Comparing 3 Different Ammo Brands at 100 – 400 Yds; 4th on Steel at 400 Yds

[rjinga]

I took my PTR 91, GI model, back out to the gun club for the first time in about a month and a half. I was comparing some surplus South Korean ammunition (new purchase), to PPU, and my current favorite low-budget ammunition, that I simply call German surplus (pictured left to right):


I put a 17.25” diameter target at 100, 200, 300, and 400 yds (see arrows; steel silhouette in circle):


I was shooting off of my custom bench rest [sarcasm] using an HK 1200m rear iron sight and the standard front iron sight:


I was using the 200m setting (the lowest one) on the rear sight at 100 yds. I used a 6:00 hold, trying to touch the top of the front post to the bottom edge of the target. At that distance the target is approximately twice as wide as the front post. Pictured left to right is the South Korean surplus (SKS), PPU, and German surplus (GS):

The PPU ammo (middle) was the clear winner at that distance.

I used the 200m setting, with the same 6:00 hold, at 200 yds. At this distance the target is approximately the same size as the front post. The picture position is the same (SKS, PPU, GS):

Now the PPU (middle) is starting to spread out, which is what I remember happening the last time I shot it past 100 yds. I’m assuming that the 10th SKS (left) round ended up below the target. And, since I couldn’t say with 100% certainty that the 10th round was inside that tight group at about 8:00 in the 9-ring, I called the GS (right) hits as only 9 out of 10 also.

I used the 300m setting, with the same 6:00 hold, at 300 yds. At this distance the target is smaller than the front post. The picture position is the same as the previous ones:

Now the SKS (left) is down to only three hits on the target. Eight out of ten on the target for the PPU (middle), and seven out of ten, but a tighter group, for the GS (right).

[rjinga]

I used the 400m setting, with the same 6:00 hold, at 400 yds. At this distance the target is about ½ the width of the front post. Again, the picture position is the same:

I don’t know if it made a difference, since the target appeared so small at that distance anyway, but when I got the two hits each with the SKS and PPU ammo, it was overcast. However, by the time I got one hit with the GS ammo, the sun had come out, but the target was in the shadows.

I finished my range trip with 20 rounds at the steel silhouette at 400 yds. This was the first time I’ve tried this ammunition with this silhouette, and I really do think I could have gotten more than seven hits if I’d had a spotter. (As chance would have it, one club member with a nice spotting scope left right before I shot at the silhouette. And then, another one arrived right after I finished.) As it was, I couldn’t really hear the “dings” to confirm my hits, or see them after the fact with my cheapo binoculars.

[rjinga]

This is approximately how big the target appears, relative to the sights at 100, 200, 300, and 400 yds:


And, if you open this photo to its full size, this is how big the sights and targets actually appeared to me when shooting (about the size of a dime):