[BiscayneNative]

Hey all, its been a little while since I've posted on this site but its good to be back.

The weapon that needs ammo is a Bushy M4A3 style rifle with a 14.5in barrel.

The title of the thread should explain the circumstances under which such ammo will conceivably be used.

Basically, what I'm wondering is what sort of ammo you all would recommend, assuming that both the rifle and its owner (me!) make it to hack it out after the sh** hits the fan at high speed. The two major constraining factors as I see it are as follows: First, I will need a lot of ammo, probably in the realm of 1000s of rounds. Considering that said ammunition will be bought before the End, currently recognized legal tender will help facilitate the transaction! I for one can't pay a dollar or so per round. Second, reliability. I know that most ammo goes bang when in the chamber, but in an AR I'm wondering about proper feeding/ejecting many magazines later. Accuracy isn't that big of a deal, or so it seems to me. Most stuff is going to fly straight to target in the first 100 or so yards, and most urban confrontations an armed civilian is likely to get into will probably be within (or marginally beyond) that range.

So with that being said, is there any ammunition brands/loads that you all would recommend? Maybe more importantly, is there anything you would stay away from?

 

[5.7mm]

Prvi Partizan 55gr. 5.56 Is what I stock for my 1x9twist DPMS.

http://wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=7169&dir=18|830|845

This is the cheapest I have found this quality ammo for.

5.7mm

 

[skifast]

Sell the AR and buy an AK. then use any ammo.:

 

[535]

Anything that's reliable, goes bang and travels straight downrange w/ reasonable accuracy is better than nothing.....

 

[SPC_Keith]

55Gr FMJ, 62Gr penetrater. 65Gr sierra game kings. or 75Gr hornaday TAP.

 

[bebop1034]

i use anything 62 grain and above right now im currently stocking on lake city M855 SS109 green tip ammo and after that i plan on buying some sellior and bellot and TAP hornady try them out and see how i like how they react in my 1/7 CMMG 14.7

 

[techo]

Prvi Partizan 55gr. 5.56 Is what I stock for my 1x9twist DPMS.

http://wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=7169&dir=18|830|845

This is the cheapest I have found this quality ammo for.

5.7mm

+1 I would trust 5.7mm's knowledge over most others on this board when it comes to firearms
Privi is by far the best "cheap" ammo

If $$$ was not an object:

My understanding is that lighter 55-62gr Tac bonded JSP bullets are more accurate and have better glass penetration in short barrels with 1/9 twist rate.
http://ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/...ap-barrier-ammo&cName=223-556-soft-point-ammo
http://ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/...-bonded-62gr-sp&cName=223-556-soft-point-ammo
62-77gr for 1/7 twist. Assuming your chambering is 5.56 choose 5.56 NATO spec ammo over .223 for greater velocity.
I have Hornady 5.56 75gr TAP (#8126N) but it is far from cheap.
http://ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/...-bthp-t2-ammo&cName=223-556-hollow-point-ammo
I have purchased ammo from ATG and they shipped promptly and they have a great selection of low cost FMJ
http://ammunitiontogo.com/
For local purchase in Fort Lauderdale I bought Winchester 5.56 55gr FMJ (Q3131) from Bass Pro rather than .223 55gr.
FWIW

 

[tkdkraig]

just buy a box of various ammo and see what works best for you

 

[Rshooter]

With a 14.5 inch barrel I would think about staying at 55 grains or less. You are getting back into the arguments faced in Iraq. The military switched to the 62 grain loading with the 14.5 inch carbines and found it did not work well against light targets.

Do as you must but I would stay with light bullets in shorter barrels.

 

[lilc]

Prvi Partizan 55gr. 5.56 Is what I stock for my 1x9twist DPMS.

http://wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=7169&dir=18|830|845

This is the cheapest I have found this quality ammo for.

5.7mm

Yeah, +1 on the Prvi Partisan. It's good stuff, and Widener's is pretty good to deal with.

I stocked up on tons of mil-spec 62gr M855 .223 FMJ when it was relatively cheap a year or two ago ($8 per 20-round box). Now it's not.

 

[TheCouncilOfDave]

My vote goes to S&B 55 grain. It's going for less than 8$ per twenty round box at the moment, and is over 3k fps at the muzzle on a 20". I've been shooting it for quite a while, never had it fail, and it's always been accurate. Wolf, and Remington UMC have both had multiple failures in my rifle. It's close to 1 out of 100 rounds. I have put about 800 rounds of the S&B stuff downrange, and its been great.

cheaperthandirt has that ammo at that price. I bought 400 rounds on the last shipment before the price dropped, and with shipping it was less than 200$... get it in bulk, it's cheaper.

 

[Herd Sniper]

I would also think about sealed (spam) cans of ammo for really long purpose storage and protection of the ammo. Believe it or not, Wolf polymer sealed ammo in spam cans are NOT a bad investment at all. I plan to pick up some of the stuff when I can.

 

[Grey Wolf]

If money were no object then 77 grain all the way, were not looking for long range here but reports of the round in combat show the right stuff;

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/mk262.htm

"The Mk 262 Mod 0 quickly earned an enviable reputation in Afghanistan for excellent accuracy and superior terminal performance. Kills were made with this load out to 700 meters. According to one account, in one engagement two SF operators armed with SPRs killed 75 Taliban with 77 rounds. Upgraded to become the current MK 262 Mod 1, this load features a 77-grain Sierra MatchKing with a cannelure for reliable operation in full-automatic weapons."

In any short range engagement you have this round will out preform M855, however don't sell this round short. It was designed for use against Soviet troops pouring through the Fulda Gap wearing body armor and does quite well for what it was designed to do.

55 grain at 100 meters or less will do the job also.

Wolfs new 75 grain round looks good, they say its just supposed to be used for training but I wouldn't want to be shot with it.

My suggestion is this.

1st Option
77 or 75 grain if you can afford it with M855 for thugs wearing body armor.

2nd Option
Prvi Partisan in 55 grain + if you can, plus the M855(see reason above) As echoed above the Prvi is good stuff.

3rd Option
You are not a person of the military and are not bound by the Geneva Convention.
Use Hollowpoints or Softpoints of 55+ grains with M855 thrown in.

Last Option
Wolf 75 grain plus 55 grain and M855 62 grain

(I'm in the midst of running this selection through mine.)

You need to pick a selection and see what your rifle likes once found buy all you can.

Have you thought about reloading?

 

[danpauselius]

I keep a few thousand rounds of Wolf .223 steel case around but I don't shoot it when I go to the range. It's a prep that can be used as ammo, barter, etc.

 

[535]

Never barter with ammo if you can avoid it, it can be used against you...

 

[SPC_Keith]

I would totally barter with ammo. Not far out of friends but I would do it. But then again I don't think every single person is going to want to kill everyone else on the planet.

 

[apocryphia]

check out natchezss.com they have some really good deals on .223 seller and bellot 62 gr. ss109 rounds. they have it for 7.50/20 rd. box but you have to watch for it. seems they bounce between 7.50 and 8.84 all depends on sales and supply. next best ammo would definitly be the private partizan 62 fmj ball ammo. it shoots clean, ejects well, dosent jam. i have the same bushmaster model and it will eat anything brass cased.

 

[spartakis]

Hey fellows Iam new here but dont know what took me so long to find this forum. Just wanted to add in on the AR talk, I have a colt. but found most jamming with AR's are with the magazines. I had problems with all 10 of mine and I purchased anti tilt titanium followers, these things are jam proof. all my magazines would jam once and a while now they eat anything all day long. purchased from cheaperthan dirt. And I use 50 grain hollow points seen them put a golf ball size hole out the back side of a 1/4 in steel ( empty propane tank you would find on back of forcliff both side atleast 1/4 inch together)

 

[Brew]

I'm gonna be honest, I have shot every commie ball out there with a good flow of windex, in my 8mm mauser. It don't matter much. Find out where the rifle can hit then make it hit where you want.

COMPENSATE. Mine shoots high and to the left. I put the target to the right and low and it hits center close to the x. Never tuned the sights, I learned them and used what they had to offer.

Pay special attention to what i just said. I can find most any weapon , anywhere and function. The Holy grail. Learn the process. Find out what it can do, then make it do what you want.

 

[Brew]

Welcome. There are some sharp cookies here and I have learned much already. Follow along even if you don't play. There is much to learn here. Do it.