[soonershoote]

Now that EBR's are showing up in the LGS, I am getting ready to buy my first one. So, what ammo is good for practice, and what are some "good" prices I should look for?

I am leaning towards something from Rock River Arms, S&W or Windham Weaponry...not 100% sure on the twist, barrel length as of today.

 

[Gunowner99]

I am leaning toward this:

Palmetto State Armory M4 ORC 16-inch .556 MIL SPEC Online Gun Store

 

[SmokinFool]

Any practice ammo in either 5.56 or .223 you can find will work well (American Eagle, UMC, etc.). You can look for (X)M193, etc but you may not find any available.

 

[soonershoote]

@Smoking..yes, just was curious about certain brands, good bad etc.. Much more comfortable with handgun ammo

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[GeorgiaDawg]

I've been able to find a bit of Independence-brand 5.56 at Bass Pro Shops lately. It's supposed to be decent enough for range ammo.

 

[StripesDude]

I shoot only the cheap stuff - Tulammo, Herters, etc. Some say its bad for your gun - but I clean thoroughly after every range session. If I need a new barrel or BCG in a few years, then so be it. I will have saved a ton of money on ammo.

 

[StormRhydr]

Be very careful, and wary of steel cased ammo in an AR. In general, steel cased ammo doesnt do very well in most ARs. Especially when the gun gets hot. See the below video

Steel Cased Ammunition

Steel Cased Ammunition - YouTube

 

[soonershoote]

Thanks for all the replies, i once tried steel case ammo around 4 years ago, that experience lasted about one mag in my mp9 ..never again!

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[Kilowatt3]

The majority of my plinking ammo in .223/5.56 is either PMC or XM193. Both are pretty readily available, and they're the cheapest brass-cased ammo I've found. Was paying $7/box pre-panic and about $10 since for either kind. The LGS has been getting Independence lately, also for $10/box.

All of the above have functioned 100% with no issues.

 

[Jaeger]

There are some AR experts here. Most of what I know is probably dated.
If you want an all around good rifle I think any of those will be good. I have a Rock River and it is a great shooter. I'd make sure that the one you get can accept other Mfgs uppers, becuase it's nice to be able to mix and match, and I don't think they're all interchangeable.

My new one is a Rhino, and it really out shoots anything I've fired at range. It has a very heavy barrel, but only 1:9 twists. I'm still not getting why it has that rifling, but I can attest that it doesn't seem to matter, because I've completely confirmed their 1/2 minute of arc claims from the rest. It would be a poor choice for close work. Because of the barrel it swings slowly and wants to keep going, but it is amazingly accurate at distance even with the ACOG I have on it. I would put a more powerful scope on it, but it is an AR, and there are much better choices at distance. The muzzle break makes good hearing protection important. Rhino Arms | Holy Second Amendment
I'm very pleased with it, but it's on the expensive side...

 

[Kilowatt3]

...I am leaning towards something from Rock River Arms, S&W or Windham Weaponry...not 100% sure on the twist, barrel length as of today.

Of those three, I'd lean towards the S&W. Yesterday at Wally World I saw a Colt 6920 with the Magpul furniture, identical to one of mine. Might see if you can find one of those.

 

[SmokinFool]

@Smoking..yes, just was curious about certain brands, good bad etc.. Much more comfortable with handgun ammo

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AFAIK, as far as brass cased ammo, the brand doesn't matter much. If considering steel (which it sounds like you're not) then you would need to be more careful.

 

[StormRhydr]

What brand AR do you have? I ask so as to know what ARs are doing well with steel, and which dont.

I agree with you re not worrying about it being bad for your gun. If you ever need a new extractor because of it, extractors are cheap, and you pay for another one with the savings in ammo.

As re shooting wolf, or other steel out of pistols, my glocks & M&P love it.

I shoot only the cheap stuff - Tulammo, Herters, etc. Some say its bad for your gun - but I clean thoroughly after every range session. If I need a new barrel or BCG in a few years, then so be it. I will have saved a ton of money on ammo.

 

[GeorgiaDawg]

I don't mind shooting steel cased ammo in my pistols but I don't want to mess with that in my AR.

 

[yz9890]

I shoot Tula and Herter's sometimes through my mid-length PSA without problems. I don't stock pile it or shoot thousands of rounds of it at a time but I'll pick up a few boxes here and there. Just don't shoot brass after steel without cleaning your chamber first. Most of my brass cased 5.56/223 is AmEagle, Lake City M193, Independence, and Privi. All of which function fine with equal accuracy.

 

[Phaedrus]

If availability stays as good as it is right now I'll probably buy a Windham within the next couple months. The LGS has tons of .223 & 5.56 ammo, military and sporting.

 

[Strmwatch]

Any practice ammo in either 5.56 or .223 you can find will work well (American Eagle, UMC, etc.). You can look for (X)M193, etc but you may not find any available.

Not all AR's can use both 5.56 and .223 just FYI....make sure you know what the AR you end up purchasing can use.

 

[Phaedrus]

I'm pretty sure the Windham is chambered in 5.56. S&W rifles are, too.

 

[NH_Esau]

The Serbian PPU XM193 clone (55g) ammo seems to be very nice. Clean shooting (if such a thing exists in a traditional AR), good cases, and I'm finding it for about .40/rd which is as good as I've seen on anything brass since Jan.

 

[SmokinFool]

Not all AR's can use both 5.56 and .223 just FYI....make sure you know what the AR you end up purchasing can use.

Good point. Although most ARs are chambered in 5.56, not all of them are.