1. Q: What is the difference between a Tactical Load and a Commercial (Regular) Load?
A: The Tactical Load has a higher powder charge than the Commercial Load, which results in better performance.
2. Q: Can my gun shoot Tactical (Combat) Loaded ammunition?
A: There are many different gun configurations on the market but these are the recommended for firing SSA Tactical Load ammunition:
Minimum configuration: Spec II Chamber, 1x10 twist, 6-groove barrel.
Best configuration: Spec II Chamber, 1x11 twist, 4-groove barrel (or slower twist rate)
Tip: Check your fired brass to look for pressure signs.
3. Q: Who makes your brass cases?
A: All brass cases sold by SSA with the SSA head stamp on them are manufactured in our own factory. "We make our own brass".
4. Q: What is the difference between .308 and 7.62 ammunition?
A: The main difference between the .308 and 7.62 ammunition is the extractor groove. Because the 7.62 is used in machine guns it has a larger extractor groove. The .308 has a smaller extractor groove. In most cases, the two are interchangeable among weapons, but there are some weapons where the .308 cartridge may not extract from a 7.62 weapon properly.
5. Q: What is the difference between the .223 and 5.56 ammunition?
A: The base of the brass case of 5.56 ammunition is heavier than the .223, which allows the 5.56 to be loaded hotter. The heavier base of the 5.56 is able to handle the increased pressure of a hot load. There is also a chamber difference between the .223 and 5.56. Generally, there is no problem shooting .223 ammo in a 5.56 chambered gun, but it is not recommended to shoot 5.56 ammo in a .223 chambered gun.
6. Q: What is the difference between 6mm PPC Benchrest and 6mm PPC Non-Benchrest?
A: The difference is the base diameter. The Benchrest diameter is .438 and the Non Benchrest diameter is .441. The Benchrest will work in a gun chambered for Non-Benchrest, but Non-Benchrest will not work in a Benchrest chambered gun.
7. Q: I have ammo that did not fire and the primer looks like it had a good hit from the firing pin. What happened?
A: We get an email from time to time saying that our ammo is not going bang. The reason is that SSA only uses top-grade Military Spec Primers in all of our cartridges since the 6.8SPC was designed as a Military round. The military primer has a thicker and harder base than a commercial primer. The harder base is required for military weapons to avoid what is called “tapping”.
M16’s and AR's have free-floating firing pins in semi or full auto. If you stop shooting, the firing pin will jump forward and tap the primer. With a commercial primer (thinner and softer base) it can send the weapon into full auto mode (even a semi auto weapon) with your finger off the trigger until the magazine is empty. Even though the primer may appear to have a good hit, it probably was not. With a weak hammer spring, the initial hit was cushioned by the stronger base primer.
Solution: Try to re-chamber the round to see if it will fire on a second strike. It is highly unlikely that you have a bad Military Spec primer. One misfire in a million rounds is one too many and could cause an entire lot to be rejected by the military. To date, SSA has had zero rejections.
Weapons like TC'S have a weak hammer spring to start with and can and will have difficulty setting off a Military primer. We have one AR lower (and we have many) that has difficulty firing a Mil-Spec primer because of a weak spring. Gun owners that have had this problem have changed out their springs for a heavier one and had no further misfires. We supply most of the major gun companies with 6.8SPC ammunition and again, no reported failures.
For 6.8PSC, SSA is the leading industry producer. In Military testing, our 6.8SPC rounds out-performed the competition in accuracy, velocity and reliability thru all phases of testing.
If your weapon is misfiring, try changing the hammer spring to a heavier 4lb spring. This should solve your problem.
8. Q: What is your return policy on ammunition?
A: Once ammunition has left our factory, we cannot accept any returns on ammunition. As a matter of fact, shipment of ammunition by a private individual is prohibited by law unless the item has been recalled.
9. Q: I purchased Xtreme ammunition from SSA a couple of years ago. What about returns for this ammunition?
A: Since it was determined that the projectile (which was not made by SSA) was defective on these rounds, returns are permitted. SSA will take back any unused Xtreme ammo that is in good condition. SSA will grant the sender .65 per round credit towards the purchase of newer ammo.
10. Q: I want to order SSA ammunition but I do not like using my credit card over the internet. Should I phone in an order or is there a better way to place an order?
A: The best way to place an order is through our website e-commerce system. This way, you can be assured of receiving the best price and fastest service. If you don’t want to use your credit card on the internet, then just select the “In Store” Payment Option during checkout. With the “In Store” option, your order is routed directly to our Order Desk and an SSA representative will contact you via phone to finalize payment info.
11. Q: Is there any benefit to using a Large Rifle Primer over a Small Rifle Primer?
A:
Standard Deviation (SD) have a better result for Small primer 6.8SPC rifle cartridges than for Large primer 6.8SPC rifle cartridges. But a large rifle primer will have a velocity advantage of around 50 FPS. It is not uncommon for a small primer case to have SD's in the low teens to single digits whereas a large primer case will give a SD in the 20's or into the 30's.
What is Standard Deviation (SD) in terms of ballistics? Standard Deviation is a simple measure of the variability or dispersion of a data set, or in the case of ballistics, a group of bullet holes. A low standard deviation indicates that all of the bullet holes are very close to target, while high standard deviation indicates that the bullet holes are "spread out" over a large range.