Affordable .223 brass ammunition, what do you use?

K

Kimio

New member
I've looked into many brands of .223 ammunition, most of it being steel such as Wolf and Silver Bear.

I hope to be getting an AR15 soon, the one in question being an M16 style rifle with a 1:9 twist 20" barrel. I'll be using this rifle for target practice and just for casual plinking at the range. Accuracy isn't a super huge factor right now, since I am still learning how to shoot well, but I'd also like to see what brands of both brass and steel ammunition my rifle likes and dislikes.

Thing is, I don't have the budget to be spending 15 to 20 bucks per box of 20 rounds, so you can bet I'll be shooting the bargain bin Brass and Steel ammunition. Remingtons UMC line seems to have a fairly good reputation from what I've read from various ammunition suppliers, while I've also seen a brand called PMC around here and there. Privi Partizan is another brand I've seen on the surplus sites but they tend to be a little pricey by comparison to other brands.

What do you folks like using and what works best for you in your AR15's? I know this is subjective to ones tastes and what firearm they're using, but knowing more about what else is out there is always nice.

For those of you wondering, I'm looking into a Stag Arms Model 4 AR15
https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/411535183

Reason I'm looking into brass is because summer is fast approaching, and it isn't all that fun to be shooting off the bench in Arizona at 112+ degrees. Most if not all ranges will not allow me to use Wolf indoors, so an affordable brand of brass .223 would be a nice alternative.
 
Just from personal exp. with UMC brass....its unreliable to me not consistent at all and the brass life if you reload seems to be shorter. If you reload i would suggest Lake City as a number one brass. Just my two cents. My Bushmaster loves wolf....akward but it does. Good Luck
 
Also another tidbit.....Prvi..they offer competition ammo for 223 in 69gr HP for around 11 bucks a box of 20....my AR shoots em but im with you I shoot to plink or play with my AR not accuracy.
 
I shoot 90% steel case ammo. I can still get it for less than $200 per 1000. I can get Soft point 62 grain for $229 per 1000.

If you have to get brass; you can get SS109 (Steel core - similar to M855) for $259 for 990 rounds. But I only consider brass ammo when I need brass for trading material. "I don't reload anymore except for a couple of hunting calibers". So; I'll give some brass to a friend in return for some home defense or hunting ammo. But I'll only buy brass ammo if it's on mega-sale. E.g. I bought some PMC bronze a little while back for $5.25 a box of 20 locally. I've shot the SS109. I picked up some other mil surplus for $7 a box. But that's really pushing it. When I can get MFS, Silver Bear, Tula, Barnaul, and others for $3.75-$4.80 a box; depending on FMJ or SP; it's not worth almost double the price for brass. Not in a rifle that will literally shoot anything you feed it.
 
I have been looking for the same exact stuff (just no steel cases), I just got a bolt action 223, so im sort of looking for some decent accuracy, but this is what ive found...

Good reviews:
Fiocchi
PMC
Lake city
Black Hills
Prvi Partizn

Cabalas has some decent deals on bulk ammo, can get stuff for about $0.40-$0.50 if you want "cleaner" rounds and "ok" accuracy. Cheaper if you arent picky

Also some other sites:
http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ItemListing.aspx?catid=110

Im sure there are other sites and cheaper ammo, but it seems that "ok" 40-50 cent per round ammo is widely available.
Good thing about cabalas (if there is one near you) is that they will ship to a store for free so you dont pay shipping
 
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Take up reloading...now. Even if you get a very basic setup with a hand press, you'll save quite a bit of cash especially if you start picking up spent brass.

I did a quick calculation and my reloaded 223's will come out at .18 each.

http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

Powder...$22
Charge...~25gr
Primers...28/1000
Free cases
Bullets...$75/1k
 
Chris in VA is absolutly right, While there is the inital investment in reloading equipment and components you will recover your cost within the first year. On rifle ammo the savings is huge on reloading, especially if you shoot a lot year round. Pistol so so on savings.

As a example, I just bought 250 Remington 55 grain HP bullets for $30.00 shipping and all (split an order with a friend, of 500 bullets). That's 0.12 cents per bullet, 0.03 per primer, about 0.08 in powder and the brass was free. That's 23 cents a round, not counting my labor, or $4.60 a box of 20.
The nice thing is that I can pick what type of bullet I will be using and shoot indoor or outside without any problems. The other point is that handloaded ammo is much much more accurate than almost anything you can buy except the expensive match ammo.

If you'r going to shoot a lot, then it is time to bite the bullet (pun intended) and start reloading.

Jim

Actually it is more fun to build your own ammo than it is to shoot. (but don't tell my wife)
 
Nothing wrong with that Jim. And for some people, that's really good. But just remember, not everyone needs or wants that level of accuracy. I can buy steel case ammo at $3.75-$4.50 without even trying. So for me; reloading isn't worth it. But each person is different.
 
I get a great deal on mixed brass and I have aquired alot of brass from ranges just picking it up. I can reload very cheap and make a very accurate bullet.
lake city, winchester, remington, ppu, pmc, armscorp, fiocci, I have used all of these and most of it is good, some is better than others but I will use just about any brass I can find on the cheap to keep my cost down.

I prefer not to shoot steel cased ammo becouse I cant reload it or Im not gonna reload it and I think its dirty and inconsistent. I guess I have spoiled myself with my reloads over the years.
 
mixed range brass can be a real hassle for a new reloader. Some crimped and not. Who knows if it is once or 50th loading.

There are still a few 5 buck boxes of 20 still floatin around out there.

Black Hills reman stuff is good but not that cheap, but it is Lake City brass.
 
For plinking in my AR's I use Silver bear 62gr JHP 99% of the time. When accuracy counts out to 300 yards, I switch to Black hills blue box 68gr for my 1:9 20" ar and Privi Match 75gr for the other AR's with 1:8 and 1:7 barrels. Widners has Privi 75gr match for $425/1000 rounds.
 
Roll your own, as chris in va and others have said.

It's a fun hobby that will save you boatloads of money in just a short time.
 
Reloading is good for you in every way. Find a mentor and sponge everything you can from them for knowledge. Reloading is financially responsible (my wife loves that one!) and therapeutic.

And.............you can never have TOO MANY bullets.
 
And again; so some people aren't MISLEAD by reloaders. "And yes, I do reload.... just not .223". If you are wanting plinking ammo for your .223, reloading isn't necessarily cheaper. Steel case ammo can still be had for LESS than $0.20 a round.
 
If you don't want to reload, Bulkammo.com is advertising Wolf 55gr for $210/1000, if you look around you might be able to find it cheaper yet. I don't use the steel case stuff, I roll my own for about $.19 round but I have a friend that swears by the wolf stuff in his DPMS M-4.

Stu
 
I have grown to like steel case because I don't have to police my brass!
Click to expand...


Many words come to mind, but slob is one of the less offensive. Glad that with all that money you are saving, you can afford a maid to pick up after you.


Jim
 
@Jim now now, please keep this civil :P

Thankyou for all the feedback everyone, I'll eventually be getting into reloading, but at this time I'll probably stick with steel since I can't afford the necessary tools for reloading.

Will have to look into the brands mentioned here, if anyone else has some other suggestions I'm more than open to them :D
 
I can load a better, more accurate round than wolf or tula for less than .20 cents, plus I enjoy reloading. I think reloading is cheaper than buying ammo if you use common sense when buying supplies. Everyone has sales. Most on a pretty regular basis. I also understand not everyone reloads. If I didnt reload I would look for cheaper brass cased ammo like remington, pmc bronze privi, and fiocci. Maybe wolf or tula as a last resort.
 
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