Which Ammo to use 5.56 LWRC

[gunnerbill]

I made a down payment and started the purchase process on a new LWRC 5.56 M6 AR15. Now I'm looking for ammo.

This gun can shoot either .223 or 5.56. I see ads for various loads from 55 - 79 gr. I don't want to put garbage ammo through this gun but I don't want to waste money buying match grade for situations that don't warrant it.

At this point, I got the gun mostly for home defense but I like target shooting and might decide to do some precision shooting.

I think I should run a few hundred rounds of quality 55 gr ammo through it to break in, sighting and general use.

I see people asking about green tip ammo. Is this something I should keep on hand 'just in case'?

If I decide to do some precision shooting, get some match point ammo and use it for those events.

Reloading? I guess it depends on how many rounds a year I put through the gun. Does anyone have baseline where it makes sense from a time and expense perspective?

Last question. What brands should I use or which ones should I avoid?

Thanks

[savagemann]

Is the barrel a 1:7 twist rate? I am going to assume it is and should handle 55gr up to the heavier bullets like 77gr. Not familiar with the 79gr offerings you mention, but would think they would work fine if the are loaded to mag length spec.

I think your plan is good to run a couple hundred 55gr rounds through it for break in. I prefer to break in with 5.56 ammo. PMC Xtac 55gr is one of my favorites. Full power hot loads that group well.

Not a bad idea to keep a few hundred green tips around, but they are not known for shooting good groups.

I reload most of my own ammo and prefer the heavier bullets such as the 68gr Hornady match, 69gr Sierra match king and tipper match king. 75gr Hornady Match and 77gr match king and tipped as well.
My 1:9 twist rifle shoots all of them well, but the heavier 75gr and 77gr bullets can sometimes become unstable in some 1:9 twist barrels.
My 1:8 and 1:7 twist rifles shoot those heavier bullets amazingly.

I would avoid any ammo that has a steel case and or bi-metal jacket, such as Tula and most of the cheap Wolf stuff.
Wolf does make the Gold line. It is a decent option for plinking and such.
I have had 1" and smaller groups with Wolf Gold @ 100 yards. But would say it is more like 1.5 - 2 moa ammo usually.

If you wanna see what your rifle can do, get a bunch of different ammo and try it out.

If you really wanna see what it is capable of, after break in, get a couple boxes of Federal Gold Medal Match. 69gr and 77gr. and some Black Hills match ammo to try out.

As for reloading, that is a whole other story you need to figure out if you want to get into.

[jericho89]

As for what weight to use that will be dependent on what the twist rate of the barrel is. The faster the twist rate the heavier the bullet. So a 1/7 would be better for the heavier bullets.

As for reloading, I think it is a good idea, as for where it pays off that all depends on how deep you get into it. IF you are going to just shoot a few hundred to a thousand rounds a year then get a single stage press, if you are a few thousand a year then start looking at the progressives. The nice thing about reloading is that you do not have to worry about shortages that have been seen in the last few years. Also you can make ammo as accurate as you want.

[gunnerbill]

Is the barrel a 1:7 twist rate? I am going to assume it is and should handle 55gr up to the heavier bullets like 77gr. Not familiar with the 79gr offerings you mention, but would think they would work fine if the are loaded to mag length spec.

I think your plan is good to run a couple hundred 55gr rounds through it for break in. I prefer to break in with 5.56 ammo. PMC Xtac 55gr is one of my favorites. Full power hot loads that group well.

Not a bad idea to keep a few hundred green tips around, but they are not known for shooting good groups.

I reload most of my own ammo and prefer the heavier bullets such as the 68gr Hornady match, 69gr Sierra match king and tipper match king. 75gr Hornady Match and 77gr match king and tipped as well.
My 1:9 twist rifle shoots all of them well, but the heavier 75gr and 77gr bullets can sometimes become unstable in some 1:9 twist barrels.
My 1:8 and 1:7 twist rifles shoot those heavier bullets amazingly.

I would avoid any ammo that has a steel case and or bi-metal jacket, such as Tula and most of the cheap Wolf stuff.
Wolf does make the Gold line. It is a decent option for plinking and such.
I have had 1" and smaller groups with Wolf Gold @ 100 yards. But would say it is more like 1.5 - 2 moa ammo usually.

If you wanna see what your rifle can do, get a bunch of different ammo and try it out.

If you really wanna see what it is capable of, after break in, get a couple boxes of Federal Gold Medal Match. 69gr and 77gr. and some Black Hills match ammo to try out.

As for reloading, that is a whole other story you need to figure out if you want to get into.

Great info here. The twist is 1:7. Barrel length is 16.5 inches. I appreciate the recommendations on brands and weights to use.

[gunnerbill]

As for what weight to use that will be dependent on what the twist rate of the barrel is. The faster the twist rate the heavier the bullet. So a 1/7 would be better for the heavier bullets.

As for reloading, I think it is a good idea, as for where it pays off that all depends on how deep you get into it. IF you are going to just shoot a few hundred to a thousand rounds a year then get a single stage press, if you are a few thousand a year then start looking at the progressives. The nice thing about reloading is that you do not have to worry about shortages that have been seen in the last few years. Also you can make ammo as accurate as you want.

Yes, the gun has a 1:7 twist.

As far as reloading goes, I used to go to the desert with a group that never picked up their brass so I did it for them. I have bags of brass in all sorts of calibers. In some cases I own a gun that will shoot it and some I don't. It's only been fired one time so it would be good for reloading.

Your ideas are sound regarding use and precision in the finished product. Thanks,

[liber]

You will probably have a hard time finding ammo with 75 or 77 gr. bullets that is not match grade, but maybe you will get luckier than I.

I have a 1:9 Krieger barrel in my 5.56 and as such I was avoiding 75 and 77 gr. bullets (I reload my own) and have been sticking to 69 gr. SMKs.

I was thumbing through some old magazines and was just reading an article by Patrick Sweeney in regard to 1:9 twist barrel shooting 75 and 77 gr. bullets. Surprisingly, his results were better than using 62 and 69 gr. bullets and he mentioned specifically it was more accurate.

I'm going to try and load some 77 gr. SMKs and see how they shoot in my 1:9 barrel.

FWIW, when I used to buy my ammo, I used to shoot quite a bit of PMC, Federal, ARMSCOR, it all shot just fine.

[NapalmCheese]

I don't want to put garbage ammo through this gun but I don't want to waste money buying match grade for situations that don't warrant it.

Most of the newly produced cheap bulk ammo is just fine. Wolf, Tula, PMC, etc.

At this point, I got the gun mostly for home defense but I like target shooting and might decide to do some precision shooting.

So run some defensive ammo through it to function test and keep some of that on hand. Depending on your thoughts about what makes good defensive ammo there are plenty of V-Max, HPBT, Ballistic Tip, Bonded soft point, soft point or monolithic bullets in factory loaded ammunition.

I think I should run a few hundred rounds of quality 55 gr ammo through it to break in, sighting and general use.

Wolf (gold comes in brass cases and doesn't use a bimetal jacket IIRC), PMC, etc. Pretty much anything new will do just fine.

I see people asking about green tip ammo. Is this something I should keep on hand 'just in case'?

Green tip was developed to penetrate a steel helmet at a certain distance. If you envision yourself having to penetrate a steel helmet someday that'll be a good thing to have on hand. For everything else (and I would say for penetrating steel helmets too), there is better ammo loaded with better bullets.

If I decide to do some precision shooting, get some match point ammo and use it for those events.

Match ammo should shoot better, but won't necessarily shoot better. You'll have to try a few different types and see what groups best.

Reloading? I guess it depends on how many rounds a year I put through the gun. Does anyone have baseline where it makes sense from a time and expense perspective?

Reload because you want to, or because you are going through tons of ammo. Approaching the idea of reloading simply as a cost/time basis will reveal that for anything other than specialty ammunition or for a competition shooter you are probably better off buying ammo in bulk.

Last question. What brands should I use or which ones should I avoid?

Thanks

My preference in ammunition is Norma, Federal, Winchester, and Hornady. For cheapy plinking ammo I like Wolf gold.

[MrBuzzard]

I've seen a lot of L-Dubs (LWRC) eat a lot of different ammo steel or brass and they all ran fine. If your wallet can support it, just pick up some factory (federal/hornady/PMC/Remington) and have at it.

I don't like steel case stuff just because I can't reload it. But if it fits your budget and just want to have fun, go for it. I've only had 1 Tula round fail to go boom on me lol.


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[micro911]

Many people worry about twist rate and bullet weight. Home defense situation will involve short distance. Ideally you want to match bullet weight and twist rate. However, the distance involved for home defense situation, I say nothing matters anyways. Just get the whatever ammo you can get and use it.

I had a 1-8 twist barrel and shot 55 grain soft point bullets at an instructor school a while ago. I had very good accuracy in that combination. Now, I use Speer 55 grain bonded ammo and it works very good in any of my "fast twist" barrels.

[bfoosh006]

Many people have reported good results with Wolf GOLD 55gr FMJ and GECO 55gr FMJ... accuracy wise. PMC XTAC 55gr is GTG as well.
The Wolf Gold is a better M193 bullet.

The Federal 50gr Tipped Varmint is a BIG winner for cost to accuracy ratio within 200 yards.... It is NOT suitable for SD though.
I have bought it for as low as $5.79 / 20....do not let the price fool you... read the reviews at http://www.midwayusa.com/product/953...tipped-varmint

and at http://palmettostatearmory.com/catal.../view/id/4550/

If you can find that ammo cheap enough... buy it. You won't be sorry.... I get right around 1 MOA out of all my AR's... 1n7 twist, 14.7, 16, 20 ".

As for 69-77gr match ammo.... all rifles are beasts unto them selves... so you will probably have to try a variety...

Here are tons of velocity results from my rifles ( YMMV ) hopefully that will help a little.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_16/676005_Various_Chronograph_results____16_Middie_and_20_Rifle_.html