School me on .223

[Cedar Creek]

Not sure what use you have in mind for your AR, but I can report a little on .223 performance. I have been a .22-250 man for over 40 years and turned my nose up at the .223 until I came up with a little Interarms Mini-Mauser in .223 with a Bell & Carlson stock ten years ago. My experience is that the .223 is inherently very accurate and terminal performance on coyotes, etc. is pretty much like the .22-250. I am now getting acquainted with a Mini 14 that is quite accurate with heavier bullets and I will use it as my woods/brush/short range varmint calling rifle this year. A couple of my friends have used Mini 14 extensively and say ugly things about the steel-cased ammo due to the crud it leaves in the action. They use their Mini 14's for deer hunting and are now adding .223 bolt rifles as well.

Cedar Creek

 

[Quick_Draw_McGraw]

I tend to avoid TULA, but shoot Wolf and others in my AR's. I also shoot Federal 55gr .223, due to it's availability at Walmart. I like to keep a good supply of M855 on hand for SHTF )

So help me out a little. I know M855 is a .556 round, but is M855 a "brand" or is it a "spec" for a type of ammo? For instance do multiple companies manufacturer M855 ammo? Sorry I know that's probably a dumb question.

 

[twoguns?]

Not sure what use you have in mind for your AR, but I can report a little on .223 performance. I have been a .22-250 man for over 40 years and turned my nose up at the .223 until I came up with a little Interarms Mini-Mauser in .223 with a Bell & Carlson stock ten years ago. My experience is that the .223 is inherently very accurate and terminal performance on coyotes, etc. is pretty much like the .22-250. I am now getting acquainted with a Mini 14 that is quite accurate with heavier bullets and I will use it as my woods/brush/short range varmint calling rifle this year. A couple of my friends have used Mini 14 extensively and say ugly things about the steel-cased ammo due to the crud it leaves in the action. They use their Mini 14's for deer hunting and are now adding .223 bolt rifles as well.

Cedar Creek

My hunting buddy over by Mangum, and his wife , both took good size bucks.
One 150# the other 180#
Hit right behind the shoulder, dropped in 10 feet.....55 gr 223, Mini 14
30- 50 yards

 

[Glocktogo]

So help me out a little. I know M855 is a .556 round, but is M855 a "brand" or is it a "spec" for a type of ammo? For instance do multiple companies manufacturer M855 ammo? Sorry I know that's probably a dumb question.

Any quality 62gr ammo loaded to M855 5.56 NATO spec, such as Federal, Lake City, Privi Partizan, etc.

 

[ldp4570]

Throat erosion will seriously degrade accuracy far sooner than steel cases would wear the chamber. Regardless, for the cost savings in steel cased ammo, you could pay for a premium match grade barrel.

I tend to avoid TULA, but shoot Wolf and others in my AR's. I also shoot Federal 55gr .223, due to it's availability at Walmart. I like to keep a good supply of M855 on hand for SHTF and my defensive ammo is currently Mk318 Mod 0 SOST. When it's time to restock, I'll probably go with the Federal FBI load or Speer Gold Dot.

The key to making nearly any ammo that's within spec run in an AR is keeping the chamber clean and lube, lube lube.

Did I mention lube?

Don't forget the spacer rings, make sure they are not lined up with the split. That will stop an AR quicker than anything else.