Ammo questions

JT

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"A little voice inside of my head said, 'Don't look back, you can never look back.' "

Then he told me to stockpile ammo now, while I still have the money.

Now I have some questions.

What 5.56/7.62x51 ammo do you buy in bulk for your MSRs?
Am I being irrational in not considering steel/aluminum cases?
What dealer has the better all-in prices for said ammo across the board/more often than not?

Thanks!
 
Sgammo.com is where 95% of my ammo comes from. Very good prices across the board and fast shipping.

As far as what ammo to stockpile...

For 556, I buy mostly xm193. Mostly federal, but really any brand is fine with me.

Don't own a AR10 or similar in 308, so I'm no help there.

I have no desire to buy much steel or aluminum case stuff.
 
I stashed away a decent amount of brass ammo, mix of green tip, 193, and other brass stuff. Enough to get me through a bit of boogaloo. But I’m honest with myself, if things get that bad that I need 10,000 rounds I am pretty sure I’ll be dead. I’m a 42 year old banker that is trying to get back into shape. Any firefight that lasts more than 10 minutes will probably have me as a casualty. My stash is for “get away from me” or “I have to get home/away myself”.

I stockpile a pretty decent amount of steel cased Ammo because it’s cheaper to practice with and have fun with. And though not all will agree, I am pretty sure even Tula .223 at <200 yards will kill pretty effectively. I’ve not experienced many reliability issues with it, so while not the first choice for a fight, I wouldn’t feel unarmed if I tossed in a mag of Monarch .223 or Red Army before starting the two way rifle range.


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My thoughts on the matter: ammo is ammo is ammo. Any is worth stock piling. Save the brass to shoot and the steel to trade. If things get so bad you shoot all the brass you will be grateful for the steel and won't give a second thought to shooting it.
 
I've picked up a few boxes of 38 for my my model 19. I hate to admit it but I even got a couple of speed loaders. Really though, if you can't get it done with 6 you don't need to be carrying anything.


I can't help with 308 but in 5.56 I've got a mixture of 55gr ad 62gr, about a 50/50 split. I'm not overly particular about a specific brand as long as it's brass cased and not something I've never heard of. Out of all the ammo I've shot through an AR I've yet to have a repeated ammo failure that points to one brand being bad. It all shoots minute of blue helmet so it's good enough for what I need. If I'm trying to thread the needle I'm going to get a different rifle anyway.
 
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Sadly, this is somewhat of a reality and is why most people choose 9mm/.223/12g for their “prepper boogaloo” choices. Heck, in many areas the side arms of the local police match what many people carry so no need to even swap out the ammo in the mags.

To add to what I wrote above, I think many people have a fantastical idea of what a true post apocalyptic situation would be. It’s a world where hospitals, Medivacs, and possibly antibiotics don’t exist. That grazing flesh wound can turn to gangrene. That slight injury can be fatal in short order. So just how many extensive firefights does one expect to survive before they are dinged?

I stockpile mainly so I don’t have to adjust my practice/fun habit depending on ammo prices and availability. Because let’s face it, if all the stores shut down no one is going to be doing a 3000 round training class or doing full mag dumps for the heck of it.


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Because let’s face it, if all the stores shut down no one is going to be doing a 3000 round training class or doing full mag dumps for the heck of it.
Yeah, when it gets to that point, I’m going to be shooting 22LR...and begging one of you to come over here and relearn me some reloading. Press is set up, materials are here, but I’ve never loaded a single round after the initial setup. :oops:
 
I stashed away a decent amount of brass ammo, mix of green tip, 193, and other brass stuff. Enough to get me through a bit of boogaloo. But I’m honest with myself, if things get that bad that I need 10,000 rounds I am pretty sure I’ll be dead. I’m a 42 year old banker that is trying to get back into shape. Any firefight that lasts more than 10 minutes will probably have me as a casualty. My stash is for “get away from me” or “I have to get home/away myself”.

I stockpile a pretty decent amount of steel cased Ammo because it’s cheaper to practice with and have fun with. And though not all will agree, I am pretty sure even Tula .223 at <200 yards will kill pretty effectively. I’ve not experienced many reliability issues with it, so while not the first choice for a fight, I wouldn’t feel unarmed if I tossed in a mag of Monarch .223 or Red Army before starting the two way rifle range.


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Youve been killing it lately, lots of great posts.

I buy a lot of steel, my AR (and all my guns) eat the stuff up and it's cheaper for range days. The cardboard dont care what metal the casing is made of
 
I stashed away a decent amount of brass ammo, mix of green tip, 193, and other brass stuff. Enough to get me through a bit of boogaloo. But I’m honest with myself, if things get that bad that I need 10,000 rounds I am pretty sure I’ll be dead. I’m a 42 year old banker that is trying to get back into shape. Any firefight that lasts more than 10 minutes will probably have me as a casualty. My stash is for “get away from me” or “I have to get home/away myself”.

I stockpile a pretty decent amount of steel cased Ammo because it’s cheaper to practice with and have fun with. And though not all will agree, I am pretty sure even Tula .223 at <200 yards will kill pretty effectively. I’ve not experienced many reliability issues with it, so while not the first choice for a fight, I wouldn’t feel unarmed if I tossed in a mag of Monarch .223 or Red Army before starting the two way rifle range.


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Honesty is and an accurate self assessment is a rare thing.

Or as Clint and I like to say, a man’s got to know his limitations.
 
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Well, I’ve never been in the service or been in a firefight, but to my knowledge most small unit tactics are based around fire and maneuver...I don’t maneuver all that well. I have great endurance, can probably March for miles. But speed ain’t a virtue I enjoy. So if it got to a shooting battle I’d need it done in a mighty hurry.

I have no problem with people stockpiling tens of thousands of rounds. It will be great for trading and, in truth, is kinda fun. But a post apocalypse firefight isn’t going to be like a zombie game where you burn through hundreds and hundreds of rounds while you patch up a gun shot with some rags and then carry on like nothing happened.


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For my AR's, mostly steel. Mine eat it like cake, and it's too cheap not to buy a decent amount. I have a decent amount of brass 5.56 also, but I only shoot steel at the range.

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I'm a steel case user 99% of the time, but I won't buy that stuff any more. It's just too inaccurate. Wolf/Tula steel case is 2.5 MOA out of my rifles, the batch of Red Army I got was 4+ MOA. Yes it went bang and all, but since it's no cheaper than wolf/tula, I avoid RA stuff if at all possible. I've got two cases of .223 waiting for some short range rifle class or something so I can burn that crap up.
 
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To the OP though, I stockpile more for the coming ammo-getting-expensive problem, not some sort of extended grid down situation.

I try to stash mostly brass, and shoot mostly steel. I figure if it gets to where I'm shooting my stashed ammo because everything else is expensive then I'll want the brass to reload as it will make economic sense at that time. I can also envision a time when the 'good old boy' ranges are closed and we're stuck at places like TSA they won't let you shoot steel because they can't resell that. Having come from somewhere that had 2 public ranges and 0 private ranges in a 3 hour radius it's not implausible it could happen again.

I've also got some of the Tula 223 that's steel cased but not bi-metal bullets, boxes even say "range friendly". Again, I suspect it won't matter when the "you can't shoot steel" ban happens because that sort of thing isn't based in reality anyway.

I'm buying almost all from outdoor limited now. sgammo was my go-to but with them charging tax now and higher shipping than outdoor (out of high point) it doesn't make sense not to buy 'local'.
 
I'm a steel case user 99% of the time, but I won't buy that stuff any more. It's just too inaccurate. Wolf/Tula steel case is 2.5 MOA out of my rifles, the batch of Red Army I got was 4+ MOA. Yes it went bang and all, but since it's no cheaper than wolf/tula, I avoid RA stuff if at all possible. I've got two cases of .223 waiting for some short range rifle class or something so I can burn that crap up.

Yeah, I have never done an accuracy test or anything with them, I just would pick them up on sale when Outdoor Limited would have them for a couple bucks a box. Honestly, the vast majority of my shooting is circa 1980's Wolverine style where I just put lead on paper and chuckle.
 
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Now I have some questions.

What 5.56/7.62x51 ammo do you buy in bulk for your MSRs?
Am I being irrational in not considering steel/aluminum cases?
What dealer has the better all-in prices for said ammo across the board/more often than not?

Thanks!

In 556, I'm about half xm193 and half federal 62 gr LAP.
In x51, I'm mostly xm80 for stockpile with some federal 168 and 175 gr for target practice. (I get better groupings above 200 yds with the heavier stuff)

I don't buy or shoot steel/aluminum in anything of mine that's AR. (AK - I'm just the opposite). A lot of folks do with little to no issues but the way my luck runs....let's just say Murphy is a blood relative.

SG Ammo, CFF, "pre-Canadian" CSF and PSA (when they run sales) is where most of my bulk purchases have been made.
 
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I have Tula stockpiled from 2011 that I'm still plinking with occasionally, and some PMC 55gr .223 that I got back when it was hard to find any .223 at all. I've shot alot of LC M193 I got and I have a bit of XM/M855 in bulk.

And I've gotten some deals on American Eagle 'black' with the rebate to shoot in bulk. Same with hornady frontier. All that is excellent to stockpile and pretty much most 55gr FMJ runs the same if it's US made and brass cased.

I dial in my fun guns to run with whatever 55gr is in the mag I grab and they just do it. Since I really don't magdump anymore I've gotten to where I shoot my handloads, especially the heavier stuff in pistols.

I've got alot of ability to make alot of handloads. With whatever pill I want it to throw as fast as I want it to.

As far as .308/7.62x51 goes I shoot XM80 that I got when PSA was selling it for 9.99 a box free shipping with 10+ boxes. And quite a bit of Fusion .308 which runs pretty well.

I would shoot steel case in anything I own.
 
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In .223 Federal 50 grain hollow point shoots the most accurately through my firearms. It's sub MOA in all, and about 1/2 MOA in at least one rifle.

Ammoseek.com is my go-to source for ammo. It's a great tool.
 
I was on a ammo spending kick a few months back. was not thinking boogaloo rather to hold off if ammo prices skyrocket again. I only stocked up on 5.56 and 9mm. I neglected getting more 7.62x39 but with the Bren 2 will rectify that shortly
 
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