A new Academy Sports + Outdoors opened up close by and I wanted to see what they had, kind of reminded me of Dick's Sporting Goods until I got to the ammunition where I was surprised to find ammunition not only in stock but reasonable priced. Reasonable priced ammunition is what sets Academy Sports apart from the likes of Bass Pro, Gander Mountain, or Dick's Sporting Goods. Too find reasonable priced ammunition before I would have to wait for a sale or order online and pay Taxes + Shipping which bumped the price back up.

One type of ammunition brand I had never seen before was Monarch which turned out to be a steel import exclusively for Academy Sports + Outdoor. Pulled out the iPhone and looked at the reviews, 4/5 stars so I decided to give it a try. What is to follow is my comparison of three (3) different types of Russian Steel Ammunition.

The Rifle: Rock River Arms Entry Operator; Barrel: 1/9 Twist (perfect twist for 55 grain bullets); Magazine: Metal STANAG (same magazine used each time and reloaded); Optics: EOTech 512 with 1 MOA dot (65 MOA Circle - why do they even mention this thing?); Distance to Target 50 yards. Position: Prone no rest.

First up was the Zero, for that I used Federal American Eagle with a 55 grain full metal jacket round at 50 yards.

First group was high left in the nine ring, adjusted 1 click right and 2 clicks down. Second group was high left just inside the ring, adjusted 2 clicks right and 4 clicks down. Third group was low right (yep my doh moment) backed it off 1 click left and 2 clicks up. The group size averaged less the 1/2" with the best shown at 3/8".

First Steel Ammunition up was the Wolf 55 Grain Hollow Point. Yes I paid $10.00 for 20 rounds of Russian Steel Ammo during the ammunition shortage, may we never have to endure that again. In all fairness I didn't expect a good group out of this ammunition but it served its purpose during the ammunition Shortage.

First group was... why even bother trying to explain this one. I knew I could do better.

Second group was a 1" group, take the cone of deviation out that equals a 2" group at 100 yards. I knew I had a good group going and on my 5th shot while breathing out and taking up the slack on my trigger I broke it before I reach my natural pause. Knew it was a bad shot when it happen and it would happen on the final shot.

The second steel ammunition was the TulAmmo 223 Rem 55 grain. This AR-15 has always done good on this ammunition and I knew what to expect out of this brand.

It performed as expected. Slightly less then a 1" group at 50 yards.

The third steel ammunition is the Monarch Steel 223 Rem 55 grain.

The group size was 7/8" at 50 yards, take the cone of deviation out and you have a 1 3/4" group at 100 yards. I really didn't expect it to do this group. The spent cases were ejecting between 3 & 4 o'clock very close to where the Wolf spent cases landed but slightly further away. The Tulammo spent cases landed at 3 o'clock. The Federal spent brass landed at 2 o'clock.

(Left to Right) Federal American Eagle, Wolf, Monarch (notice the slightly greener case), and Tulammo.

In closing here is the results I got with it you decide if it is the right ammunition for you. As for me it has the same price as TulAmmo and the same shooting characteristics which means I am buying more.

At a later time and when I get more I will be running some drills and will tell you how it did when I get the rifle really hot.

Target and Ammunition Used.