Any particular .223/5.56 ammo for home defense and long term storage?

Exile_D

Exile_D

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Already have some ammo for target/plinking, but was wondering if there are any particular brands/types that would be better than others for HD? It would hopefully be stored/not used for several years.

My understanding is if you pack it correctly, most all of the bigger name .223/5.56 ammos will be fine for a long time, but I could be wrong! ;)
 
I keep standard 855 and 193 5.56 tucked away for social situations and long term storage. While I don't have anything against the more fancy rounds like Gold Dots, HSTs and the like I just don't find it as cost effective to collect those.

I have seen test of what even the humble Tulammo can do when hitting a soft target, so when it comes to shooting two legged critters reliability is the most important factor, not enhanced bullet designs that drive up the cost.

Now, when it comes to hand gun rounds where all the hydrostatic pressures and stuff doesn't apply, then yeah, I am all in with the fancy stuff.

So to answer the question:
SHTF, HD, Long Term: Brass Cased m855, M193, Good Brass .223

For fun: the cheapest I can find.
 
I have a lot of rifle ammo in many calibers that is over 50 years old....some much older and it all shoots fine. As long as its stored correctly it can remain safe and shootable and last a very long time.

I was shooting some old Peters .22 a couple weeks ago and ran perfectly in a 10/22 and Marlin 99M1. This stuff is older than half the member here.

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The IMI 223/556 ammo has lacquer sealed primers and "tar" sealed necks. That ammo in a 30cal rubber gasketed can will be G2G for a long long time. The Lake City/Federal 223/556 sold in sealed 30cal cans is good too.
 
Federal or American Eagle M193 is great ammo, and if you store it in milsup ammo cans away from moisture, it will probably last a lifetime or two.
 
I guess I feel that if you're gonna stock something for HD, it should be the best you can get. Even the army has moved away from M855, and the Marines went to the SOST aka MK318 mod 0 round.

Price doesn't bother me since I'm not going to be plinking with it, just checking for function. And at one time, PSA was blowing out Gold Dots for $10 a box shipped.
 
I keep a couple hundred rounds of mk262 on hand for HD/SHTF. Hornaday Black 75gr is good ammo too.
 
My HD AR mag is stoked with 55gr Speer Gold Dots, and I have maybe 200 of those in my ammo stash. Most of my ammo stash consists of M193, from various manufacturers, really whatever I got the best deal on when I was buying at that time. When it comes to ammo storage, I’d rather have quantity than high end quality. I only stash brass .223/5.56 so I’m ok with the cheap stuff of that ilk.

I store the stuff in old surplus ammo cans and am sure it would outlast me if stored basically anywhere but underwater.
 
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