciate your testing.
Goodness that's a lot of A1. Mind if i as the $/rd you paid?. Cheapest A1 I can find is $2.50 per round. I'm also trying to slowly build up a quantity of M80A1 but that's going to take a while considering the cheapest I can get it at is $8 per round and it rarely comes onto the market.
If you've got a 20" barrel, M193 is wildly effective. Especially for the cost. IMO, that alone is reason enough to have a 20" setup in 5.56 in addition to shorter rifles, solely so you can stock up on large amounts of cheap 55 grain and know it'll be effective for anything you'd need.
I have a .223 rated AR500 target that is free to swing at 100yds. The .223 hardly leaves a mark on it. Same for a .308. But a .220 Swift 52gr matchking at over 4K fps sliced a hole clean through it. I think velocity has more to do with it than just bullet construction.
Awesome tests. Maybe its nice to test one day the difference between the hardness in different kind of steel.. From the most soft steel to the hardest. Follow many gun channels but nobody tested that..
@@itsamk18-ish The Belgians came up with the SS109 bullet design and then NATO adopted it. Different countries call their particular loading with the SS109 projectile different things. The US calls it M855, Canada calls theirs C77, the British call theirs L2A2, and so on, but all of them use the SS109 projectile.
@@herknorth8691 👍 that’s cool, I’ve found so many different things online about it i never really knew exactly what it was. I’ve bought ammo called ss109 and ammo called m855. Last thing i looked up just said m855 was our designation for it and that m855 was just loaded to stricter tolerances. I always just assumed it was like xm193 and m193 and ss109 just wasn’t up to government spec for whatever reason. Either way… still same for all intents and purposes.
Awesome thanks for that video I was the one that commented on your fist video with the m855 video about the testing of m855a1. I’m glad I have 200rds of that A1 now 😎
Good man! Friend of mine and I, can smoke a 3/8” mild steel plate at 200 yards with M855A1 from 16” AR carbines. Sometimes the copper base gets stuck in the plate but the penetrator still does it’s thing and pokes a hole on the other side. Sure wouldn’t want to be behind it. Glad to see you testing these from a 26” up close to see just what max potential is.
@@bananaballistics I’m not sure but I have chronographed them out of my A2 at 3034fps using 26gr of CFE 223. So I’m not even hot rodding them. Just a nice good easy 3,000fps load. I can fire some out of my 16” later this week if you’d like to know the velocity of my hand loaded samples from my 16”. (allegedly CFE223 is a re-branded but identical formulation to the powder General Dynamics produces for the DOD to load the M855A1, in an article I was reading the average poser charge was 26.4gr and the spec of 3131fps for the M855A1 from my research.) What amazed us is M80 7.62x51 NATO wouldn’t penetrate that same plate at that distance when fired from a 18” AR10.
@@bananaballistics If I can find any M855A1 I'm excited to see what it'll do out of the 28" barrel I have coming soon! Maybe my magnetospeed will have better luck than yours
Allegedly, the A1 pens are overpressured and the steel tip mars up the feed ramp going into the chamber. Shortening rifle life. Don’t know if it matters for bolt guns, but it’s been an issue for M-16’s-M4’s
This is what the new “EPM” mags (tan mag with blue follower) are for. They have an adjusted feed angle to alleviate the feed ramp wear issue. Gen3 PMAGs also fix the problem
Don't know if the channel provider saw your offer! I would think that he would acknowledge a comment/offer from you! P.S.: Have you ever worked with the NWM tungsten rounds which were produced from the 80's to 90's, I believe? They were outstanding! One of the rounds was fired out of a high pressure propellent gun at well over 6,000 fps...did a 180 degree turn in a 3" thick block of cold rolled steel after traveling approx. 2.5" in the block! They also were sleeved up to.308" and tested in the equivalent of a necked down Chey tac! Those penetrated to a depth of ~ 2 and 3/8ths inches in cold rolled steel producing a 1/8" bump on the back of the 2 and a half" target block! The propellent gun target went to a military museum that had requested some of my targets for display. This was back in the early 1990's. I still have the other sectioned targets!
I've got a twenty round mag of the SS109 a buddy gave me back in the 90s - its Sellier & Bellot and has ZV 00 along with the NATO cross on the headstamp - thought it was actually black tip as the green had gotten so dark over the years that it looks black. Couldn't find much on it but someone was actually selling the stuff at $3 a round as "collectable" ammo.
I did basically this same test on 1/4” mild steel at 400 yards and the results were pretty impressive. 5.56 didn’t go through but green tip almost went through everything else was stopped easily. Of the calibers I own only military surplus 7.62 X 54r and 30-06 made it through 1/4” steel at 400 yards
Man i love your channel. Did you do a video of 243 or 270. I watched all your videos i can't remember. Keep up the awesome content cheers from Canada 🍻
I am fairly certain the M855A1 EP round (enhanced penetrator) it meant to mimic the penetration of m855 without the necessity of a long barrel. Safe to say it probably will penetrate better even if its just the tungsten core.
Dude your voice sounds like the announcers our folks all grew up with, not the soy boys we have most of the time now lol, think we have the future replacement for Hickok45 over here lol. Great video man
We really learned 2 things from this video: 1: ⅜” steel drastically improves accuracy of 5.56x45 2: M855A1 incorporated new anti-chrono stealth technology - insurgents will never see it coming!
Well considering the M855 is a barrier penetrator round with a steel penetrator in the projectile, it's not surprising that and the other three didn't go through 1\2" of steel. I am impressed with the M855A1 performance.
So, legend has it the steel penetrators cause the m855 and similarly constructed bullets to flow and expand on impact when the penetrator itself is stopped i.e. vs hardened steel whereas the homogenous xm193 does not do this to the same degree. Sounds like more testing? I wish I could find the article I read discussing this. It was pretty formal, but it was also on the internet.
I had problems getting a velocity on the M855A1 also (MagnetoSpeed V3). 1 velocity shooting 7 rounds. No problem with M855. I will get velocities with X-Tac M855, Norma SS109, and PPU SS109 for comparison. I have both a 16" and 20" rifle, but plan to use the 16" for this test.
I can't find in the video what brand of M855/SS109 was used? Here are my velocity results with a 16" barrel (same day). 5 shot average: 65 deg F, 61% RH, 29.63"Hg at 550 ft elevation 2893 fps PPU 5.56 SS109 (tips not painted) 2894 fps X-Tac 5.56 M855 (tips painted green) 2981 fps Norma 5.56 NATO SS109 (tips not painted)
GOT SOMETHING FOR YOU BANANA! I have some 30-06 sabot rounds from the 70's from my dad. Back of box said 4,200fps from the small bullet hiding inside the sabot (looks like a 55 grain 5.56 round). I can send you all ten of them if interested.
You are correct about M855 and SS109 being the same in essence but also vary wildly in performance, relatively speaking. The best performing SS109 I found is the ADI F1 62gr stuff, and that is by far my favorite ammo to dump into trash. Burns clean, consistent across differing temperature ranges, super stable and consistent ignition, and no issues with it in general. Considering it's the standard for the Australians, and those dudes did the Lords Work in Iraq and Afghanistan, it'd be interesting to compare the ADI stuff to Lake City ammo, which is what the US uses.
dang, I bought ss109 but didn't fire much of it. In looking at m855a1 prices... and they're quadruple. why do they vary so much in price when it's similar penetrating performance
Would like to see an armor penetrating tip in comparison like m995. M855A1 is technically just an exposed steel tip for better ballistics, rather than penetration.
awesome I love it when 5.56/223 is kicking azz and taken names but how about putting those cartridges up again some of the top match grade ammo like 77otm or the famed MK262 and a few others. basically I would like to see a run down of what all types of available 5.56.223 ammo can do to mild steel a 100yrds..
The difference between SS109 and M855 is pretty simple. The NATO standard of SS109 is a looser specification than the US implementation of that standard. All M855 is SS109, but not all SS109 meets M855 specs, usually due to a slightly lower velocity when there is any difference at all. Technically, M855A1 isn't SS109 spec.
In the beginning, you describe 3 of the rounds by their load designation (m855, m855a1, and m193), and you describe the other round as a "ss109." Ss109 is the bullet that the m855 cartridge has loaded in it... also, you didnt test the m193 on the ar500 plate. On mild steel, those stee penetrator rounds will perform better. On hardened steel, the m193 will penetrate better than steel core ammo. Counterintuitive, I know...
First time ive ran across this channel, ibwas driving and listening, not watching. Pulled up to a stop light after listening to a guy that i had picked in my head kinda like Hickok45, looked down and saw a kid that im pretty sure has never needed a razor in his life. That voice dont fit. 😂 All jokes asode, great video. Hitting that subscribe button for sure.
M855A1 is now at Peacekeeper LVL 4
damn
3 years later:”5.56 FMJ are now Peacekeeper lvl 4”
You can't get it at any trader lvl now its craft only
56A1 is at pc4
Bro I was thinking about tarkov the whole video
m855a1 out of a 26" barrel is the textbook definition of vibe check
That’s a super long musket!
I run em out a 24” and ummmm yeah they are def get your mind right…..
26"!? Who holds the front of the rifle for you? Lol
The Oof felt around the world.
@@robertcole7874 duck hunting shotguns are usually 28..
The difference between mild and hardened is crazy. Nice test as always.
It’s like comparing room temperature butter to cold butter.
@@hansgruber9685 Hah, yep
No u can make steel soft as hard lead
I would love to see this test with the same four cartridge in a 14.5in , 16in, 18in nd 20in barrels. Because these 4 will be more common than a 26in barrel.
Same, against ar500
Pretty sure a 26inch barrel would actually slow the bullet down.😂
Anything past 20" even onn308 has diminishing returns.
@@uurkismewhat do you mean. You were referring to barrel length yes? For a moment I thought you meant thickness of the barrel.
Brother you planning something? 😂
Great test. I’d prefer a 20” barrel - I think the velocities for these rounds diverge from how they behave out of standard AR-15 barrel lengths. They are probably all still faster, but by varying amounts. I suspect the 855a1 is comparatively even better than the others out of shorter barrels.
It was designed to be shot out of a 14.5 inch barrel from an m4a1 carbine at a whopping speed of 3000fps at the muzzle
Hmm source?
@@BaconSlayer69it was designed to be environmentally friendly. That’s it.
@@coryhoggatt7691 that too but specifically it was designed to penetrate barriers better
@coryhoggatt7691 somebody didn't look at the congressional report or the army procurement presentation
I've seen other channels get a hold of those A1 rounds and they never fail to amaze me how Wicked they are.
Saw some kid shoot himself in the leg with one on the range. The results were indeed wicked. Bro deleted his calf.
@@cameronking5074 impressive in a dumb way he managed to shoot himself in the leg with a rifle no less.
@@cameronking5074 he was probably using m193 not m855 let alone m855a1
@@moparjr89 it was definitely m855a1. It’s hard to mistake the steel penetrator.
@@moparjr89 The army exclusively uses 855A1.
That M855A1 definitely surprised me. That's a nasty Lil round.
It also is very devastating on flesh/bone.
@@mikejohnson9118 At 3200fps a .177 bb would probably be devastating to flesh.
@hansgruber9685 eh probably not. Not enough mass
Great review man, a 16”” barrel comparison would be tits.
Right can we talk about the fact that the crono didn't pick up a single M855A1 round.... they are ffllyyiiinnngg😂😂
We can say there is a clear difference between the 855 and 855A1 at this point. That frontal spauling on the AR500 .375 should be terrifying.
For sure. The splash itself could be lethal.
I would love to see a comparison of different 308 (7.62x51) bullets against different thicknesses of steel. Be safe my friends.
M80a1 would be insane
Pretty sure he's done all of these tests before. Just a different setup.
@@fatihmehmetcevik7299 did you see ak ballistics fire 1 from a .300wm? 130@3790…I run the dd5v3 and been loadin and testin with it over 2yrs and big .30cal fan
Used to train shooting the FN fal against half inch falling plates, the mild steel ones it would go straight through but the armour steel would show hardly any penetration ( 200 metres)
Excellent video!
The 26" barrel was a perfect choice and very nice looking rifle...
The SS109 is actually the bullet itself that is used in the M855. That's why both of those rounds had a green tip: they were both M855 rounds.
Forgive the ignorance but os the only difference the powder load then?
@@ZyklonBeast12 Definitely. M855 is loaded to a "minimum" govt mandated velocity, based on the Nato spec. .223 Rem CAN be loaded to that velocity (with the right powder), but doesn't "have to be", and thus often isn't. Most of the Nato spec defines other characteristics of the ammunition. M855 IS .223 Rem, but with a bunch requirements added to it.
@nerdyengineer7943 Wow, I never knew any of that! Thank you for that info brotha 🙏
SS109 loads don’t have to have green tips. Green tips are only used if the ammo is made by a country that used M-193, as a way to visually distinguish between the two. I have 400 rounds of British Radway Green that doesn’t have green tips.
@@mikecumbo7531 SS109 is the name of the 62 gn, steel core, boat tail bullet that us used in the M855 NATO spec ammo. M855 ammo, per the NATO spec, must have a green tip on regardless of who makes it.
SS109 is the NATO standard projectile used in the M855 (NATO) round. The SS109 is the 62 gr steel penetrator projectile that is used in the M855 round which is marked by the green tip. In other words, he tested the same round twice (though perhaps from different manufacturers).
Thats what i was thinking too. Green tips are SS109 or m855 same thing
@@bearrage80M855 is the loaded cartridge. SS109 is the projectile itself.
He addressed this at the end of the video
Put wood behind the plate, see whats left after it pasees thru the plate.
One interesting thing is that M193 and SS109 / M855 were OPTIMIZED for a 20 inch barrel; i.e. the "standard" barrel length for the M-16 / A1 / A2 and others like the FNC, etc.
5.56 x 45 velocity PEAKS at about 22 inches of barrel, (It it a fairly dinky case, after all). The M-193 cartridge AND the M-16 rifle were essentially developed in parallel.
Hence, after going "all in" on the 14.5 inch M4 concept, a "new" optimized round seems to be in the offing. How this might behave in a LONGER barrel like the M249 is anybody's guess. (chopping the M-249 barrel back to 14.5 inches might just cause a whole lot of new "issues".
I've never seen this channel until today. That banana flying downrange was absolutely hysterical 😂
Went to a DM course about a month ago to get familiar with 855A1 over distance and the tips were embedding themselves in ar500 at 300m. It was wild
To
Why was it not doing that to AR500 in the video?
So the round gets faster out at 300 yards 😂
@@montanaplease 😅😅
Was that government bought AR500?
Would like to see 1/4” AR500, 550 and/or 600!
I would love to see a side by side comparison of mild steel vs hardened steel vs tempered steel. Maybe another youtuber could do this for him. You could redo all your testing with the other types of steel.
Most hardened steel is tempered.
.....
Expect about 60% of RHA performance for mild steel.
@@dwwolf4636 If you buy it then yes. If you are getting people to make it for you, then you can get it at different stages. This is what I would really like to see.
@@MAZEMIND Can't remember the steel but it's used for jackhammer bits, there's a katana that uses it and claims 10x the hardness of steel normally used, and Shadiversity did a torture test on it and actually believes the claim. I wonder how that would do against bullets. Amazing edge retention too and not as hard as you'd think to resharpen but does of course take longer to sharpen.
It's s5 shock steel and it's 10x stronger than one of it's closest competitors:
th-cam.com/video/EUS1oHYObgA/w-d-xo.html
I have plenty of M855 and 700 rounds of M855A1, because it’s the best combat 5.56 round out there IMO. It will create a massive temporary wound cavity and is barrier blind. It will also penetrate most body armor outside of level VI and very expensive level 3+ plates. Another great round is the 77 grain MK 262 that you should have a good stock of as well. It’s a very accurate cartridge that is good for distance and has great performance on soft targets. M193 is a target round for me and nothing else. I mean it will still do the job, but it’s one of the least effective 5.56 rounds available in my opinion, because it really relies on velocity from a long barrel. I wouldn’t recommend it with anything less than an 18 inch barrel. Great video!! I have recently become a subscriber and appreciate your testing.
Goodness that's a lot of A1. Mind if i as the $/rd you paid?. Cheapest A1 I can find is $2.50 per round. I'm also trying to slowly build up a quantity of M80A1 but that's going to take a while considering the cheapest I can get it at is $8 per round and it rarely comes onto the market.
Where does one even get M855A1? I thought that was only available to military
@@Hellion6325they banned it from the flea market so it must be FIR. Could probably find it on Reserve and Streets though.
If you've got a 20" barrel, M193 is wildly effective. Especially for the cost. IMO, that alone is reason enough to have a 20" setup in 5.56 in addition to shorter rifles, solely so you can stock up on large amounts of cheap 55 grain and know it'll be effective for anything you'd need.
@@Hellion6325I've seen m855a1 and m80a1 on gunbroker
I have a .223 rated AR500 target that is free to swing at 100yds. The .223 hardly leaves a mark on it. Same for a .308. But a .220 Swift 52gr matchking at over 4K fps sliced a hole clean through it.
I think velocity has more to do with it than just bullet construction.
Awesome tests. Maybe its nice to test one day the difference between the hardness in different kind of steel.. From the most soft steel to the hardest. Follow many gun channels but nobody tested that..
You have one of the most perfect radio voices!
Isn't "SS109" just the designation for the projectile from the "M855" cartridge? If not, then what's the difference between SS109 and M855?
If I’m not mistaken the cartridge used to be ss109 then the nato designation changed it to m855 either way it’s the same thing
@@itsamk18-ish The Belgians came up with the SS109 bullet design and then NATO adopted it. Different countries call their particular loading with the SS109 projectile different things. The US calls it M855, Canada calls theirs C77, the British call theirs L2A2, and so on, but all of them use the SS109 projectile.
@@herknorth8691 👍 that’s cool, I’ve found so many different things online about it i never really knew exactly what it was. I’ve bought ammo called ss109 and ammo called m855. Last thing i looked up just said m855 was our designation for it and that m855 was just loaded to stricter tolerances. I always just assumed it was like xm193 and m193 and ss109 just wasn’t up to government spec for whatever reason. Either way… still same for all intents and purposes.
That’s what I gathered from the articles I read.
Yeah two of the cartridges in this are the same thing.
Awesome thanks for that video I was the one that commented on your fist video with the m855 video about the testing of m855a1.
I’m glad I have 200rds of that A1 now 😎
Good man! Friend of mine and I, can smoke a 3/8” mild steel plate at 200 yards with M855A1 from 16” AR carbines. Sometimes the copper base gets stuck in the plate but the penetrator still does it’s thing and pokes a hole on the other side. Sure wouldn’t want to be behind it. Glad to see you testing these from a 26” up close to see just what max potential is.
That is freaking nuts out of a 16”! I wonder what the velocity difference would be between the 2 lengths
@@bananaballistics I’m not sure but I have chronographed them out of my A2 at 3034fps using 26gr of CFE 223. So I’m not even hot rodding them. Just a nice good easy 3,000fps load. I can fire some out of my 16” later this week if you’d like to know the velocity of my hand loaded samples from my 16”.
(allegedly CFE223 is a re-branded but identical formulation to the powder General Dynamics produces for the DOD to load the M855A1, in an article I was reading the average poser charge was 26.4gr and the spec of 3131fps for the M855A1 from my research.)
What amazed us is M80 7.62x51 NATO wouldn’t penetrate that same plate at that distance when fired from a 18” AR10.
@@bananaballistics If I can find any M855A1 I'm excited to see what it'll do out of the 28" barrel I have coming soon! Maybe my magnetospeed will have better luck than yours
@@meanman6992Where do you get m855A1? I haven seen any before
@@meanman6992 load m855/855A1 In a discarding sabot like Remington accelerator. Zips em along at about 4,000 FPS.
Had no idea that the m855a1 rounds had stealth capability in addition to wicked penetration
subbed purely because I was watching the "content" portion of the video at the 47 second mark. Good stuff man
I often find M855A1 in the village on woods and plenty on shoreline. Good ammo for busting any type of armour really.
yeah ive found that at the attachment cabin really solid round
Entertaining and educational, enjoyed the video...
That AR500 plate is no joke.
I just put an order into Midway for a barrel for my new to me G21. Thanks for the review! I have almost all PPU SS019 for my 556 stores.
Allegedly, the A1 pens are overpressured and the steel tip mars up the feed ramp going into the chamber. Shortening rifle life. Don’t know if it matters for bolt guns, but it’s been an issue for M-16’s-M4’s
This is what the new “EPM” mags (tan mag with blue follower) are for. They have an adjusted feed angle to alleviate the feed ramp wear issue. Gen3 PMAGs also fix the problem
Gen3 pmags fixed the issue.
Would you be interested in testing M993, M80A1?
Don't know if the channel provider saw your offer! I would think that he would acknowledge a comment/offer from you!
P.S.: Have you ever worked with the NWM tungsten rounds which were produced from the 80's to 90's, I believe? They were outstanding!
One of the rounds was fired out of a high pressure propellent gun at well over 6,000 fps...did a 180 degree turn in a 3" thick block of cold rolled steel after traveling approx. 2.5" in the block! They also were sleeved up to.308" and tested in the equivalent of a necked down Chey tac! Those penetrated to a depth of ~ 2 and 3/8ths inches in cold rolled steel producing a 1/8" bump on the back of the 2 and a half" target block! The propellent gun target went to a military museum that had requested some of my targets for display. This was back in the early 1990's. I still have the other sectioned targets!
@@cheryltysver4819 I have not messed with those but they sound cool as heck! 6000 fps, wow!
I've got a twenty round mag of the SS109 a buddy gave me back in the 90s - its Sellier & Bellot and has ZV 00 along with the NATO cross on the headstamp - thought it was actually black tip as the green had gotten so dark over the years that it looks black. Couldn't find much on it but someone was actually selling the stuff at $3 a round as "collectable" ammo.
Wonderful testing, good info, really enjoyed, thanks
Pretty awesome test, thanks for making the video.
Would be great to see .25x45 Sharps 87grain FMJ as a comparison.
It would be interesting to see what these projectiles would do with the horsepower of a 22-250 behind them.
I wholeheartedly agree with you
Yeah it is pretty interesting "hysterical evil laugh"
You'll put an eye out. 🎅🏽
First find a .22-250 with a 1-9 twist or faster.
Or a 220 Swift
I did basically this same test on 1/4” mild steel at 400 yards and the results were pretty impressive. 5.56 didn’t go through but green tip almost went through everything else was stopped easily. Of the calibers I own only military surplus 7.62 X 54r and 30-06 made it through 1/4” steel at 400 yards
dude that m855a1 out of an LMG would be hell on a light armored vehicle
You did ALRIGHT! Not knocking ya, great comparison. Good job!
Great test , always wondered how they would stack up against each other
Your channel is so enjoyable. Thank you keep up the good work
Your voice is subwoofer deep man!
🗣🔊
Just the fact that we had to go to 3/4-in plate. Impressive
The only problem with M855A1 is that it beats up the gun, leading to shorter service life.
What a neat barrel mounted chrono.
I would have expected better sight alignment and sight picture when shooting but good info on M855A1
Nice test! I grabbed 60rds M855A1 because of this vid
would like to see m995 ammo in the 556 category vs the m855a1
glad I found this channel, hope to see ya grow!
Gteat! Now please do a .308/7.62x51 comparison. There are a lot of people equally curious about the performance of the .308
Man i love your channel. Did you do a video of 243 or 270. I watched all your videos i can't remember. Keep up the awesome content cheers from Canada 🍻
I have not yet, but that would be a good one
Banana ballistics is your day job as a voice, actor, or narrator. You just have one of those voices even radio just curious
That A1 was like, "ain't gonna catch me on no chrono!"
Even the chronograph knows not to read the M855A1 out loud. 😂
I am fairly certain the M855A1 EP round (enhanced penetrator) it meant to mimic the penetration of m855 without the necessity of a long barrel. Safe to say it probably will penetrate better even if its just the tungsten core.
Hey Mr. Banana it would be super cool to test the rounds of WWII, 8mm Mauser, .30-06, 7.62x54r, and 7.7mm Japanese if you can find it
So 303 doesnt exist in your world?
@@sugarnads my b I forgot
@@sugarnads lol
How about the 1886 French Lebel 8mm X 51R rifle round. I have about 200 rounds left.
@@jhutch1470 the French rifle? Pretty sure those were never fired and only dropped once. Lol
Idk how I’m just now finding your page but you could totally be a voice actor.
in my experience m855a1 has worked the best against tier 4 armor and get me the most kills 👍
Great video, I would like to see a test between 204 ruger vs .223 Remington.
Dude your voice sounds like the announcers our folks all grew up with, not the soy boys we have most of the time now lol, think we have the future replacement for Hickok45 over here lol. Great video man
We really learned 2 things from this video:
1: ⅜” steel drastically improves accuracy of 5.56x45
2: M855A1 incorporated new anti-chrono stealth technology - insurgents will never see it coming!
I tried a quoter inch mono layered plate once. It got shot through. It is from that experience the results do not surprise me.
That M855a1 is a gnarly round, you should try some M80a1 to see what it will punch through.
Keep up these excellent videos! ❤
I appreciate it! Thanks for all the comments, it really helps!
Well considering the M855 is a barrier penetrator round with a steel penetrator in the projectile, it's not surprising that and the other three didn't go through 1\2" of steel. I am impressed with the M855A1 performance.
Good job. Thanks.
Dude, you have a great voice. Ever think of doing voice overs or book narration? I think you would be good at it.
Great info, keep it coming !!
“As you can see i drew these reference points here so i can say fuck that and just shoot wherever i want”
AR500 plate saves your life, but the spalling is absolutely insane... Lv4 ceramic is the way to go
So, legend has it the steel penetrators cause the m855 and similarly constructed bullets to flow and expand on impact when the penetrator itself is stopped i.e. vs hardened steel whereas the homogenous xm193 does not do this to the same degree. Sounds like more testing? I wish I could find the article I read discussing this. It was pretty formal, but it was also on the internet.
Quite useful information here, thanks!
I had problems getting a velocity on the M855A1 also (MagnetoSpeed V3). 1 velocity shooting 7 rounds. No problem with M855. I will get velocities with X-Tac M855, Norma SS109, and PPU SS109 for comparison. I have both a 16" and 20" rifle, but plan to use the 16" for this test.
I can't find in the video what brand of M855/SS109 was used?
Here are my velocity results with a 16" barrel (same day). 5 shot average:
65 deg F, 61% RH, 29.63"Hg at 550 ft elevation
2893 fps PPU 5.56 SS109 (tips not painted)
2894 fps X-Tac 5.56 M855 (tips painted green)
2981 fps Norma 5.56 NATO SS109 (tips not painted)
I shot 1/2” mild from 200 with 130gr tmk 6.5prc@3250fps and 140@3050 and almost went through…wicked little round
OMG I forgot all about the "DJ" voice known as the Banana.
GOT SOMETHING FOR YOU BANANA! I have some 30-06 sabot rounds from the 70's from my dad. Back of box said 4,200fps from the small bullet hiding inside the sabot (looks like a 55 grain 5.56 round). I can send you all ten of them if interested.
Yea, I still have most of a green box of those vintage rounds. Only a partial box because Pawpaw said accuracy sucked. But damn they were fast!
@@blackhawk7r221 My dad said accuracy sucked, too. lol Needs a tighter twist rate to make it work I bet.
26” to 16” 👍😊 on the 1/2”mild .
I would love to see AR 15 Carbine Vs AR 15 Rifle.
You jumped 1/4” from 1/2 to 3/4 “ plate , I think the M855A1 would make it through 5/8” mild steel .
Nice test
You are correct about M855 and SS109 being the same in essence but also vary wildly in performance, relatively speaking. The best performing SS109 I found is the ADI F1 62gr stuff, and that is by far my favorite ammo to dump into trash. Burns clean, consistent across differing temperature ranges, super stable and consistent ignition, and no issues with it in general. Considering it's the standard for the Australians, and those dudes did the Lords Work in Iraq and Afghanistan, it'd be interesting to compare the ADI stuff to Lake City ammo, which is what the US uses.
Is ss109 made to a higher standard with the steel core inside the jacket over m855 ?
dang, I bought ss109 but didn't fire much of it.
In looking at m855a1 prices... and they're quadruple.
why do they vary so much in price when it's similar penetrating performance
M855A1 - "nO rEaDiNg" xD
The difference is about 400-600 roubles, depends on if you even have the damn trader level unlocked 😒
Don't think 5A1 is available this wipe, could be wrong though
Would like to see an armor penetrating tip in comparison like m995. M855A1 is technically just an exposed steel tip for better ballistics, rather than penetration.
awesome I love it when 5.56/223 is kicking azz and taken names but how about putting those cartridges up again some of the top match grade ammo like 77otm or the famed MK262 and a few others. basically I would like to see a run down of what all types of available 5.56.223 ammo can do to mild steel a 100yrds..
I'd be really interested to see you test 8mm Mauser if you're able. Especially Turk surplus ammo, German SMK, and the king of penetration, SMKH
Load the projectile in backward
MidwayUSA is king. Definitely my favorite of all time
Would like to see this done with a 14.5 inch barrel like the M4
The difference between SS109 and M855 is pretty simple.
The NATO standard of SS109 is a looser specification than the US implementation of that standard. All M855 is SS109, but not all SS109 meets M855 specs, usually due to a slightly lower velocity when there is any difference at all.
Technically, M855A1 isn't SS109 spec.
That was a nice comparison video
In the beginning, you describe 3 of the rounds by their load designation (m855, m855a1, and m193), and you describe the other round as a "ss109." Ss109 is the bullet that the m855 cartridge has loaded in it...
also, you didnt test the m193 on the ar500 plate. On mild steel, those stee penetrator rounds will perform better. On hardened steel, the m193 will penetrate better than steel core ammo. Counterintuitive, I know...
@bananaballistics, any hope for an M80A1 .30 cal video in the future?
I believe the difference is that the 109 is NATO spec standard for powder load while the 855 is US government spec.
That guy has the voice of Othais of C&R arsenal
First time ive ran across this channel, ibwas driving and listening, not watching. Pulled up to a stop light after listening to a guy that i had picked in my head kinda like Hickok45, looked down and saw a kid that im pretty sure has never needed a razor in his life. That voice dont fit. 😂
All jokes asode, great video. Hitting that subscribe button for sure.
Awesome video I want to see 5.56 vs 6.8 fury
Considering the United States spent 10 years and one hundred million dollars developing the M 855A1. I would expect it to penetrate half inch steel.
excellent thanks