What Kind of Ammo do you use?

[sangria7]

This is probably an age old question, but thought would pose it anyways.

In the sandbox we are issued the 'good brass' for obvious reasons. Back here in the civilian world there are many options to include the 'plinking' ammunition.

I have cycled the following ammunition through my AR:

1. Brown Bear - about 100 rounds no issues.
2. Wolf [black box] - 200 rounds with two major extraction problems.
3. Federal Walmart Bulk Pack - 100 rounds no issues.
4. Academy Monarch 223 Brass - 40 rounds no issues.

Now I am going to try 100 rounds of Wolf Classic and 100 rounds of Silver Bear.

Just curious what everyone uses for general purpose range shooting and what their experiences are, and what they recommend with ammunition without breaking the bank.

[TehLlama]

PPU 55gr bulk
IMI M855 Bulk
PPU 75gr HPBT (closest match to the following two)
Hornady TAP 75gr
BH 77gr OTM

In a beater rifle that cycles Wolf and Silver Bear well, go with that by all means, but for uses where terminal ballistics matter, the high end 55gr,62gr, 75gr loads are worth it.

[Quib]

I buy what my local WalMart stocks.

Right now my stock of range/plinking ammo consists of:

- Winchester Bulk Pack
- Remington UMC

[2ATA]

I'll be the first to admit that for training, I buy Brown Bear 62gr by the ton. I run it in all the AR's, my MSAR and my SCAR. I've been paying about 225 per K. For social purposes I would use high end brass if the need arose.

[Hmac]

I've been pretty much sticking with PMC Bronze 55 gr for range use. Absolutely no issues in my Stag 2T or my Noveske N4. I'm satisfied getting it for $.33 - $.35 per round.

[eldogg]

Fiocchi 62 grn
privi m855
privi 69 grn match
LC m855 bulk

[Fred_G]

For training, 55gr Winchester Power Point .223 reloads from DRS.
Home defense, possibly some hunting this year, SSA 115gr 6.8SPC OTM.

Plan on reloading my own in the near future.

[70Karmin]

I shoot whatever is on sale when i buy ammo. Mostly for plinking though. lol

I have shot pretty much a variety of stuff from all the russian, mexican, guatamalan, british, and US manufactures.
I tried everything from 50gr varmit loads up to 75gr and everything in between. Currently shooting 62 gr wolf for paper punching.

For SHTF stuff i keep m855 or the xm193 on hand in a few magazines for zombies.

[todd.k]

For SHTF stuff i keep m855 or the xm193 on hand in a few magazines for zombies.
There are far better options for go to mags than M855 or M193, FMJ is not some of the better performing loads in 5.56.

Most of my shooting is with various brass cased 55gr FMJ. I may set up a rifle to shoot steel cased ammo it some point. I have Hornady 110 OTM 6.8 for serious problem solving.

[HS2]

How did you like the Fiocchi 62 grn? I've had good results with Fiochhi 55 and Fiocchi Vmax.

[sangria7]

OK - What do you guys mean when you say 'social purposes'?

[Optimus Prime]

Lots of Wolf 55gr black box. Had a handful of ejection problems, but it's more due to me being lazy and not cleaning my chamber nearly as often as I should.
I've run a couple hundred rounds of Brown Bear 62gr stuff through my mid-length, no issues but it smelled less than good.
Have a few loaded mags of Federal XM193F "just in case" in the mag pockets on my rifle case.

"Social purposes" is just a PC way of referring to what you've got for, well, actual use.

[markm]

Walmart Fed bulk pack is good practice ammo, but overpriced.

I just hand load.... Used to do it to save a little money and put all my empties to use. But now, it's a great alternative the the vast selection of shitty ammo out there.


OK - What do you guys mean when you say 'social purposes'?

I'm using Gold Dot bonded for rifle. Q3131a1 in the backup mag since it's a slightly milder version of M193 that fragments pretty good in my home grown testing.

[Paulo_Santos]

I pretty much shoot handloads. Hornady 55 GR FMJ bullets with Benchmark or TAC powder. Hard to beat $.17 per round.

[Hmac]

"Social Purposes" refers to various aspects of interpersonal interaction. Obviously if one or both (or all) parties are armed with a battle rifle, it's likely not an interpersonal interaction that's going smoothly.

[markm]

I pretty much shoot handloads. Hornady 55 GR FMJ bullets with Benchmark or TAC powder. Hard to beat $.17 per round.

That's what I shoot. Hornady 55s and TAC. Frankly it's BORING having an endless supply of such reliable ammo.

[Paulo_Santos]

That's what I shoot. Hornady 55s and TAC. Frankly it's BORING having an endless supply of such reliable ammo.

If you run out of TAC or can't find any, X-Terminator, which is made by the same company, is a little faster that TAC and is better suited for the 55 GR bullets. I've used a ton of both and really love the bang for the buck.

[markm]

I know. I have 24 lbs of TAC on hand. On "paper" TAC isn't optimal for 55gr. But with TAC, I can stretch a pound of powder a long way, and make good ammo that runs in everything from my SBRs to my rifle gas systems.

[alpha.kilo]

Handloads 55 or 62 grain, for practice.

75 grain Hornady TAP for real world scenerios.

[sangria7]

I shot 50 rounds of the Wolf Classic Ammo and 50 rounds of the Silver Bear this past weekend, and no malfunctions or mis-feeds. I think pre-lubricating the rounds with a light coat of CLP helps the round feed...or maybe it was the upgraded extractor from Bravo Company [crazy].

Still yet to find which ammo type I would keep around for those social purposes.

[Optimus Prime]

I shot 50 rounds of the Wolf Classic Ammo and 50 rounds of the Silver Bear this past weekend, and no malfunctions or mis-feeds. I think pre-lubricating the rounds with a light coat of CLP helps the round feed...or maybe it was the upgraded extractor from Bravo Company [crazy].

Still yet to find which ammo type I would keep around for those social purposes.

To be fair, I've only had extraction issues with Wolf after firing 1000+ rounds without cleaning the chamber. Although the last one was stuck in so well the BCM extractor took a chunk out of the rim.

[sangria7]

To be fair, I've only had extraction issues with Wolf after firing 1000+ rounds without cleaning the chamber. Although the last one was stuck in so well the BCM extractor took a chunk out of the rim.

I shot about 200 rounds of the Wolf [in the Black Box] and two shells got stuck that an armorer had to punch them out through through the bore. The entire bolt assembly would not budge. I think they have decent ammo but obviously there are defects in the manufacturing process that allows for a margin for error.

[Optimus Prime]

The biggest "problem" with Wolf is the steel case. Brass actually expands momentarily to fill the chamber and keeps less crud from blowing back into the chamber. The steel cases don't expand, so your chamber will get dirty much much faster.
I just keep a spray can of CLP in my range bag and it generally works to just spray down the chamber and run a bore snake through every couple hundred rounds.

[tac40]

Federal and Winchester bulk ammo 55 grn, various vendors that sell it on the cheap, minus sales tax and shipping.

[markm]

The steel cases don't expand, so your chamber will get dirty much much faster.

Steel cases do indeed expand.... just not the same way Brass does. I've reloaded some Wolf steel cases just to try it. They were a bitch to resize down.

Steel ammo is not acceptable to me, I'd rather shoot LESS, and shoot Decent ammo.

[lmtrocks]

My 7.62x39 ARs use Fiocchi and the mildly corrosive Yugo Milsurp stuff that I get for $0.19/rd

Grendel gets whatever the hell I can find for it. Right now there are 100 virgin Lapua cases and 20 once-fired AA that need to be made into cartridges---no time though. Previously shot some AA thru it. Can't remember the weight. Very accurate ammo. Hope to find some Hornady in larger quantities than 1 box on the shelf.....

My 9mm CX4 likes ANYTHING i feed it. Last trip it was hitting 20oz gatorade bottles at 50yd with ease

The 9130 takes any 54R I shoot thru it.

[sangria7]

So I ordered 500 rounds of the Classic Military Wolf Ammunition, and compared them to the Federal Bulk Pack from Walmart, Silver Bear, and the Academy Soft tip. To my surprise the Wolf was the most accurate between the 4; maybe I got a good batch. But so far no malfunctions with the Wolf Classic after 300 rounds.

[Paulo_Santos]

So I ordered 500 rounds of the Classic Military Wolf Ammunition, and compared them to the Federal Bulk Pack from Walmart, Silver Bear, and the Academy Soft tip. To my surprise the Wolf was the most accurate between the 4; maybe I got a good batch. But so far no malfunctions with the Wolf Classic after 300 rounds.

Each barrel is different. If yours likes it, keep feeding it.

[TehLlama]

If it ain't broke... and you'll go through more rounds before you are? Nice.

[sangria7]

Went back to the range this Saturday [8 Aug 2010] and this is the first 35 rounds without any adjustments.

1 Second Shot Intervals @ 50 Yards with Wolf Classic Ammunition using Primary Arms Red Dot [4 MOA] + x3 Magnifications.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg28/alli72598/DSC03148.jpg

[Mega]

So I ordered 500 rounds of the Classic Military Wolf Ammunition, and compared them to the Federal Bulk Pack from Walmart, Silver Bear, and the Academy Soft tip. To my surprise the Wolf was the most accurate between the 4; maybe I got a good batch. But so far no malfunctions with the Wolf Classic after 300 rounds.


A few of the guys I shoot with like to poo-poo Wolf, But honestly I've run thousands of 55 and 62 gr rounds through my guns and have never had an issue.
I have some Brown Bear and Silver Bear on hand, but have not shot it yet, so I can't comment on that.

In my SPR, I like Privi Match. My LaRue Stealth upper really likes it. Not horribly expensive, and it works.
For 'social purposes', it's all Hornady TAP.

In my 9mm, my favorite is CCI Blazer, tho I do have some 9mm Wolf and PMC Bronze that I want to try.
For 'social purposes' in 9mm, it's Hornady Critical Defense.

[sangria7]

I am also waiting on a handful of boxes of the PMC X-TAC.

[Hmac]

I just bought some of that PMC 62 grain X-TAC M855 for $.33 per round.

[tracksol]

Right now I'm shooting through 500rds of DRS .223 55gr with once fired LC brass from Ammunitiontogo.com

I'll be picking up 1000rds of Silver or Brown bear next to run a reliability test on my BCM middy and to practice weapons tactics.

In my 9mm, I going through 500rds of PMC Bronze 124gr FMJ also from ATG. For HD I'm picking up a couple boxes of Winchester Ranger HP's.

[sangria7]

Right now I'm shooting through 500rds of DRS .223 55gr with once fired LC brass from Ammunitiontogo.com

I'll be picking up 1000rds of Silver or Brown bear next to run a reliability test on my BCM middy and to practice weapons tactics.

In my 9mm, I going through 500rds of PMC Bronze 124gr FMJ also from ATG. For HD I'm picking up a couple boxes of Winchester Ranger HP's.

In my experience I had only 1 round out of 500 that got stuck in the star chamber between the Silver and Brown Bears. After a good cleaning all was well again.