Santa Barbara .223 .......Any Good?

FAL aboard! · May 25, 2004, 23:26

I'm considering Santa Barbara 62 grain SS109 for my 1in9 AR. Is this stuff any good? It seems pretty cheap at 16.5 cents/rd. I've had success with reloads but I'm looking to save $$. I've been shooting Barnaul, but it's pretty dirty.

FALna45 · May 26, 2004, 04:48

i put 800rds of the SB sportsmans guide had (has?) thru a 20" bushhamster hbar with very satisfactory results. fairly accurate and they all went bang. been thinking about getting more.

Hcore · May 26, 2004, 10:57

Check out ar15.com for lots of info on this ammo. Reports seem to be that it has some case seperation problems. No first hand experience, just what Ive read.

RS39 · May 26, 2004, 13:23

Great in mine. Some on arfcom claim fte when the gun runs hard and hot, but steady 1.5" in my Armalite without issue.

old goofy dude · June 02, 2004, 02:02

Every once in a while I get a failure to extract. The case gets stuck and the extractor pulls a piece of the rim off.

Then I need to us a cleaning rod to punch the stuck case out.

I've only experienced this problem with Bushmaster barrels. Very tight chamber tolerances probably are to blame. Though it seems that I remember somebody else saying that the cases are on the soft side, thus not having sufficient strength to stay firm when the extractor pulls on it.

Hope that it works well for you. If it does, I'll let you have my share of the available supply!

May 25, 2004, 23:26	#1
FAL aboard! Registered FALaholic #: 10801 Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: SE Wisconsin Posts: 207	Santa Barbara .223 .......Any Good? I'm considering Santa Barbara 62 grain SS109 for my 1in9 AR. Is this stuff any good? It seems pretty cheap at 16.5 cents/rd. I've had success with reloads but I'm looking to save $$. I've been shooting Barnaul, but it's pretty dirty.

May 26, 2004, 04:48	#2
FALna45 Registered FALaholic #: 10559 Join Date: May 2003 Location: 313 Posts: 327	i put 800rds of the SB sportsmans guide had (has?) thru a 20" bushhamster hbar with very satisfactory results. fairly accurate and they all went bang. been thinking about getting more. __________________ did a large procession wave their torches as my head fell in the basket? and was everybody dancing on the casket?

June 02, 2004, 02:02	#5
old goofy dude Registered FALaholic #: 5058 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: 30 km from water. 3 m from Satan's kitchen table. Posts: 104	Every once in a while I get a failure to extract. The case gets stuck and the extractor pulls a piece of the rim off. Then I need to us a cleaning rod to punch the stuck case out. I've only experienced this problem with Bushmaster barrels. Very tight chamber tolerances probably are to blame. Though it seems that I remember somebody else saying that the cases are on the soft side, thus not having sufficient strength to stay firm when the extractor pulls on it. Hope that it works well for you. If it does, I'll let you have my share of the available supply! __________________ OGD GOA Member "If it's food for thought, there's a lot of people on a diet" TDJ

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May 26, 2004, 10:57	#3
Hcore Registered FALaholic #: 11734 Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 309	Check out ar15.com for lots of info on this ammo. Reports seem to be that it has some case seperation problems. No first hand experience, just what Ive read.

May 26, 2004, 13:23	#4
RS39 Registered FALaholic #: 5655 Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 682	Great in mine. Some on arfcom claim fte when the gun runs hard and hot, but steady 1.5" in my Armalite without issue.