I'll be receiving my first AR shortly, and wanted to start hunting around for some inexpensive 5.56 ammo to get myself acquainted with it. I know about gunbot.net, but what I lack is knowledge of which brands/types of ammo to avoid. For example, steel case vs brass; Federal, PMC, Freedom Munitions vs more established brands.

Any advice is appreciated! TIA

I kind of feel like my AR is a functional tool. It should eat anything you feed it given its purpose. Some might be dirtier than others but if you care for it then it shouldn't matter. I say that to say that I get what I can get but like freedom munitions and federal or anything with brass first. Steel is ok I guess but I've not tried since I can get name brands at academy now.

For all the good things I've heard about freedom munitions, I really regret buying 1000 rounds after having 3 FTF in the first 30 rounds. And the AR was brand new, and after I switched to federal, ran 100 through with no issues. So...

Tulammo is dirty dirty dirty crap.

Freedom munitions xm193 clone has worked flawlessly in my frankenAR (DD barrel). Not very accurate, bout 4moa, but it goes bang.

Mine has eaten everything ive fed it. Steel case, brass, etc.

I would suggest buying a box or two of each brand and just shoot the piss out of it. See what it likes.

I would avoid using someone elses reloads. I wouldnt trust ammo i didnt load myself.

[This message has been edited by Nealthedestroyer (edited 5/7/2014 3:45p).]

[This message has been edited by Nealthedestroyer (edited 5/7/2014 3:50p).]

If i can get a good price on brass then I prefer that as I can save it to reload, but I have zero issues running steel through mine. I haven't found a brand that mine didn't cycle. Just keep your bcg oiled and should be fine.

Shoot whatever you can afford to buy a lot of is my recommendation.

I don't like Tula, Wolf, Brown Bear, or monarch because of how dirty they are.

They will shoot at your AR will be fine just absolutely filthy.

I stick to American and Israeli made stuff. Currently running Hornady steel cased ammo because I bought 500 rounds for $180 before tax. Shoots great and is pretty accurate, about 2 moa out of a 1/7 twist.

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For all the good things I've heard about freedom munitions, I really regret buying 1000 rounds after having 3 FTF in the first 30 rounds.

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A friend shooting Freedom 5.56 was having ~15 rounds per mag FTE. This was in multiple guns. Other ammo worked fine.

He contacted Freedom and they replaced the entire case for free. No questions asked.

It might be worth your time to call them.

I have some Freedom .45 that keyholes at 10', but I really haven't had any FTE/FTF issues with their other ammo, and I've run close to 20k rounds of their reman 9mm and 5.56 through several machine guns.

Freedom should be considered target ammo, much like On Target, the brand I rep in Houston. It's put together with decent components in such a manner as to go bang every time. It's not necessarily gonna be the most accurate or cleanest burning, but it's higher quality than WWB or American Eagle. Cleaner too.

I shoot the hell out of any .223/5.56 ammo I can get ahold of. Do you not drive your truck in the mud cause it gets dirty. I just wash it. That being said with ample lube on my at it will chew thru anything and I would avoid a gun that can only cycle high end ammo.

Herters 62 gr HP that Cabella's sells. It gives me about 10 MOA at 200 yards in a match barrel.

I personally would not shoot steel cased ammo - however, replacing an AR barrel is not THAT expensive. However, on a piston gun like a SCAR, I think it would be crazy to do. Anyway, you may want to read this:




Brass vs. Steel Cased Ammo – An Epic Torture Test

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We acquired four identical Bushmaster AR-15 rifles. We chose the Bushmaster MOE Series AR-15 because it’s a widely available, affordable, and mass-market. We didn’t want something too cheap and of lower quality or something too expensive and of high quality since our goal is to help the most number of people.
We acquired 10,000 rounds each of the following ammunition (new production):

Federal 55gr – Brass-Cased – Copper Jacket
Wolf 55gr FMJ – Steel-Cased with Polymer Coating – Bi-Metal Jacket (steel and copper)
Tula 55gr FMJ – Steel-Cased with Polymer Coating – Bi-Metal Jacket (steel and copper)
Brown Bear 55gr FMJ – Steel-Cased with Lacquer Coating – Bi-Metal Jacket (steel and copper)

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http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/


[This message has been edited by MisterShipWreck (edited 5/8/2014 8:34a).]

Was gonna post that same article.

Tula is cheap and dirty, but I've never had issues with it. Walmart has 500 rounds for $119, that's the cheapest ammo I've found in awhile.

Ammo is coming down, so if you just want to shoot brass, you can find decent stuff for .35 a round shipped.