What Is With The Hype???

 In the middle of this ammo shortage, it is a good time to discuss the public fascination with M855 and clone rounds for civilian use. This author does not understand the hype, and that mostly because this author looks at ammo from a logical point of view. M855 and SS109 rounds have a steel penetrator core inside, and are in widespread use in the US, as well as other NATO countries. 

Accuracy

M855, along with SS109, and civilian analogs, rarely shoot groups smaller than 4 MOA. IMI ammo can sometimes produce 2.5 MOA groups, but that is an exception, and not the rule. Even lowly M193 clone ammo usually gets 2.5 MOA groups, even from some of the cheap variants. 

Effectiveness

It is a well-documented fact that M855 and SS109 rounds fail to fragment far more often than M193 ammo. Additionally, because of the steel core, M855 and SS109 rounds rarely expand. Not exactly what you want for self defense effectiveness. 

Cost

With M855 and SS109 being less effective, and less accurate, then the only remaining logical reason for there to be a lot of demand is if it is inexpensive. Yet again, M193 variants tend to be less expensive. 

Advantages

To be fair, the 62-grain projectiles tend to buck the wind better at distance than the 55-grain variants. Also, the M855 and SS109 rounds penetrate WWII steel helmets out to 800 meters. Those are the only advantages this author can find. 

Summary

Buy M193 ammo for practice and self defense.