Not reloading any more... Need factory ammo advice

S

Sweet Shooter

New member
Hello shooters… I decided a few months ago to quit reloading. I was spending way too much time at the bench and felt it became a chore. I had developed some great loads for my rifles but right now I don't hunt and I don't compete. I just like to hit the range or go out in the desert and punch some targets. I shoot only .223 now and I shot a lot, about 30-50 rounds a week.

I have found some factory ammo that shoots about an inch—Fiocchi 50 gr. V-Max. And PMC's Bronze fmj's shoot about 1.5 inches, which is a lousy looking 3 shot group but a fun 10 shot group. I've been looking for other brands in the lower price bracket and can't find anything that improves on this. In my semi-desperation I thought I'd look at some higher priced stuff like the Hornady and Federal offerings at almost a dollar a pop. Well these did pretty poorly and proved to be an irritation instead of a zen shooting experience.

Is there a gap in the .223 market for lower-to-mid price range or am I overlooking some? 75c per round is still too much for me and I'm trying to stay clear of the mild steel copper washed jacket stuff.

I see remanufactured HSM is quite reasonably priced… anyone have any experience with that? I'm not sure about shooting commercial reloads… should I be worried?

-SS-
 
30-50 rounds a week is "a lot"? Typo perhaps?? Regardless, try Georgia Arms' canned heat specials for quality reloads.
 
I am not sure how good the HSM reloads for a .223 are. I can say for sure that their 9mmor for reloads are good to go though. That is all my dept. uses for firearms qualifications.
 
@brmfan 30-50 rounds a week is "a lot"? Typo perhaps??
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Not a typo... I thought it was a lot. That's 30-50 per week WOF for several years.

I will look into Georgia Arms... never heard of them before.
I'll also give HSM a try then...

-SS-
 
You seem to want match-grade ammo results, but don't want to handload- and don't want to pay match-grade ammo prices.

If .75/round is too much to spend, you should get back to handloading if you want MOA (or sub-moa) results. Low end commercial ammo is cheap for a reason.

No free ride here. I know I would GLADLY pay the .50 or so per round it costs me to make match grade ammo, if I could buy the same quality off the shelf. I can't...

I handload because it's the only way to afford 300-500 rounds/month of .30 cal match-grade ammo. And yeah, it is a chore...
 
What's Black Hills' blue-box running lately in .223? I don't recall the last time I shot a factory match .223 round, but that is where I would look first.

And I agree with some of the others above: 30-50 rounds of .223 a week is not a lot. That's maybe an hour or so on a single-stage press, less than 20 minutes on a progressive. I spend most of my summers shooting NRA Highpower and easily burn 50-100 rounds of .223 match ammo a week. Ouch. It's easier to find an hour to load some ammo than it is to find good 600-yd capable .223 ammo in a factory box.
 
For .223 I've gotten decent results from Privi Partisan Match (69gr? 72gr?). It's about $11 a box although I've seen in in bulk for less.


I've only shot it from an unscoped AR but it was a definite step up from most ammo in that price range.
 
I know I'm being difficult and I'm asking a lot. But the way I see it is that the more expensive rounds are not out-performing the budget stuff. It bugs me if I pay over 75 cents a shot—and can't shoot MOA. All my rifles shoot tiny groups with hand loads. Surely there can't be that much difference?

I've tried all the cheepos. Sellier and Bellot fmj stuff shoots MOA but then I found out the jacket is steel not Copper.

I also tried the hollow point Tula thinking the hollow point might be more accurate and all... but check this out—that stuff also has an open base as well as an open tip... might as well shoot fmj.

-SS-
 
Hornady has the steel match ammo. About 38-44 cents a round. Depends on bullet weight (55 gr or 75 gr).

I've tried them in 9mm and 45 ACP. They were very accurate consistent ammo. I would guess they'd be the same in 223.
 
I have seen that Steel Match ammo. Any reasons I should worry about running steel cases in my bolt guns? Howa, Remington...

I always thought that the steel cases were not sealing as well as the brass cases... any truth to that notion?

Would the polymer coat be kinder on the chamber/throat than brass?

Thanks for your input guys...
-SS-
 
I've shot steel cases (Monarch) in my AR15 and it was fine.

I would think that Hornady would be fine on your bolt action.
I am curious as well how it would do on my 700 ADL Varmint so I'll probably give it a shot. Unfortunately it will not be until after X-mas.
 
@rtpzwms—Sorry dude but really
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Well I think that's a lot. I'm very busy and my weeks go by very quickly. It takes me about three hours to shoot 50 rounds at 100 yards.

I love my Sunday mornings at the range. But I have a lot of family stuff going on and my day job is very demanding. I work until late a lot, and then I have another casual job besides. I'm lucky to have a job etc... I know.

I just can't be turning brass and buggering about with it any more. My regime was to weigh every load. It appears to me there is a gap in the market for moderately priced ammo that is really accurate.

I love Fiocchi/V-max and have a lot of it (actually I haven't shot a Fiocchi load that wasn't MOA in these rifles even the PSP loads) but I've recently had a few hang-fires with it... so I'm holding off buying it for now. Also my rifles seem to like the 40 gr. Nosler-BT and will shoot .3 with that bullet... but no one loads a cheap round with it.
-SS-
 
30 to 50 rounds a week.That works out to about about 30 minutes at the bench and i have a single stage press. But as to your question, Someone,Gander,Scheels,ect ect always it on sale once a week or so.
 
The difference between match grade, and "commercial" ammo, isn't limited to the bullet.

There's a local shop that sells reloading supplies exclusively. Decent size shop, but his prices are high and I'm not really sure how he stays in business- but he does...

Anyway, we got into a lengthy discussion about "commercial" ammo, and I was amazed at what he told me. Huge variations in powder formulation, suppliers, and individual loads for the same round.

True "match ammo" that's bought commercially is loaded the same way we do it at the bench- each round individually, case prepped, etc. Not in blocks of hundreds at one time by a machine/press.
 
Well,

If your not reloading anymore I would definately try survivalops.com's .50 cal.

It's priced SUPERB, It's match-grade sized. New production, this years powder and new projectile. And the brass is new lake city.

I think right now they are running a special for API $1.75 a round.

You can look up some youtube video's of the ammo being shot, username ammoandextras.

Excellent ammo, certainly worth a look.
 
EvilMonkey, read the post. He wants 1moa ammo, not garden variety stuff.

But anyway SS, I know you're all about punching paper, but thought about steel for a change? Small poppers can be had for about $100 and they jump back up when hit.
 
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