Best value for accurate .223/5.56?

[Nephrology]

What does "accurate" mean to you? At what distance? What is an "excellent group" as above?
What distances are you shooting at? Wind norms?
Does consistency across production lots and shipments matter to you?

Trying to learn precision riflecraft with mediocre ammo will frustrate you quickly. There's a lot you can do with an entry level load, but an awful lot more you can't.

Excellent group was ~1" at 200yd:

https://i.imgur.com/1dvCNba.jpg

I am not a great rifle shooter, so I am sure this gun is mechanically capable of doing very well.

Re accuracy goals; I would be happy with 1 MOA.

Re: distances, Right now my range has schuetzen range (25, 50, 100, 200yd target stands) that I primarily shoot this at. It also has a silhouette range (assorted steel silhouettes out to 500yd) that I'd like to take this rifle out to. If I could hit steel out to that range I would be very pleased. Not sure of exact silhouette dimensions of that range, but IIRC it is mostly full size NRSA silhouette targets. Rams are ~32x27" iirc.

Wind is colorado high prairie; Google says it ranges from ~7-12mph in varying directions during the day for most of this week.

Re: consistency, yes, I would prefer ammunition be reasonably consistent. It would be frustrating to be chasing my zero all day.

[WDR]

In the past, Black Hills "blue box" re-manufactured ammo with match bullets has been fairly good to me, at a reasonable price. One of the very few "reloads" I would trust, besides my own. That said, it does not seem like BH is as available as it once was (around here anyway)... nor as inexpensive.

I've shot a small amount of the IMI 5.56 loaded with 77gr SMK's and it was ok. A lower pressure load would probably be more accurate.

[ST911]

Excellent group was ~1" at 200yd:

Sorry, forgot about this.
1"/200 is good shooting. You're doing better than you think.
1 MOA is pretty achievable by quite a few off the shelf loads.
Steel silhouettes of that size to 500-600 is really achievable. Heck, a number of economy loads will do that. We shoot BHA 55 reman ball, 855, AA40, to B/C and E's at 600.

In the past, Black Hills "blue box" re-manufactured ammo with match bullets has been fairly good to me, at a reasonable price. One of the very few "reloads" I would trust, besides my own. That said, it does not seem like BH is as available as it once was (around here anyway)... nor as inexpensive.

This was going to be my suggestion for high, consistent performance over time at a better price point. The reman 60 vmax is a particularly good choice.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/13...-max-box-of-50
https://www.brownells.com/ammunition...rod103306.aspx
https://www.surplusammo.com/products...ory-reman.html

[ranger]

Watch for Nosler “ blemish” 223-556 ; they often run some attractive deals on their loaded ammo. I sometimes get their ammo and use a lot of their “blemish” rifle projectiles.

[Wake27]

I’ve got a post on another forum (that’s more M4 based...) that have some of my findings with various loads over the last few months. Very small sample size and non-scientific, but aside from Molon’s old posts, it’s more than what I’ve found in most places. The PPU did not work well for me, FYI. I’ll try to copy the relevant stuff to a thread over here - I’ve actually been meaning to but more because of how well it highlighted barrel issues than anything else.

ETA - pictures. Unfortunately I only had three rounds of the IMI stuff left. And that PPU lot is from around sandy hook timeframe which may or may not have been a factor. And 50yds doesn’t tell a whole lot, but I was having barrel issues from another gun and it proved the point.











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[littlejerry]

I've had good luck with Creedmoor Sports ammo and also ADI for shooting groups.

IMI and CBC 77 OTM loads are 1.5 MOA for me in a regular chrome lined barrel. The IMI is my choice for extended range(600+) since it chronos 2790 out of my 16" barrel.

[David C.]

If I was looking for an inexpensive bulk load that shoots really well, I would get either the MEN 56gr FMJ or the Swedish-manufactured 62gr OTM.


ETA after reading your comments regarding wind, you probably want to use a 77gr bullet for longer distances.