Eyes Never Closed

I recently received a can of Fiocchi Canned Heat in .223 to test out, from Ammo.net. I am going to get a bit more in-depth with this information on an upcoming episode of my podcast, but I wanted to get a little mini-review up here on the blog as well.

First, let me start off with a little about Ammo.net. They are obviously an online retailer of ammunition, but one thing that sets them apart from the other sites out there is that they take a portion of the money they’ve made from each order, and send it off to a pro-freedom organization as a donation on the customer’s behalf. Right now, there is a select list of organizations you can choose from, some bigger, some smaller, but there is bound to be one you wont mind being charitable to. When you order, you’ll be able to specify which organization gets the donation. This list includes: Blue Star Families, Campaign For Liberty, Homes For Our Troops, Liberty PAC, National Rifle Assocation (NRA), Patriot Action Network, Small Wars Foundation, Soldiers’ Angels and Tea Party Patriots.

From the Ammo.net Donations Page:

Why do we do this?  It’s simple really.  We believe in supporting those who protect our freedoms.  Of course, we hope you’ll choose Ammo.net as your preferred ammunition dealer as a result of knowing that not only will you get your order super fast and at a great price, but that you’ll also be doing a little bit of good for those who are actively protecting our freedoms.

After you submit your order on our order confirmation page, you’ll see a drop-down of all the available organizations you can donate to.  This is the point at which you choose who will receive 1% of your order’s value as a donation from Ammo.net.

Now, I have never done business with Ammo.net before this, but the above reason alone is enough to earn my business in the future.

On to the ammunition itself: I received one fifty round can of Fiocchi’s Canned Heat in .223. It has a 55 grain FMJ boat tail bullet, which according to the manufacturer has a muzzle velocity of 3240 feet per second with 1281 foot-pounds of energy.

The Canned Heat Line of ammo is, wait for it… canned. It comes in a metal can that is packed with a desiccant pouch and then hermetically sealed to protect the ammunition from outside elements and is supposed to prolong the shelf life of the ammo (ammo shelf life is an entire post in itself that I may touch on later). To be completely honest with my thoughts here, I think the can itself is mostly a gimmick – but don’t let that take away from the actual quality of the ammunition inside. Depending on your storage area, I think the cans may be easier to store for some people.

I put this round up against some of my own loads running Hornady V-Max bullets sitting on 24 grains of 8208XBR powder, and some Federal XM193 5.56 that I had laying around. The Eotech on the AR I was using is currently sighted in for my Hornady loads. Out at 50 and 100 yards, the Fiocchi preformed slightly better than the Federal XM193, giving me tighter groups overall and point of impact was closer to point of aim. The Fiocchi did not do better than my own loads, but that is an unfair comparison as I’ve spent months developing and fine tuning my recipe for this rifle. At 50 yards I was shooting the Fiocchi in pretty consistent 1.5″ groups and that expanded about an inch at 100 yards. In the fifty rounds of Canned Heat shot, I experienced no malfunctions or hiccups of any type.

I’ve shot Fiocchi brand before, but never this line. Combining my experiences with them in the past and this experience with the Canned Heat, I am able to say that I believe the Canned Heat is a great choice for anything you’d normally use a Full Metal Jacket bullet for: target practice, plinking, training, etc.

FTC DISCLAIMER: I was contacted by Ammo.net to do this review. The product was shipped to me free of charge and no money has been exchanged in either direction regarding this transaction and blog post.