Which ammo should I use?

[a216vcti]

I have a 1:7 twist 20 inch barrel. What grain and what company would you recommend for ammo, and why? I already tried to search the rifles forum, but couldn't find much. Sorry if this question has been overposted.

 

[3rdRcn]

What caliber? What distances do you want to shoot?

 

[E.Shell]

Sounds like an AR-15 Terry.

It may shoot 55s OK, but will likely be more accurate with heavier bullets. With a 1:7, it should shoot up to 77s just fine.

 

[a216vcti]

I'm scatterbrain today. Anyway, yes, AR-15 .223. Does anyone know if a good place to get 77grain cheap online? If I shoot 55, what are some of the downsides besides accuracy? Will it damage the gun?

 

[mikec]

Damage, no, unless you throw the gun in disgust.

 

[snavematt]

if you get good 55grn you should be GTG out to a few hundred yards with a decent MOA, I bought 1000 rds of Centurion 223 for $350 brass cased and it shoots great. I also shoot 62 gr American and 72 grn Federal which keep tighter groups, but not really noticable at 100 yrds

 

[lee2]

ss109. 62gr.

 

[alucard0822]

Depending on what you are looking to shoot, and if you are planning on reloading. 1:7 will stabilize most any bullet, but will probably shoot heavier bullets better. For plinking, or general target shooting at close ranges, try a few brands of 55gr FMJ, they tend to be the cheapest, and most available, and are pretty much the standard for civie ARs. Simply buy and shoot whatever brand of factory or surplus that functions reliably, and gives you acceptable accurac at a price you are willing to pay. For longer >200yd shooting, or even better accuracy close in, there are a number of Factory loads that shoot well in my ARs, most using match bullets, the 69 and 77gr Federal Gold medal match are pretty much the gold standard, and the Hornady 75gr match/TAP shoot comparitively, there are several other loads utilizing the same or similar bullets from Nozler, Norma, Lapua and others that may also be considered. There are about a hundred mostly unknown factors that will dictate exactly what load your rifle shoots the best, and there is not much way to tell unless you shoot as many brands as possible, while recording and comparing results.

If you get into handoading it opens up a whole new world, and you can try a lot of different bullets with endless combinations of powders, primers, overall length and more, but the same principal remains, there will be a range of loads your rifle shoots well, a range that it shoots or functions poorly with, a load or two that it shoots the best and a load or two that is the most economical while retaining an acceptable level of accuracy.

 

[Mud Turtle]

I just went through this with my Les Baer AR-15 that has a 1 in 8 twist. The factory test targets at 100 yds with 77 gr bullets were 3/8 inch. With Remington UMC 55 gr bullets, it was giving me 4 inch groups at 100 yds. I tried Black Hills 68 gr bullets and the group size shrunk to 1/2 inch. I would definitely not recommend 55 gr bullets in your rifle. But it would be a good experiment to shoot some and see how they group.

 

[Mud Turtle]

Does anyone know if a good place to get 77grain cheap online?

I don't know where you are located but I bought a few boxes of Black Hills white box from Gus at Accurate Pawn and Tackle on Rt. 1 in Elkridge.

http://www.accuratepawn.com/

I bought online from Midway USA. Much of their ammo including Black Hills is not in stock. You hit the "remind me" button and leave your email address. When the ammo arrives, you buy it immediately or it will be gone. They limit the amount you can buy and you may have to wait weeks or months before they get a shipment of that particular ammo. You have to check your emails frequently and jump on it when it comes in. But I have been successful in getting the ammo that way.

 

[a216vcti]

Can someone explain what is meant by Match, FMJ and other variants in the types of ammo?

 

[Boondock Saint]

Match ammo is higher quality stuff, improved accuracy, not as dirty. Also more expensive than cheaper alternatives. Probably don't want to use this stuff for a casual day at the range, given its significantly higher cost.

FMJ = full metal jacket
JHP = jacketed hollow point
BDS = Boondock Saint

 

[alucard0822]

Can someone explain what is meant by Match, FMJ and other variants in the types of ammo?

FMJ= Full metal jacket. a bullet with a lead, steel, or composite core that has a copper or steel jacket encasing the core, sometimes with the lead base exposed. Designed mostly for military use being this type of bullet historically stays intact, and does not expand and is therefore legal for battlefield use under the Hague accords. However some calibers and bullets, most notably M193 and M855 both 5.56 Nato cartridges are fast enough that even though they are a FMJ type, once striking a target the bullet will fragment at close range and cause more damage than the yaw wounding mechanism traditionally used by these bullets(yawing is a bullet flipping end over end, or turning sideways while penetrating a target) The base is customarily open, with the core exposed being that the jacket is formed, then the core is pressed and crimped into it, sometimes a small copper cover is crimped into the base to seal the core.

SP= Soft point-bullets typically have a jacket that does not completely cover the core, and leaves a small area in the tip exposed, this is so the copper jacket will peel back evenly as the lead core expands or mushrooms upon striking flesh, causing the bullet to stabilize, and penetrate nose forward while causing a larger wound diameter, most often used for hunting.

HP expanding/fragmenting or HPBT "match"-These bullets have a hollow cavity enclosed by the jacket in the front, and a distinctive hole in the very tip of the jacket, usually with an enclosed base being the lead/steel/composite core can be inserted through the nose before it is formed into a point. These bullets can perform a number of functions depending on how they are designed. In defensive or varmint loads, the hollow nose quickly opens leading to fast expansion, or even fragmentation to case an increased area of trauma. In the case of match bullets, the hollow point is not intended to be functional, merely it allows the core to be inserted from the front before the front of the bullet is formed, leaving the base to be perfectly and consistetntly formed, giving better accuracy. When striking a tareget they generally perform similarly to a FMJ bullet and yaw instead of expand. The BT designation simply denotes a tapered base to give better aerodynemaics, FB designations are a flat base.

Ballistic tip--these bullets perform similarly to expanding HP and SP bullets in that they are mostly designed to expand, they use a polymer tip in a bullet designed similarly to SP or HP expanding bullets/fragmenting or non expanding match loads, and simply cap the open hole in the point to improve aerodynamics. In the case of expanding bullets this polymer tip gets shoved down into the bullet, and initiates expansion.

Solid/copper/guilding metal bullets are as their name implies homogeneous bullets that have no separate core. Solids have been used for decades in dangerous game hunting and long range shooting. They do not expand, and are simply a solid chunk of brass, copper, or another metal that is usually machined on a lathe, and being there is no separate core, they can be extremely uniform and accurate, or in the case of hunting loads, the solid constrution gives extremely deep penetration. Some newer designs use a hollow cavity and precise scoring to expand, while eliminating the need for a lead core. Because the bullet is very hard, radial driving bands are machined into the bullet to allow it to crush into the rifling.

 

[travistheone]

Great post! Thank you

 

[Bikebreath]

My cheat sheet for bullet abbreviations 2/3 the way down the page...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet