Inexpensive but accurate .223 target ammo?

Finally got out to test some IMI 69gr. They're loaded with Sierra Match Kings so hopes were high. Shot out of my Howa Mini which is a solid sub-moa rifle. Here is the results.

100yd 5 shot group

If your twist rate is fast.. 1n7, then Hornady Steel Match 75gr is great out of mine. And your 1n9 twist may not be fast enough.

As for 55gr FMJ... well.. they aren't really "Match" quality bullets.. however, GECO .223 55gr FMJ, MEN 56gr FMJ and Wolf Gold .223 55gr FMJ all do better then Federal XM193 and Federal .223.

My all time favorite, Fed. 50gr ( Poly ) Tipped Varmint, is no longer produced... at 100yds that stuff was always 10rd group MOA. If you find some Black box of it... I would buy it all.

someguy2800 said:

Hornady steel match

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^This^

They make 55 grain if 1/9.

https://www.ammograb.com/223-remington/?mfr=hornady

I have found the sweet spot so far has been 62 grain pills. cheap enough to load your own at a reasonable cost and work well in most current ar15 builds.

My Howa .223 bolt action with the 1/12 twist seems to like the much lighter bullets 50grn-53grn, where as I could shoot 5 shot one hole groups with it, however my AR15's prefer the heavier bullets 62-69grn bullets, as my rifling goes 1/7, however I was gifted some Remington 55grn factory ammo that shot some really nice groups, out of the AR-15s (slightly over MOA). The Howa will shoot the 55grn but usually in a cluster just over MOA.

My .223 choice is an AR15, w 1 in 9 twist.
I have had a couple, and they all shot sub MOA.
All 55gr ..........PMC, WW, Blackhills (w Hornady SP), and Hornady red tip.
Reportedly, the PMC Bronze FMJ stuff isn't too speedy.
I dunno, my Stag, Bushmaster and Frankengun loved it. So I bought a couple thousand.

Tried the Hornady steel match too, it did fine (but only shot it in the Stag).

The PMC stuff shot very good in my 14" TC Contender. I had a reddot on it and the dot was too big for how well it shot.
Moved the RDS to a .35 rem bbl.

Locally, the PMC Bronze .223 was selling just over 7 bucks a box of 20.
Not the cheapest but not too expensive IMHO
Guys at gunshows still trying to get 9-10 bucks a box LOL

FWIW I wouldn't even let my mother in law shoot Wolf ammo.

Haven't purchased a box of .223/5.56 in years.
I can get 3"-4" with my Ruger American and a bit less with my Remington 700 with plinking loads, and much better with proper quality components.

Reloading is where's it's at for "saving money" (not really, you just get more shooting done for your dollar).

The Gold Standard is usually either Black Hills Match or Federal Gold Metal Match. There may be a few others. But for the most part a different lot number may or may not shoot as well as the one before. I don't buy factory ammo as most of what I load shoots better than anything that I can buy. The exception being some Weatherby ammo, way back in the day when I had a Weatherby. Hurt my feelings it did!

I've seen Friends who bought factory ammo that was pretty accurate and then be disappointed when they went back and purchased more. So, pay attention to the lot numbers.

Try a box of PPU .223 69gr Match ammo. Cabela's has it for $10 a box. It shot the best out of 6 or 8 boxes of factory ammo that I tried in a no-name 20inch 1in8 twist.

Hookeye said:

FWIW I wouldn't even let my mother in law shoot Wolf ammo.

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Actually in a previous test I did with 5 factory 55gr ammo's. WOLF GOLD shot the best when averaged between my Howa Bolt and AR.

1:10 twist bolt gun: I've had one MOA from PMC and sub-MOA from Remington 55-grain SP. 1/2 MOA from my handloads.

My .223 Rem, go-to load involves 25 grains of Varget behind 55 gr. B.T. Varmint (and other 55 grain bullets), CCI Small Rifle. It shoots well (sub-.5 MOA) in all three of my .223 rifles.

Results using my .223 CZ 527 Carbine and remanufactured 55gr soft point ammo off a front sandbag using a single shot adapter.

25 yards


50 yards


100 yds (called the flier)

Had an email recently from one of the on line ammo suppliers for a bulk deal on IMI .223 that was loaded with 69g SMKs. I’ll try to find it. IMI makes good stuff

See my previous post. 100yd 5 shot group out of my Howa .575 Edge to Edge

ford8nr said:

See my previous post. 100yd 5 shot group out of my Howa .575 Edge to Edge

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Bingo. Missed that post. Sorry. If I recall it was very reasonable in cost too.

Really, too many variables.
What shoots well in my AR may not shoot well in your AR.
For me, the "cheap" part is often very much correlated by how accurate the ammo is. Why shoot 3 MOA ammo if 1.5 MOA is available? Now, if the 1 MOA ammo is $1/round, ok, maybe the 67¢/round 1.75 MOA ammo will be a better choice.

How do you find out? The way I do it is to buy a bunch of different kins and send them down range and observe the results. Now, my A2 does not prefer the same ammo the 6920 does, so, there's some averaging there, too.

Rifles can be weird, like how some people like ketchup on their scrambled eggs and others don't. Most if not all of your cheaper 223 is going to be 55 grain- having no experience with the rifle in question, or even knowing the twist rate, maybe that is the problem? I would just try different things in THAT rifle, moving up the scale of cost as I went along, and doing so 1 box at a time. When I found something that worked to my expectations, STOP- and try to find it in bulk at a discount. If you end up with partial boxes along the way, I'm sure you or someone you know has an AR or similar that could use them for plinking cans at 25 yards- which is a great way to pull bullets in order to reload the once-fired brass.

If I remember correctly the IMI was like 7.99 a box with free shipping. Not CHEAP when your comparing it to 5.99 a box bulk. For the extra $2.00 a box to loose a MOA, it's a deal.
My good reloads are cheaper but don't shoot any better.

ar-newbie said:

I have found the sweet spot so far has been 62 grain pills. cheap enough to load your own at a reasonable cost and work well in most current ar15 builds.

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Sierra 63 grain SMP's work great in my 1/9 twist barrels. I reload them as long as they will go into an AR or Mini 14 magazine and they are tack drivers. I don't how well they will work in a 1/12 barrel.
kwg

I shoot winchester white box 5.56 for everything at $7 a box