Norc .223 vs American Eagle 55 gr FMJ

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Sharps '63

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Been playing one type against t'other yesterday and today. The only distance at which American Eagle outshoot the Norc was at 50m. All shooting was conducted from the bench.

Yesterday the Norc put 4 rds into 2-3/4" at 200m! One flyer out of the 5 rd group due to the nut behind the trigger wearing gloves. This with an entry level Bushnell TRS-32 red dot sight mounted on my basic 'Patrol Carbine' S&W 'Sport' Model. Today it grouped 5 rds into 2" at 100m, three of them in a 3/4" cloverleaf! Only add-ons are a SOG butt pad, MOE+ grip and ambi charging handle.

On a silhouette target I got out of "Recoil" magazine, the 'head' measures 5" x 4-1/2". At 200m, the Norc ammo put three rds into it, one just out of the black and another in the shoulder area. I was actually holding centre on the silhouette as putting the red dot on the 'head' was impossible. Obviously, my '0' needs adjusting to hit centre at 200m, but I haven't tried it at 300m yet.

Oddly, my point of impact today (bright & sunny) at 200m was higher than it was yesterday when it was cloudy. I attribute that to the size of the red dot I had to dial in in order to see it. When it was cloudy I was using a smaller dot.

I think this thing could REALLY shoot well with a tactical scope on it.
 
I always found the Norinco 55gr exceptional ammuntion.
My old M16A1 clone would consistently put it into 3" circles at 100 with it using the irons from the prone supported and a thin target front post.
I also did a 10 round group comparison between the American Eagle 55gr and the Norc and noticed they performed almost exactly the same out to 200 meters which was the furthest I could get out at the time.
The Norc Ammo ran flawless in my AR. Hundreds and hundreds of rounds without a single FTF or FTE or any issues at all. It always shot as accurately as any other bulk 223/5.56mm ammo I ever shot in my AR.
I don't know where all the hate always came from.
 
From the same source as the hate for Norc AR 15's. The AR crowd seems to have quite an elitist core who are very much slaves to the brand name game - "Mine's bigger, better and costs more than yours."

Having said that, I am now hunkering in the bunker, awaiting incoming fire ..... ;>)
 
Yeah the Norc shoots pretty nice out of AR's - you can credit the gun. On other rifles it can be pretty weak consistency wise.
 
Only 50m but gives an idea how Norinco performs both my 11.5" CAR and Hog Hunter shoot it well. MFS and Russian is poor.

Randy

 
BigDerp said:
The Norc ammo quality varies batch by batch. You got a good one.
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This. I've had norc ammo that shoots patterns rather than groups, and I've had Norc ammo that shoots groups comparable to AE .223
But I find I consistently get better groups with AE, and that AE groups are of consistent size. With Norc ammo you're rolling the dice.
I also find that Norc rifles are more forgiving of Norc ammo than others.

I don't know where all the hate always came from.
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From the same source as the hate for Norc AR 15's.
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The rifles are sort of the same, you're more likely to get a lemon than if you purchase American. But if you get one that works, and you probably will, it's a good deal! My 20" A1 Norc upper gives me fantastic groups and has been absolutely reliable.
 
My Norinco yellow box consistently outshot premium Hornady 77gr ammo.

It's a shame the stuff isn't available anymore, I should have bought 10 crates had I known. I still have about 600 rounds I won't touch.
 
Dietz said:
My Norinco yellow box consistently outshot premium Hornady 77gr ammo.

It's a shame the stuff isn't available anymore, I should have bought 10 crates had I known. I still have about 600 rounds I won't touch.
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thats what I used have 20 boxes left
 
On my last range trip I burned through the better part of my last spam can of norinco ammo. Overall I had very very few problems with it and I've shot about 3 cases of it so far.

Other than a few case defects like split necks etc (found on loaded ammo out of the box) It's been decent. Accuracy wise it's been fine up to the 225yrd I can shoot at.

Only think that bothered me is I had quite a few rounds keyhole out of one particular rifle, yet the same rifle would also shoot great groups with the same ammo so I think it varies box to box.

All I know is I have a tonne of brass that reloads just fine for what I need out of it. Just wish I could get more of it when I wanna do 10 round mag dumps lol
 
I haven't shot the norinco but from the different AE ammo and hornady steel match I found hornady steel match to be the best followed by AE 55 gr red box. Gun was rem 700 varmint barrel
 
Sharps '63 said:
From the same source as the hate for Norc AR 15's. The AR crowd seems to have quite an elitist core who are very much slaves to the brand name game - "Mine's bigger, better and costs more than yours.
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I am an AR elitist for the gun itself, but not at all for the ammo going through it. Some people think their gun deserves better, almost comparing it to feeding your kids healthy food, but guns are completely different. It's not like the casing or bullet it going to harm the chamber and bore more than expensive ammunition.

I'd much rather get 3 shots per dollar than 1 shot per dollar for 99% of the shooting I'm doing, which is to say not competitive inside of 200, when I couldn't care less if my grouping is 1" or 3". The only time I'd even want to use high-end ammo is if I were in some sort of longer-range precision competition, but that's not what an AR is made for, anyway.
 
scott440 said:
Has anyone compared the norc ammo to the tula steel cased stuff? The price for the tula sure is attractive.
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The Norc is brass cased, copper jacketed and reloadable. The Tula is steel cased and bi-metal jacket.
Steel case increases wear on the extractor and makes overgas issues more apparent as it's not as malleable as brass. Bimetal jacket reduces barrel life substantially. If you care about the long term longevity of your rifle, the Norc will be better for it. Wrt to accuracy and performance, can't say although from my previous point it's definitely tough to pay the price asked for the Tula considering it's about the same as norc and less than 40% cheaper than Federal, for example..


Petamocto said:
It's not like the casing or bullet it going to harm the chamber and bore more than expensive ammunition.
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This is true, to some extent. See above.
 
I think all the hate comes from all the threads about people having problems with keyholing, primers falling out and jamming up the trigger group, split cases and just generally crappy groups. Oh, and then there are the rare instances where a guy bought a crate of Norc 5.56 and found out the crate was full of 7.62 AP (I wish), or the rare time a guy blew up his rifle using it.
It seemed like there was a new thread about problems with Norc 5.56 every couple days for a while.

The 7.62x51 surplus sounded like it was a lot better quality and much more consistent.

I've been at the range with a buddy who was shooting Norc 5.56 through his XCR-L and he couldn't figure out why he was shooting 4-6 inch groups at 100 yards off a bipod so I gave him a mag of American Eagle 55gr black box and his groups instantly shrank to about 2-3 inches. That was all I needed to see for it's accuracy potential. Some people may get lucky and their barrel shoots it ok but I think it's too inconsistent to trust for anything beyond close range fun shooting just to make some noise.

Norinco ammo is inconsistent at best and I'll never run it through any of my rifles. You never know what you're getting with it.

I just love the attitude of so many on this site. Even after 50 people post about their problems with the ammo the ones that haven't blown up a rifle with it yet just say "works great for me so I'm gonna keep using it". Some people just have to learn the hard way I guess :)
 
cr5 said:
I think all the hate comes from all the threads about people having problems with keyholing, primers falling out and jamming up the trigger group, split cases and just generally crappy groups. Oh, and then there are the rare instances where a guy bought a crate of Norc 5.56 and found out the crate was full of 7.62 AP (I wish), or the rare time a guy blew up his rifle using it.
It seemed like there was a new thread about problems with Norc 5.56 every couple days for a while.

The 7.62x51 surplus sounded like it was a lot better quality and much more consistent.

I've been at the range with a buddy who was shooting Norc 5.56 through his XCR-L and he couldn't figure out why he was shooting 4-6 inch groups at 100 yards off a bipod so I gave him a mag of American Eagle 55gr black box and his groups instantly shrank to about 2-3 inches. That was all I needed to see for it's accuracy potential. Some people may get lucky and their barrel shoots it ok but I think it's too inconsistent to trust for anything beyond close range fun shooting just to make some noise.

Norinco ammo is inconsistent at best and I'll never run it through any of my rifles. You never know what you're getting with it.

I just love the attitude of so many on this site. Even after 50 people post about their problems with the ammo the ones that haven't blown up a rifle with it yet just say "works great for me so I'm gonna keep using it". Some people just have to learn the hard way I guess :)
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Agreed. I had bad luck with the case I bought and will never buy it again. I still have 1400 rounds to either pull down or dispose of...I wouldn't feel right selling to anyone, even if I told them about the problems I have had.
 
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