Newbie looking for help with .223 ammo

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JimUCD

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Hey guys. I've been reading this forums for a few days now, and have been really impressed with the amount of info you guys exchange on a daily basis. I thought you might be able to help me with an ammo question.

I just bought a friends Remmy 700 LTR in .223. I'm looking for cheap good ammo I can run through this gun until I get a good amount of experience with it. The barrel has a 1:12 twist rate, so I was assuming a 55gr round would do it. What are you suggestions for good cheap ammo I can use for gaining experience with this gun?
 
I would go more twords Wolf, or some other dirt cheap ammo. If all your looking for is practice, put as many rounds through it as you can, and work your shooting style. You can always bring your rifle up to speed later.
 
The bulk .223 at Wal-Mart has gotten some good press here. Not sure where you are, but there should be a Wally world close.
 
I would go more twords Wolf, or some other dirt cheap ammo. If all your looking for is practice, put as many rounds through it as you can, and work your shooting style. You can always bring your rifle up to speed later.
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What do you mean by, "bring thr rifle up to speed later"?
 
Jim, I *think* what ShiVong means is that until you can shoot up to the level of what your rifle/ammo/scope is capable of delivering, no need for the high dollar ammo. Lots of high power shooters use less accurate ($$) ammo for offhand practice or other less accurate methods of shooting. Steve can expound on this.

That is the Georgia Arms ammo mentioned. Good stuff.

Be aware that every firearm can have it's likes and dislikes. No two are alike, even if they came off the assembly line right after each other.

What sort of scope are you planning to put on the LTR?
 
JimUCD:

Actually I was refering to the G223H, but the G223B would be good as well. The B is a general purpose FMJ where as the H is an accuracy tailored load with Sierra Matchking bullets. You may not be able to tell the difference unless you have been shooting for a while. I don't know your previous experience with bolt actions.
 
Al, the scope that will be coupled with the rifle is a Leupold 3.5-10 Vari X-III 30mm.

762x51, this will be my first actual bolt action. I've only used 22 auto loaders before now.
 
i could be wrong, but i believe that the PSS/LTR has a 1:9 twist rate. which would allow you to use heavier bullets if you wanted to. maybe up to 73 grains or so. Black Hills blue box ammo is supposed to be pretty good and fairly inexpensive.

Bobby
 
The PSS and the LTR both have a 1-9 twist, no question, so you would be OK with the heavier bullets. I would recommend the Black Hill blue box ammo, try Georgia Precision, Tommy is the owner and is a great guy. You can call him and get better prices than posted on the internet, normally. He was in a stink with Black Hills, so thats how he works it now....

georgiaprecision.com

Good Shooting!!!!!
 
The following is not intended to contradict my friend Al's comments.

Want me to expound? Ok, but I disagree wholeheartedly. In fact, none of the good shooters I know would go along with that line of thinking. I believe that you should practice with the best ammo you can because you can only point to yourself if you have a problem. If your ammo will ony hold 4 MOA and you can only hold 4 MOA you have an extreme group possibility of 8 MOA...but you wouldn't know that because you don't know how good your ammo is or when it is screwing up because of poor quality. However, if you have ammo that will hold 1 MOA or better, and your hold is still 4 MOA, then your extreme group is now 5 MOA, AND you know that if the shots are outside of a 1 MOA area, its YOUR fault.

A man would not be able to learn to golf if the head of his club were loose or broken.


Excellent marksmanship is not obtained with doodads. The rifle is not the point. The rifle (and ammo) is but a tool to enable you to get better. You will not improve without proper tools. Only after experimentation, study, and critical analysis of your performance, using proper tools, can you begin to improve.


Very few folks can afford to purchase quality ammo at the rate that I consume it. I reload in order to keep my costs down. Short of that, Black Hills makes a good compromise. Short of that even, RedLeg155 has had some good results with the Win white box. Each rifle is a law unto itself.
 
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I'm with Steve. You've paid a good amount of money (I presume) for a high quality rifle. You should definitely shoot some of the best ammo you can find, to find out what the gun likes and what it is capable of. Then, if you want to move down a notch or two to save some money, fine, but don't bother with the bottom of the line stuff. You won't learn anything, and you'll shoot out your barrel in the process.
 
There's nothing wrong with shooting a few hundred rounds of cheap but reloadable ammo through his gun for practice.
I'm not suggesting to run it through the gun in one sitting.
I've gotten decent results with Rem-UMC in my AR-15. While not as tight a shooter as hand-loaded or commercial varmint ammo it will still do the job when punching paper.

:)
 
To train in marksmanship, I try to make every shot count as if it was my last. Only match/varmint grade ammo lets me know if I did everything right. If shooting mil-surp, how would I know if my form is concise?

If you just like to make booms and explode targets, cheap ammo is fine.
 
Now, it depends on if the guy wants to just get the feel of handling the rifle and/or plink. Nothing wrong with Wolf in that respect. Wolf is also not as inaccurate as some think. Out of my CZ 527, it's hits exactly where I want it to. That's with iron sights as far as my eyesight extends.
 
If so called "military surplus" ammo can produce groups 2" or under at 100yds with an iron sighted semi-auto carbine(Colt M-4/6400c). Then it is more than adequate to use to study the groups one has shot with it.
 
The 52 grain Match HP Black Hills blue box (remanufactured) .223 shoots 3 shot groups under half an inch in my Thompson Encore (1 in 12 twist).

At around $15 for 50 rounds, that's a pretty good deal in my book.

Cabela's carries it.
 
If so called "military surplus" ammo can produce groups 2" or under at 100yds with an iron sighted semi-auto carbine(Colt M-4/6400c). Then it is more than adequate to use to study the groups one has shot with it
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This is not an insult, but that is not accurate enough for me to study my groups.
 
As long as the ammo isn't total crap then I prefer the cheaper kind. It has something to do with being unemployed. ;)

Cheaperthandirt.com has Wolf .223 ammo for $2.39 a box, HP or FMJ. From what I have heard it's still fairly accurate ammo. For $119.50 you can get a thousand rounds. That's a lot of practice. I respect that some people use only the best ammo but I can't afford it. And perhaps this poster can't either. Or perhaps he can. It depends on your situation and tastes.

I stay away from surplus though. I hate the cleaning involved and the accuracy is bad.
 
I just shot off 150 rounds of Wolf 40S&W yesterday, and it was more accurate enough for my purposes. It had no problem delivering head shots from ~50yds out of my Glock, although it did have one FTF.. Wouldnt use it for defence.
 
I'm with Steve! You spend a lot of bucks on a really nice rifle, then run that steel-cased, filthy Russian crap through it? Doesn't make any sense to me! I don't shoot anything but my own reloads through my rifles, but I'd not hesitate to use GA Arms or Black Hills.

A rifle barrel only has "x" number of shots that are going to be fired through it before it degrades. Why waste any of those shots with ammo made by people with steel teeth?
 
www.sportsmansguide.com, with a $5 SG coupon that you can look up on CouponCodes, will get you 1,000 rounds of Wolf .223 delivered to your door---either 55 or 62 grain.

Wolf is kind of dirty to shoot, but, works like a charm. My mil spec chambered Colt eats it like candy.

Relative to mil surplus, if you can find any of the Sout African battlepacks, at a decent price, you will be pleased with it!
 
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