AR 15 ammo choice

jimmyheadgear

jimmyheadgear

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My range just outlawed armor piercing rounds. I've been using M855 green tip. My barrels have a 1:7 twist.

What's a good substitute? What's your favorite? Is 55 grain better than 62?

What do you think?
 
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I've never been very impressed with the accuracy of the green tip. Depending on what I'm doing, I usually shoot 55 or 62gr Tula/Wolf, or Federal M193. I'll also buy 62gr brass cased FMJ when I can find it at a good price.

My 223 Wylde Really likes 69gr match ammo. I've got the best results with Defender brand ammo.
 
jimmyheadgear said:
My range just outlawed armor piercing rounds. I've been using M855 green tip. My barrels have a 1:7 twist.

What's a good substitute? What's your favorite? Is 55 grain better than 62?

What do you think?
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While I've shot a shift-ton of green tip, I've come to appreciate 55 gr M193. I buy in bulk, and I'm not too picky about brand name. (See disclaimer in sig. ;) )
 
RedneckFur said:
I've never been very impressed with the accuracy of the green tip. Depending on what I'm doing, I usually shoot 55 or 62gr Tula/Wolf, or Federal M193. I'll also buy 62gr brass cased FMJ when I can find it at a good price.

My 223 Wylde Really likes 69gr match ammo. I've got the best results with Defender brand ammo.
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Mine are just plain AR's. Cheaper would be better.
JT said:
While I've shot a shift-ton of green tip, I've come to appreciate 55 gr M193. I buy in bulk, and I'm not too picky about brand name. (See disclaimer in sig. ;) )
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I've been thinking about switching to this.
 
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jimmyheadgear said:
Mine are just plain AR's. Cheaper would be better.


I've been thinking about switching to this.
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I should have mentioned that I've shot everything from 55 gr Chinese mil-surp to 69 gr big ticket rounds in my ARs, and honestly the differences in accuracy are down in the weeds for my purposes, AFAIK.
 
I shoot whatever .223 or 5.56 I happen to find on sale, I choose not to shoot steel case ammo through my BCM or my wife’s Mega Arms AR but my PSA runs the stuff just fine.

If you want to stick with 62gr Frontier has a couple of loads in that weight, I bought 500 rounds of the 62gr spire point and it shot fine and is a little more accurate than M855 and XM193, Frontier isn’t match grade by any stretch but for plinking and general target shooting I found it to be maybe 1/2 MOA better than your typical mil-spec ammo, I was typically getting 2-2 1/2” groups at 100 yards with it.

Now that I’m hand loading I’m using 55gr fmj bullets for plinking and 2/3 gun and loading the more expensive 75gr ELD & 77gr HPBT bullets for shooting groups.

Also keep in mind that Wolf & Tula is NOT steel core, the cases are mild steel, the bullet core is a very soft lead & the jacket is a soft bi-metal, yes a magnet will stick to them but they won’t hurt AR500 any worse than xm193, I’ve personally pulled the bullets and cut Wolf & Tula projectiles in half with a dremel, 9mm, .40, .223, 7.62x39, .30 Carbine & .308 were all made the same way, I’ve also shot 2 different brand new AR500 targets, one with xm193 & one Wolf/Tula and there was zero difference between the targets after 500 rounds on each target at 50 yards.
 
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jimmyheadgear said:
My range just outlawed armor piercing rounds. I've been using M855 green tip. My barrels have a 1:7 twist.

What's a good substitute? What's your favorite? Is 55 grain better than 62?

What do you think?
Click to expand...
Might be a good time to start reloading if you don't already do that. Stuff is as cheap as it'll ever get and if you can't shoot cheap steel at your range then the money works out too.
 
jimmyheadgear said:
My range just outlawed armor piercing rounds. I've been using M855 green tip. My barrels have a 1:7 twist.

What's a good substitute? What's your favorite? Is 55 grain better than 62?

What do you think?
Click to expand...

I think its a load of horse dung.

M995 is armor piercing 5.56 ball (black tip).

M855 is just plain steel core ball ammo (green tip)....why...because NATO wanted a 5.56 round (SS109) that would penetrate a soviet steel helmet. It will tear up some steel targetry and I understand some ranges will not allow it, but to call it "armor piercing" is way over rating it.
 
M855 and M855A1 is just Ball ammo like other FMJ loads. As stated M995 is AP. Here is some test I did few months ago between M855A1 Ball and M995 AP from 10.3", 14.5" and 20" bbls. Steel is 1/2" thick.

IMG_7639 rz.jpg IMG_7640.jpg IMG_7642 Ammo.jpg
Backside of target the M995 AP penetrated thru from all barrels at 15m. AP has a tungsten core, not steel like M855 or M855A1 (Steel tip, copper core)

IMG_7645 rz.jpg


Back on your original question however is what is better for your gun if you can't use M855 Ball. Whatever is cheap, available and shoots well in your gun. M193 55 gr FMJ might just met this criteria.



CD
 
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Don’t know how true it is but also some outdoor ranges, especially out west when dry, hate steel core for any chance no matter how remote to spark on a steel target, rock or anything and start a brush fire ... and don’t even think about evil tracer ammo.
 
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I agree with most here that M855 is not armor piercing...my question would be what their intent with the new rule is. If they are getting damaged steel switching to M193 would likely cause their steel more damage, especially at close ranges. Velocity is often king when dealing with what rounds armor will stop.
 
Like a bunch of folks said, Tula is awesome, cheap and reliable, and I have not seen any extra wear. I use Federal bulk when I can get it cheap for places that don't allow bullets that stick to a magnet (typically 2 & 3 gun matches that use steel targets).

62 is a bit more accurate at distance than 55 in my S & W (1:9). The Tula 55 shoots to about 8" at 200 yds, the Federal 55 to about 4". I don't have good numbers for 62 or heavier.
 
I use cheapest decent brass 55 FMJ generally. Federal, Wolf Gold, Fiocchi. Because I have gas blocks set up for about that power.

Generally don't need any better accuracy. I intended to do more testing with heavies for long range, but I have been schooled so many times in 3gun by good shooters shooting cheap 55 grain that I realized I don't need to.

I keep quite a bit of Tula for backup when I am not as flush and have to shoot proletariat-style. I'd like to pick up a bunch of the non-magnetic Tula for hoser matches, and to shoot at ranges that don't allow magnetic bullets so I can make people get hives when they see the steel on the ground, lolz.
 
NCFubar said:
Don’t know how true it is but also some outdoor ranges, especially out west when dry, hate steel core for any chance no matter how remote to spark on a steel target, rock or anything and start a brush fire ... and don’t even think about evil tracer ammo.
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Its a real risk! Last fall, I responded to a 5 acre woods fire that was set accidentally by a guy shooting his AR at a steel plate that he'd hung up out in the woods behind his house.

After we got it put out, I told him that shooting at steel is fine, but do us all a favor and clean up around the target with a rake or leaf blower first so he doesn't set any more fires.
 
NKD said:
...... I'd like to pick up a bunch of the non-magnetic Tula for hoser matches, and to shoot at ranges that don't allow magnetic bullets so I can make people get hives when they see the steel on the ground, lolz.
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I am with you there, it's just that the non-mag Tula is still hard to find! I need to look for it and buy a bunch!
 
SGAmmo also has tons of the non-magnetic in different weights and bullets.
 
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NKD said:
SGAmmo also has tons of the non-magnetic in different weights and bullets.
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I got 1k of copper jacketed 7.62x39 a couple weeks ago from them. Lot of good deals posted on their newsletter
 
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With a 1:7 twist, you can shoot anything you want in the commercial line. 55gr XM193 is the most readily available quality all-around ammo, imo. And the commercial stuff is great, all the way up to the 79 gr Hornady and the Buffalo Bore. Don't waste too much time wondering. Sample. Buy according to your taste and budget. Reload. You just can't go wrong.
 
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