The M24 Sniper Weapon System, renowned for its precision with purpose-built match ammunition, exhibited a significant accuracy degradation when fed standard US Military M80 147-grain FMJ ball ammunition, yielding 2.572 MOA groups in recent testing reported by rifleshooter.com. This finding addresses a long-standing curiosity among long-range shooters regarding the emergency performance of military sniper platforms with readily available, non-match cartridges.
The test, conducted by rifleshooter.com, utilized a used M24 rifle equipped with a fixed 10X scope. This particular M24 demonstrated excellent baseline performance with match-grade ammunition, consistently producing groups "well under 1 MOA" using factory Federal Gold Medal 175 Grain SMK ammunition and achieving "0.5 MOA" with optimized hand loads. This established capability provided a clear benchmark against which the ball ammunition's performance could be critically evaluated.
Transitioning to the Winchester M80 147-grain FMJ—the ubiquitous US military ball cartridge typically associated with belt-fed weapon systems like the M240G—the M24 fired ten rounds to assess its utility. The resulting 2.572 MOA average across these groups revealed a substantial departure from the rifle's match-grade precision. Velocity data recorded an average muzzle velocity of 2,803 feet per second, with a standard deviation of 17.8 feet per second. Notably, this measured velocity was remarkably close to military specifications, differing by only three feet per second. While some accuracy degradation was anticipated, the severity of the 2.5 MOA spread was a key takeaway.
Further analysis by rifleshooter.com involved running the M80's velocity data through a ballistic application, comparing its trajectory out to 1,000 yards against 175-grain SMK (at 2,600 ft/s) and 168-grain SMK (at 2,756 ft/s) match loads. The ballistic data indicated that while the lighter M80 round, despite its higher muzzle velocity, did not fare as well as the heavier match rounds in crosswind conditions, its overall drop remained "similar" to the match projectiles. This comparable drop was attributed to the M80's elevated velocity compensating for its lighter mass.
Ultimately, while 2.5 MOA accuracy is far from the sub-MOA precision expected from a dedicated sniper system, rifleshooter.com concludes that in a dire resupply scenario, such performance "is better than nothing." The exercise underscores the fundamental difference between purpose-built match ammunition, engineered for tight tolerances and optimal external ballistics, and general-purpose ball ammunition, which prioritizes reliability and cost-effectiveness across a broad spectrum of weapon systems rather than pinpoint accuracy in a precision rifle. This initial report was first published on rifleshooter.com.
