FOG HORN

Liberty Ammos Silverado Lead-Free .223 Hunting Ammunition

By: Sal Palma

2014
Twobirds Flying Publication

With SHOT SHOW 2014 out of the way and the weather getting back to some semblance of normal, I was all too happy to get out to the range and test drive Liberty Ammos Silverado Lead-Free .223 55gr high performance hunting ammo. Liberty Ammo came into existence shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center of 11 September 2001. The new company had as its objective the desire to produce high performance ammunition for the armed services. In the process, the company obtained a number of patents. That R&D effort and the experience gained over 10 years of war was modified and translated into a commercial product available to all law abiding citizens.

More recently, the Bradenton, FL Company received a perfect score of 5 points from the National Tactical Officers Association Members Tested and Recommended Program. In addition to the Silverado line, Liberty Ammunition offers a Civil Defense line of high performance handgun ammunition in 9mm, .45 ACP, .40 S&W and .380 Auto. The thrust behind the companys entire product is bullet geometry and velocity, which Liberty claims to be the highest in the world for their Civil Defense line. Why does velocity count? It accomplishes two things. First, when combined with bullet geometry, it ensures extensive fragmentation of the round to create a large amount of tissue damage. Second, velocity has a greater effect on kinetic energy than bullet mass, as indicated by the equation , so the most effective way to increase kinetic energy is to increase the projectiles velocity; a true statement because velocity is a squared variable. In their Civil Defense line, Liberty Ammunition uses an aggressive hollow point bullet of lower mass, but dramatically increases bullet velocity resulting in very aggressive fragmentation with a high kinetic energy component. Reducing the bullet

Copyright 2014, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

Liberty Ammos Silverado Lead-Free .223 Hunting Ammunition

mass and increasing velocity also has the added benefit of keeping chamber pressures manageable. The same thought process extends to the Silverado .223, which chronos at over 3000 fps.

2014

making the bullet longer than your garden variety Remington, 55 gr, .223; this was of course the case.

The first point to discuss is the enormous cavity depth of the Silverado .223. To do that, I used a small nail; inserted it in the cavity and marked it with a black marker. Im sure there are more precise approaches but this will help to clearly convey the enormity of the cavitys proportions.

The Silverado is slightly longer, overall, than a standard .223 round. Id say its much closer to the 77 gr. BTHP .223. My initial impression was that it would not function well with an AR magazine, so I decided to test that theory, which proved me to be incorrect; it just squeaks in there.

The bullet cavity measured just a hair over 14mm, which begs the question how does one preserve a bullet mass of 55 gr with a cavity of that size - remember, were only talking about 55 grains. The answer is

In the interest of conservatism I would not use a 30 round magazine and opt for a 20 round or even a 10 round magazine with this ammo. My suggestion is a reflection of personal preference and the Silverado .223 will feed from any quality AR magazine. With some of the mechanical work out of the way I moved to the live fire tests, and for that I used a 1:7 and 1:9 barrel.

Copyright 2014, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

Liberty Ammos Silverado Lead-Free .223 Hunting Ammunition

2014

there is an interesting story to be told with this graphic, and that is the conspicuous absence of stringing. There is virtually no vertical dispersion in the shots fired which confirms a consistent burn rate and velocity. I was extremely impressed by that. Terminal ballistic tests, in gelatin, are equally impressive.

The first 5 shot group, in the upper righthand corner, was shot through a 1:7 barrel and measured .28 inches. Moving CCW, group 2 was shot with a 1:9 barrel and measured .41 inches. Group 3, shot with a 1:7 barrel delivered .29 inches of maximum spread and Group 4, once again shot with a 1:9 barrel delivered a .90 inch spread. In the interest of fairness, I shot Group 4 hastily, loading up the box magazine and firing at a rate of one shot every two seconds with a bolt rifle. As you would expect with the longer bullet, the Silverado .223 did measurably better with the faster twist. Other than confirming that Libertys Silverado .223 is a sub-MOA performer,

In measurements taken by the company, Silverado .223 fragments nicely, up to 9 pieces that results in a main wound cavity that is > 4 and up to 9 secondary wound channels from the fragments and base of the bullet. With reasonable shot placement, the Silverado .223 can readily be used on game that is normally shot with .30 caliber ammunition. Closing Comments
Liberty Ammunition is placing its Silverado line as a hunting load and in that space its inarguably exceptional; however, I also think it works extremely well as a tactical round delivering both lethality and superb accuracy. The manufacturer has conducted penetration tests against heavy clothing, wallboard, oblique glass and car doors with success. The performance of this ammunition, both external and terminal, is excellent by any measure.
Copyright 2014, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved