Monday Ammo Links
How much ammo you got? Not enough is the correct answer. As most already know, a lot of the most popular calibers are running short and we haven’t seen the real beginning of it yet. One of the things that was noted in the last COVID-19 SITREP was that ammo is sold out on the shelves in a lot of places. Stay home, beat the crowds, and spend your time doing something useful like dry-fire drills or running a few miles around the block.
And no, steel case .223 is never a good deal in an AR-15. Never. Ever.
Ammo.com: $15 off your first order of $200 or more
American Eagle 1k rounds 5.56 bulk pack
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I shoot tons of steel cased ammo through my ARs. Seen all the material about how bad it is for barrels, but I have had very little trouble with it, certainly not nenough trouble to offset the affordability of steel cased ammo. Maybe have a stuck case now and again, but a light tap with a rod knocks them right out. Not loaded very hot, and not very clean either, but for short range/high volume carbine work it fills the bill. I certainly wouldn’t choose to fight with it, and if so only as a last resort and if I really had nothing else. I do the same with 9mm pistol ammo. Runs fine in all my pistols and SMGs. Still kind of anemic as far as velocity, but great for steel and paper training. I keep plenty of brass ammo around if its needed. Just my 2cents….
Doesn’t sound like it runs fine to me.
And just because it ‘runs fine’ doesn’t mean it ‘works fine’ when it shoots 8 MOA.
5
Thanks for links,folks also check out xxxx have seen standard 5.56 for at least a nickel a round cheaper then some links,adds up when buying case loads especially.
Lewisp,for short money practice I use the Wolf Gold,reloads well and cuts easy for .300 reloads,of course,as with all ammo a bit pricey now.
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Help me understand what you mean when you say, “we haven’t seen the real beginning of it yet.” I understand the general threats to 2A, but seems like you have a more specific meaning (repeated in several posts/articles).
Civil unrest.
EakWell, I suppose if it was shooting 8MOA(more like 2 MOA or better for me) I wouldn’t like it either, but maybe that’s been your experience. As far as “working well” goes, a stuck case every few hundred rounds(if that) is worth the price of admission, especially as much as I shoot, and I have no excessive wear issues with any of my guns.
I had access to uncountable amounts of guns and ammunition over my 26 year career(NSW), but those days are gone along with all the rest of Uncle’s endless supplies. Now, it helps me afford to shoot a lot more than many if I use steel cased ammo. Sure, I reload a bunch of different calibers and bullet types, but those are more for specific performance than just for reliable, high volume blasting drills at the range. I have seen many ARs not able to run steel case ammo, just the way it goes sometimes. I’m fortunate that it works well for me and my training requirements, and will continue to utilize it as long as possible.
Range trash (Russian 223) is well documented for erratic accuracy and velocity issues. Its generally not recommended for serious use in ARs and certain companies will void any warranty for its use.
If you’re using it as filler, that’s one thing. Guys buying it then staking their life on it is quite another. And I make no differentiation between the two.
One of the few major ballistic advantages of the AR platform over others is superior accuracy potential. Decent brass cased factory ammo at 2 1/2 MOA means that I can rely on making body hits out to 500 yards, and head shots to 200+ yards. When I sort and reload those same cases with match grade 68 or 69 grain projectiles, I get accuracy around 1-1.5 MOA from magazine length ammunition, which makes wind estimation the primary factor in longer range hits. Cost per round is about the same as factory, slightly less if I don’t count my time, and more if I do, but accuracy is about twice as good, making head shots at 400 a pretty good bet.
*The purpose of shooting is hitting.*
Why give up superior accuracy and, through reloading, the potential for even better chow, for unreloadable steel cased ammo that costs 2/3 as much for 4 times worse performance at close range, and worse than that at 300+? Now, it’s supposed to be a free country, so do what you want. Me? I prefer to be able to train so that I *know* when I screw up. GOOD AMMO ALLOWS GOOD TRAINING. With a 2.5 MOA carbine/ammo combination, a hit 4″ or 6″ from POA at a hundred yards tells me the shooter goofed, and the location mostly tells me how.
With 8+ moa ammo, how can you tell, especially at distance? If all you are doing is making noise, why not spend your money on firecrackers? Again, it is a free country, but what is the point of shooting steel cased 5.56?
With regard to all who seek the Light,
Historian
Concerning the use of steel case ammo, I would read the below article. They did a 10,000 round torture test where they fired Federal, Tula, Wolf, and Brown Bear 55 grain FMJ. Bottom line, the steel case ammo was cheaper but wore the barrels out quickly. But, over the course 10,000 rounds it would be slightly cheaper to fire the steel case ammo and replace the barrels every 4,000 round than to fire brass cased ammo. The Federal ammo maintained acceptable accuracy (< 4 MOA) through the 10,000 round point. There was some keyholing with Wolf and Brown Bear. The Tula testing stopped early due to functioning issues. The article is worth reading.
https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/
On an interesting side note, along with virtually all ammo disappearing another casualty appears to be 5.56 blanks. I had to look long and hard to find some. Who in the heck is buying all the blanks?
Matt
You fellas aren’t seeing it like I am I suppose, and you really don’t want or need to, so this will be my last comment on the steel cased ammo. Steel cased ammo will never equal top shelf brass ammo, and I never said it would. With short range work, like CQB/vehicle stuff, especially with red dots/SBRs and such, steel cased is more than enough. I’m not going to burn up my stash of MK 262 or my handloads on steel and paper targets at 15 and 30 yards. This comprises only a part of the training I do . Could you guys really see an accuracy difference at CQB ranges between Wolf military classic and some match grade ammo?
I don’t think I can.
Head shots at 400 yards? Nobody’s doing that with a red dot and steel cased ammo either, I do that with bigger optics and (shocker) better ammo, made for that requirement. I guess I don’t understand(and don’t need to) why guys just shake their heads in befuddlement(pity?) as to why somebody would even think about using steel cased ammo. If I wasn’t getting the performance and results I needed out of it, I wouldn’t be using it either. To each his own like has been said.
So, while YOU might have a clue, others do not and buy based on perceived price alone.
The people who DONT have your apparent background that go out and buy truckloads of trash ammo while claiming “it’s all they can afford” might also mistakenly stake their lives, team mates lives, and family’s lives on garbage. To me that’s unacceptable.
And you should also know that training parameters, especially CQB, rarely translates perfectly to real world situations.