What .223/5.56 ammo for SHTF?

[Magic_Man]

I'm trying to figure out what to stock up on without breaking the bank as I feel I need more .223/5.56 in my stash.

My AR-15 has a 16" barrel with 1:9 twist. I've run 55gr FMJ through it fine.

Should I just add more Federal XM193 55gr or Prvi 55gr or perhaps a Prvi 62gr or some 69gr Match ammo? What about M855?

 

[Sunray]

I wouldn't 'stock up' with FMJ's. A varmint load and a suitable deer sized game load, that your rifle shoots well, would be more versatile. No match ammo at all. Your 1 in 9 twist suggests heavy bullets. The 55's will do, but not FMJ's.
Mind you, I wouldn't be stocking up with factory ammo at all. Bullets, primers and powder, for sure. Far easier to store.
If you're not reloading, you should be.

 

[Magic_Man]

Are you telling me the FMJ ammo I currently have is useless?

 

[otomik]

Green tip. M855. Really.

 

[David E]

It's far easier to store, move and shoot ammo than it is ammo components.

The guy who smugly quips, "I only have 100 rds ready to go, but I have enough components to load 10,000" simply hasn't thought it thru.

For a SHTF scenario, I'd rather have 1000 rds of factory ammo than components to load 10,000

The OP asked about ammo for SHTF (whatever form that may take). Components might be useful after you get resettled, presuming you remembered to bring all the loose components, not to mention the scale and reloading press..... and you have the time and place to assemble the loads at your leisure. It also presumes that you made it thru the initial onslaught, whatever it was, that caused you to take up and go in the first place.

OP, stock up on 55 grain fmj, along with a couple hundred rds of jhp/softpoint/etc to extend the ability of your rifle. Buy whatever weight you rifle likes, tho personally, I'd want it to be 55 grain also.

It would also be a good idea to reload, but I'd buy 1000 rds of factory ammo first. Then, shoot mostly your reloads so you don't have to use up your factory ammo.

If all I bought was fmj, that wouldn't bother me much for a SHTF situation.

 

[mljdeckard]

For SHTF, I would want M855. For the same reason I want it in war. You don't know what you will have to shoot through.

 

[Effigy]

Personally I'd just go with whatever's cheap, reliable, and accurate in your rifle. Unless of course you have a small fortune to stock up on premium ammo. Under widespread conflict, I think quantity is more important than quality, assuming the ammo meets the basic performance requirements. (i.e. goes bang everytime, and hits the target reliably).

 

[RX-178]

Well, I'm going to end up echoing David E here, but I'm going to break it down into a few points.

First, having to make USE of your SHTF preparations is unlikely in and of itself, but the MOST likely time you will be using it is in a mandatory (or voluntary) evacuation of your residence. So basically, get out, get clear of the danger, get to a place where you and your family can stay, and wait for it to be safe to return (or not. Get a new job where you've moved to, etc. whatever, it's up to you at that point).

You're not going to need thousands upon thousands of rounds in that situation, so you can afford to enhance the performance a little. Green tip, hornady red-tip, whatever you feel has enhanced stopping power, penetration, accuracy, whatever. Reloading components and equipment come in handy here because you can manufacture your own ammunition, and then store the COMPLETE ammunition, prepared to go. And you can make it as lethal as your heart desires, optimize it to your rifling twist (I believe 62gr bullets are considered the best bullet weight for a 1:9 twist barrel), etc.

The other situation, and less likely, is the one where you dig in and basically hold what you've got. If you've got two or three full ammo cans (3000 rounds) stocked up, you're at the point where you're likely to run out of food or water before you run out of ammo while dug in. A few orders of canned heat from Georgia Arms (55gr FMJ, brass cased ammo, $350 for 1000rds) will do that.

I'm going recommend reloading for that situation too, but I'm going in kind of the opposite direction from David E in this case. I'd say, train with the factory 55grs, and as you use them up, reload the cases to your preferred SHTF loads and store them.

Without reloading though, it's just a matter of balancing cost vs effectiveness. I'd say a good rule of thumb is, buy as much enhanced-performance factory ammo to fill as many magazines you intend on taking with you if you're bugging out. Get the cheaper FMJ rounds to stock up.

 

[Effigy]

That's a fair point about handloading. If you roll your own, you can probably afford to use better bullets and tweak the load to your particular rifle.

 

[Zerodefect]

Stack up whatever cheap ammo you want. Military ball is fine. Any full power 5.56 load is going to make a mess. Just remember that different ammo will have a different zero.

Make sure your first 6 mags are quality, expensive, defensive ammo that matches the zero setting on your rifle.

I keep a Maxpedition drop pouch handy with 6 full Pmags of good defensive ammo. Hornady TAP, or SSA 70+gn OTM will do. The rest of my stash is fmj garbage.

 

[Skyshot]

Just have (some) ammo, No one knows what kind of situation they will be in when SHTF comes. I have some put back for sure, but you might end up having to bug out and you just can't carry thousands of rounds with you. I myself would rather be in an escape and evade mode than having a firefight.

 

[rbernie]

SHTF scenarios are off topic here, so let's just stick to discussing ammo and not scenarios.

I prefer M193 for FMJ ammo because it will fragment more reliably than M855 at the distances in which I am likely to need it, if I need to use it for social uses and not range uses. Since I'm more concerned with soft targets and not barrier penetration, M193 is mo' better IMO for most uses than M855. If somebody thought that they were going to need barrier penetration, I'd recommend that they lay in a stock of the new Mk318 Mod0 - it is designed to outperform M855 in penetrating barriers. Having said all of that, I'm in the controlled-expansion camp when it comes to social needs ammo, and so I tend to gravitate towards the least expensive SPs that I can afford and that function well in my guns.

In my stock of 5.56, I have three types of ammo; lots of M193 as plinking ammo and emergency reserves, about 1K of Prvi 55gr SP for general social uses, and a small stock of Mk318 Mod0 for other needs. I also tend to keep a stock of PMAGs loaded with each, and use differing color of PMAG to differentiate the loads (e.g. FDE for Prvi SP, black for M193, OD for Mk318Mod0).

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I reload, so I have about 1500 rounds of Hornady 55 grain soft points over 25.3 grains of H4895, VERY good load in my Mini-14. As far as factory ammo goes, I'd load up on some Nosler 60 grain ballistic tips.

 

[Art Eatman]

Any old ammo which is reliable for function and accuracy would work just fine. Far more important is your skill with your rifle, regardless of the situation. However, for any future acquisition of ammo, I'd lean toward soft points since they're more useful for hunting.

Hunting is far more likely than SHTF.