Hornady FR260 Frontier 5.56 Nato 62 GR FMJ 20 Rounds

American made and built on tradition – these are the hallmarks of Frontier® Cartridge.

Frontier® Cartridge features Hornady bullets and is available in 223 Rem, 5.56 NATO, 300 Blackout and 6.5 Grendel. Applications range from plinking, target shooting and hunting to law enforcement training and self-defense.

Features:

• CONSISTENCY IN EVERY CARTRIDGE: State-of-the-industry loading techniques and quality control procedures ensure the reliability of every Frontier® Cartridge round.
• ROUNDS FOR ALL APPLICATIONS: Frontier® Cartridge offers ammunition configured for a wide range of shooters and applications, everything from plinking, target shooting and hunting to law enforcement training and self-defense.
• BRASS CASES: In addition to Hornady® target friendly, non-steel core bullets in a variety of offerings, Frontier® Cartridge features brass cartridge cases and military-grade boxer primers and propellant.

Specifications:

• G1 BC: .274
• Muzzle Velocity: 3060 fps (20″ barrel)
• Muzzle Energy: 1289 ft lb
• Bullet: 62gr FMJ
• Quantity: 500 Rounds

The saying that “all good things must come to an end” is not necessarily true. In 2018, Hornady brought back the Frontier name in a big way. The brand was on firm footing in the premium and niche segments of the ammo market, and Hornady became known for innovative­ and high-­performance bullets and ammo, such as the new ELD family. However, Hornady had virtually no presence in the lower price-­point segment; This was the domain of Federal, Remington and Winchester, all of whom have high-­volume, low-­cost ammunition lines. In 2016, Hornady made the decision to compete in the Big Three’s price-­point category and entered by reintroducing its Frontier line of ammunition. Hornady FR260 Frontier 5.56 Nato 62 GR FMJ 20 Rounds

Hornady teamed up with Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) to use its excess production capacity for production of Hornady’s new line of Frontier-branded ammo. Loads were offered in .223 Remington, 5.56 NATO and .300 Blackout. Today, LCAAP’s production machinery is capable of producing millions of cartridges per day, per machine. They load Hornady’s cartridge cases, and package the ammunition in a series on the same machine.

Hornady provides the projectiles to LCAAP for loading Frontier ammo rather than the standard military M855 or M856 projectile. The .223 Rem. and .300 Blackout are loaded to SAAMI specifications. The 5.56 NATO cases and propellant are made to military specifications using Hornady bullets loaded on LCAAP’s high-­volume machinery. This high-­production rate significantly lowers production costs, and the savings are passed on to the customer.

The teaming arrangement with LCAAP also provides ammunition loaded with high-­strength mil-­spec cartridge cases and a crimped primer along with mil-­spec propellants.

Hornady offers loads with their own production-­equivalent versions of the M193 55-­grain full metal jacket (FMJ) and M855 62-­grain FMJ. The real plus here is that Hornady offers a large range of bullet weights and styles to cover just about anything you’d want to do with an AR-­15; from varminting to plinking, to law enforcement training. Bullet styles are available in FMJ, hollowpoint (HP), soft point (SP) and boat­tail hollowpoint (BTHP) match. Offered bullet weights in the 5.56 range from 55-­ to 75-­grain, and .223 Rem. loads range from 55-­ to 68-­grains. The .300 Blackout is offered with a 125-­grain FMJ bullet.

All bullets are manufactured by Hornady with their usual high standards for quality and accuracy. It will be difficult to find another line of ammo at this price point that matches Frontier’s quality and range of bullet weights and styles. Hornady FR260 Frontier 5.56 Nato 62 GR FMJ 20 Rounds

Here, a short discussion of the difference between 5.56 NATO and .223 Rem. is in order. The 5.56 NATO came first, and the .223 Rem. was a commercialized 5.56 round with a redesigned throat and freebore in order to produce better accuracy for a commercial cartridge. The 5.56 has a longer and larger-diameter throat and freebore that allows the projectile to jump further to the rifling. The 5.56 also operates at higher pressure than the .223.

The .223 has a smaller diameter and shorter throat and freebore with less jump to the rifling than the 5.56, which gives the .223 an edge in accuracy. Because of these differences in the throat and freebore, you should not fire 5.56 NATO in a .223 Rem. chamber. This will cause elevated pressures that can pierce primers and damage your firearm. It is safe to fire .223 in the 5.56 because the longer throat of the 5.56 causes a pressure and velocity drop.

Another significant difference in the two is that the 5.56 uses a 20-­inch pressure-­ and velocity-­test barrel as opposed to the 24-­inch test barrel used for the .223 Rem. This is why you may see lower velocities listed for 5.56 with the same bullet weight as the .223 despite the 5.56’s higher operating pressure. Velocities listed are from the standard-­length test barrels.

For this article, I tested Hornady Frontier 5.56 NATO loadings with the 55-­grain FMJ, 62-­grain FMJ and 68-­grain BTHP Match. I fired five, five-­shot groups at 100 yards with each load through a Windham Weaponry 16-­inch M4-­style carbine and a 4X optic. All loads functioned flawlessly and had ejection patterns that were consistent. All spent cases dropped within a small area. The 55-­grain FMJ load did not seem to like the fast 1-­in-­8-­inch barrel twist. I found the 62-­grain FMJ and 68-­grain BTHP match loads to be reasonably accurate. They were significantly more accurate than what I have come to expect from M855 and M193 ammo, and knockoffs, through my gun. The new Frontier line should have a load that will satisfy most shooters needs in a low-­cost round for just about any application and AR-­15 configuration.

As good as the Hornady Frontier line of ammo is, I would look for it to continue to expand and include new bullet weights in each caliber. For those of us who are 7.62 fans, wouldn’t it be nice to have a a .308 Win. load that was of higher quality and produced better accuracy than the M80 Ball round? And maybe match and hunting-­style offerings at very competitive prices?

Hornady has done an excellent job of honoring the roots of the Hornady ammunition product line with the reintroduction of the Frontier brand. This new Frontier ammo carries on the brand’s legacy of high-­quality, trouble-­free performance, and good accuracy at a very attractive price. You’ll have a hard time finding a low-­cost line of ammo with as many offerings and of better quality than Hornady’s Frontier.