An in-depth look at Ammo To Go’s new competitive offering of the 77 grain OTM for the long distance 5.56 platform.

Finding the best 77gr OTM match-grade ammunition can be a challenge, especially when you’re trying to save a few dollars and don’t have money for the premium options. Luckily I was given the opportunity to test a new 77-grain load from Ammunition to Go. It’s not something I normally do, but I figured I could at least write up my findings. What I found was that there are great 77gr loads being developed that won’t break your budget and will help tighten up your groups as a regular keep-around in your ammo storage. So, here’s a look at American Quality Ammo’s 77 grain 5.56 ammo.

Why Go With 77 grain?

As a self-proclaimed history nerd and novice precision and extreme long-range shooter, I think it’s important to understand why we use the 77-grain round in the first place. You might be used to “green tip” or what the US Military calls the M855 round. It’s a 62-grain full metal jacket round and was a mainstay for combat use through most of the Global War on Terror. More specialized units, however, began to use a round known as the Mk262, I’ll come back to this in a second. One of the problems with the M855 is its tendency to over-penetrate, with poor or at least inconsistent terminal performance. Terminal ballistics are that of a projectiles behavior and effects when it impacts and interacts with a target. Things like penetration, expansion, and energy transfer. It also tends to be, at least in comparison to later rounds, somewhat inaccurate.

Mk262 ammo was developed to provide better ballistics both terminally and in flight. The Mk262 is comprised of a 77gr open-tip match (OTM) projectile, muzzle velocities as stated in Mk262 documentation are  ~2,750-2,800 feet-per-second (fps) out of a 14.5” government-profiled barrel (think..M4), and 2,900-3,000fps out of something like an 18-20” special purpose rifle (SPR) barrel. The round itself is designed to fragment more, and yaw more upon impact, increasing the energy transfer capability of the round. In flight, the bullet’s design gives it a higher ballistic coefficient, or the value measurement of a bullet’s ability to overcome air resistance in flight.

Official Mk262 ammunition is made by the company Black Hills, and it’s technically available to the commercial market as the Mk262 Mod 1-C, which is (specification wise) identical or nearly identical to the military-issued Mk262 Mod-1. It’s the best, and it’s the best for a reason. That’s also why it’s pricey. Right now it’s selling for about $1.42 per-round. In-comes American Quality Ammunition and their 77gr OTM.

Budget friendly 77gr Match Ammo

This is where American Quality Ammunition stepped in, as I was on the hunt for a more budget-friendly ammunition that still provided a good option for increased precision at range. I’ve shot at distances out to 3,000 meters, so I can tell you that the load is a major part of the ‘balance’ necessary in all of the variables that comprise one’s ability to place accurate shots on targets at distance.

I simplify these variables for my simple brain. Balancing the load, platform, shooter and environment are the dancing variables that require surgical consideration for optimal shot placement.

I took the 77 grain ammunition to a training session with my friends from Armasight at  Sanctum 1791, a sprawling North Carolina compound with everything from tactical bays to night time sporting clays.

Doug, a friend of mine and a US Army Green Beret now working at Armasight, and I spent quite a bit of time conversing about load development desires, ammunition cost in today’s market, and a general lack of availability of cost-effective and accurate ammo. I wanted to see how this 77gr load stood up to some grouping in the absolute scorching North Carolina heat. It was over 105 degrees in the sun, because I need an option for cost-effective ammo that gives me more capability than the budget fare.

$167.95

$149.95

250rds – 5.56x45 American Quality Ammunition 77gr. OTM Ammo

American Quality Ammunition’s 77gr OTM Testing – Technical Specifications

The load I tested is a currently-available 77gr OTM from American Quality Ammunition using Hornady’s open-tip match bullets. It has an advertised speed of 2,650 feet per second. At the time of this article being written, AmmoToGo sells it for about $0.60/rd, which is, for all intents and purposes, something of a steal…if it’s gives me the opportunity to be accurate with it. My hope was something better than 2 MOA. It was going to be hot, the suppressed barrel was going to retain heat, and 2 MOA at 600 yards is about 12 inches of variance. If I’m under that, I’m at least hitting most of my shots on a 2-legged animal.

The rifle I tested this ammunition out of is a 16” Geissele Super Duty upper riding on a Geissele lower (purchased as a complete rifle). I had a Surefire RC2 suppressor installed over a 3-prong Surefire flash hider.

I wanted to take what I see as one of the best out-of-the-box duty-grade ARs money can buy. My focus was its role as a duty rifle, not as an SPR squeezing every ounce of accuracy. There are more accurate rifles, and there are less accurate rifles. We could do more testing with longer barrels, shorter barrels, with and without suppressors, and more. I will almost always run this rifle in this exact barrel and suppressor configuration. That’s what I wanted to stick with.

As a side note, I think the Super Duty is one of the best rifles for cost, features, and durability balance. They’re not the only manufacturer I buy from, but they’re what I’d grab to trust my life with. The glass was a bit overkill, with my friends at Primary Arms providing an SLx 3-18 in mils. I wanted consistency on my sight picture, so I rolled at 18x magnification for the duration of testing

Although I did spend quite a bit of time on my 11.5” Super Duty running this ammo exclusively for the duration of this training day, we were on a tight production schedule for American Marksman and load data was only captured using the 16”. I’ll tell you one thing, though, it cycled flawlessly in both.

77gr OTM Testing Results

First, we’ll talk about speeds. I was able to achieve an average in my groups of as low as 2,528fps and as high as 2,542fps. The table below will show you the batches of speed testing I did using my Garmin Xero.

Those speeds delivered to me a muzzle energy average of 1092-1104ft-lbs.

Next we’ll talk about the groups I was able to achieve. Before that, though, I’d like to reiterate something about grouping a ‘duty’ gun. I’m basically a sniper if I can get a duty gun to group somewhere below 2 minutes of angle (MOA). I’d also like to reiterate the ‘balance’ necessary on accuracy and precision. Everything from personal imperfection to platform minimum/maximum capabilities to the load and environment can cause deviations in groups. It’s typically best to do these in controlled environments, not what is effectively the face of the sun.

I fired four 5-round groups at 1-inch squares exactly at 100 yards (laser confirmed). The results were pretty good, especially in a Duty AR. I let the barrel cool a bit after speed testing and general shooting before starting group testing. I just like to shoot, man, and nearly forgot groups because I was having fun hammering steel. It most certainly did not feel inaccurate even offhand and standing at 200 yards.

Using Hornady’s 4DOF app, I can measure groups with a photo and a known point on my target. I use 4DOF for everything from Group Analysis to its Ballistic Calculator for long-range shooting solutions. The best group of the day I was able to achieve calculated to be about 1.35 MOA. I include flyers in my groups since they result from imperfect balance elements I mentioned earlier. If I removed the flyer, it would be a tight and very respectable 0.49 MOA 4-round group. Inclusion of the ‘flyer’, however, brings the best group into consistency with the other group.

The groups started to open as time went on. The barrel got hot and the shooter got hot. The overheating caused the final group to be the worst. Regardless, it was still well-below my hopeful 2 MOA, at 1.73 MOA.

How Good is American Quality Ammunition’s 77gr OTM?

Who am I to Judge 77 Grain Ammo?

Nobody, honestly. I’m your average everyday American Marksman, just like you probably are and claim no expertise beyond personal experience. I have had a few chances to do some interesting things in the US Army (not THAT interesting, though) and I did a few neat things with the History Channel. I was on a marksmanship team in high school, and I’ve competed a few times as an adult to test myself against myself, but other than that I just shoot.

These days, I’m the Vice President of Funker530, the internet’s only archive of combat and use of force, the Industry Relations Director at the National Association for Gun Rights, and the host of an upcoming channel on YouTube and Pepperbox.tv called American Marksman. American Marksman is all about your story, the story of the shooter that’s just trying to squeeze every ounce of accuracy out of his or her rifle, pistol, or shotgun… but more importantly themselves. Whether a competitive shooter, a hunter, or a sniper, we’re all American Marksmen. It’s also the story of those before us, those that set the foundations for American Marksmen everywhere.

Given comparison costs versus most 77gr OTM, I’d say it’s fine, if not great, for my purposes. My specific purpose for this ammo is a cost-effective bulk mainstay that increases my rifle’s inherent accuracy over budget ammo. It’s not a replacement for the Mk262, but for what it gives me as a standalone. I can get thousands of cheap 55gr plinker rounds for less money, sure. I can buy quality ammo for less than half when I want the highest hit probability with my load without Black Hills money ($1.42/round).

Though framed as a sort-of Mk262 comparison, I skipped direct grouping because I prefer measuring things against themselves. I measure myself against myself as a shooter, a husband, and a father, not necessarily against any other standard. I’ll say this much, for sure: this ammo is great, and I’ll add it to my mainstay supply.
Not a single malfunction or failure to feed for me. As for Doug, his gun blew up using his bulls*** ammo.

You can watch Ronnie’s new channel, American Marksman, on Pepperbox.tv.