Bullet for .223 Rem at a bargain price.
We have tested Berry’s .224 full metal jacket bullets for you. What is the cheapest bullet in this caliber on the current market, and will it be the right choice for you?
Berry’s Ammunition focuses primarily on copper-plated bullets for handguns in 13 calibers ranging from .32 to .50, and if we count the various shapes and weights, there are a total of 71 options. Additionally, they offer rifle bullets for what we might call “slower” cartridges, where the copper-plated surface still ensures that the bullets don’t strip in the barrel's grooves. For example, they offer bullets for .300 Blackout or .458 SOCOM. A fairly fast yet extremely popular cartridge like the .223 Rem already requires a traditional thick jacket, so in Berry’s Ammunition, founded by Ray Berry in 1961, they also started producing jacketed bullets in .224 caliber.
Affordable Classic
These bullets stand out among the competition primarily due to their very low price. You can hardly find anything cheaper on the market. The bullets are sold in packs of 500 and 5000, with the larger volume offering a lower price. Specifically, it’s 4 CZK vs. 3.1 CZK per bullet. This is a big plus for cartridges like .223 Rem, which are typically used in semi-automatic rifles where high-volume shooting is expected. On the other hand, this raises questions about their quality, so we decided to test them at the range.
From 20 measured samples, the weight variation ranged between 44.9 and 55.1 gr, which is practically negligible. The ballistic coefficient is .245, which is slightly lower than the similarly weighted competitor from B&T (.259), but in practice, this difference is not significant.
The construction is a typical spitzer full metal jacket with an exposed core at the base and a crimp groove.
The grouping during test shooting from the Perun rifle was under 45 mm.
How Does It Shoot?
Now to the main question, how does it shoot? I tested the .223/55 gr version in .223 Rem cartridges. For the test, I used two rifles equipped with magnified optics: a Perun with a 318 mm barrel and an IWI Zion with a 457 mm barrel. In both cases, the barrel twist rate was 1:7”. I achieved better groupings with the Zion, which, with suitable ammunition, has the potential to group around 28 mm at a distance of 100 m. In this case, the grouping (two averaged sets of 6 rounds each, excluding the worst shot at 100m) was 34 mm. With the Perun, I achieved a grouping of 45 mm at 100 meters. These are practically the same values I get with factory-loaded S&B FMJ 55 gr ammunition. While this isn’t particularly impressive and might not appeal to someone who craves maximum accuracy (and is willing to invest in it), for the vast majority of shooters, it will more than suffice. Especially considering the price, it is truly an excellent choice.
Of course, there might be a barrel that simply doesn’t work well with this bullet—testing with just two rifles won’t reveal that—but based on feedback, this bullet seems to be quite universal and straightforward. For the cheapest bullet on the market, it delivers genuinely good performance.
Currently, the closest in price are Hornady FMJ-BT 55 gr bullets at 4 CZK per bullet, with which I also have experience. However, I don’t believe their accuracy potential is significantly better than Berry’s. The same can be said for domestic FMJ 55 gr from S&B, which cost 4.6 CZK per bullet. You can definitely notice the price difference when you “leave” several hundred bullets at the range every month...
A Berry’s .224/55 gr bullet next to a completed .223 Rem cartridge.
You can purchase Berry’s bullets at the STROBL.CZ s.r.o. store. For more information, visit strobl.cz or the manufacturer’s website at berrysmfg.com.
Photo Sources: Author’s archive
Author: Tomáš Prachař
This article originally appeared in the magazine "Zbraně a náboje".