School me on 5.56 ammo please

PaulR

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NewB to AR's will be buying first one in the coming months.
I've gone through the research and decided what brand of cheese I want to buy, but now ammo:

What is good? What to stay away from? or like most other centerfire they are all basically pretty decent?

How is that American Eagle brand I often see?
Independence brand?
What's the best/Worst?

What is a good price per round?
What is a fair price per round?
What is a crappy price per round?

Uses will be target shooting anywhere from 50-250 yards.

Thanks.
 
There's a wide selection of brands for 5.56/.223 ammo. American Eagle has worked well for me. I've also used PMC, Brown Bear (steel cased), and a couple others. None of them have given me any problems.

If you're not planning on reloading, the steel-cased options (Tula, Wolf, Brown Bear, etc.) are a good way to save some money. Some people report reliability issues with some brands, so buy a small amount and make sure it works for you before buying a whole bunch of it.

40 cents per round is a semi-decent price for brass-cased 5.56/.223 in the current market. Steel-cased can be found for around 30 cents per round, sometimes even less. Prices will vary a lot, but these are good starting points for looking.
 
Reloading would be the next step for me. I don't currently reload my 9mm that I shoot, but I do try to collect whatever brass I can. I have a few hundred rounds of brass when the time comes and I invest in the reloading stuff. Probably tackle that next fall.
 
While looking for an AR to buy, consider getting one with a Wylde chamber. There is a difference between .223 and 5.56. Rifles chambered in .223 aren't supposed to use 5.56 - it's a pressure/safety thing. The Wylde chamber was developed to be able to accept both .223 and 5.56.
 
If you looking into reloading, use American Eagle. It has Lake City brass, which is superior. Start out small and sort out your batches by the headstamp. I reload for precision, and across the years, an 08 case will have different volume than say an 01 and vice versa. The same load in an 08 case will generate for me 200 fps more on average than an 01. I would get an upper that has 5.56 stamped on it, that way you can reload to max SAAMI specs where as your hindered by the .223 reloading pressure max.

As far as ammo, it all depends on what your shooting at, since your not going to be shooting at anything more than 250 yards, I wouldn't suggest anything more than a 69 grn bullet, if however your spending 90% of your time shooting at 50-100 yards, a 55 grn round. As an all around round goes, the American Eagle M855 is probably one of the most all around ammo for you, and a box of 20 goes for around $11+tax.

As far as reloading goes, start out with a single stage press, you will learn all the fundamentals there. I would suggest that you stick with one brand, whatever it might be. I use RCBS and the plate that bolts to the bench so I can remove the press and powder measure and put the case trimmer on it and when not in use, remove it so nothing happens to it. Ebay has a good variety and piecing it together can save you money, then again you could also get lucky on Craigslist. I got a Rock Chucker press, powder measure, dies, case trimmer, scale, and a bunch of other accessories in new condition for $150 a few years back.
 
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if your going to shoot 250+ yards favor the heavier bullets.
i have not had any issues with any of the factory stuff from tula- lapua match.
buy what you can...cheap for fun better for targets
 
The ammo you select might be determined in part by your AR's barrel twist. Most stuff is 55-62gr, though, which works well with most barrels.


For example, I have a 20" A2 with a 1:9 barrel. It shoots up to 75gr OK, but can't group 80gr.

Just another thing to consider.
 
I would say $40 a round on brass is a very good price these days. I have not seen anything cheaper in NH or MA in the last year. Rileys at $409 a case of 1000 is the best price I have seen anywhere these days. But I don't spend a lot of time looking anymore either. In MA $.50 a round after taxes seems to be the going rate from most places I see it.
 
NewB to AR's will be buying first one in the coming months.
I've gone through the research and decided what brand of cheese I want to buy, but now ammo:

What is good? What to stay away from? or like most other centerfire they are all basically pretty decent?

How is that American Eagle brand I often see?
Independence brand?
What's the best/Worst?

What is a good price per round?
What is a fair price per round?
What is a crappy price per round?

Uses will be target shooting anywhere from 50-250 yards.

Thanks.

Tell us what rifle your thinking of getting.
 
I've been finding 20 round boxes of Independence for $9 lately. 45 cents a round. Not bad to start I guess until I can bulk up with a bigger find at 30-40 cents per round.
 
There were still a half dozen or so of the 420rnd federal lake city M855 ammo cans of 5.56 at four seasons as of Wednesday this last week, $200 which isn't a terrible price.
 
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