223 questions

[jfowl31]

My AR upper should be in soon, and Im reading more and more that AR's won't shoot steel laquer coated stuff... and thats pretty much what I had planned to shoot. CRAP!

my Academy does have some of the brass cased 223 for something like $7 a box which is higher than Id like, but doable.

Anyone have any secret sources for a small supply of decent 223/5.56 to break in my barrel. I don't need 1000 rounds, just something like 250 or so to really get it broken in, and after that Ill shoot mostly match and varmint ammo through it. Or if anyone has any ideas about the quality of te brass Monarch stuff and how it functions in an AR.

This kinda sucks as part of the reason I went to an AR is because 308 was shooting through the roof, and now Im having a hard time finding 223 at a decent price!

[Perro]

This kinda sucks as part of the reason I went to an AR is because 308 was shooting through the roof, and now Im having a hard time finding 223 at a decent price!

wait till you see the price of the match grade stuff you are wanting to shoot out of it.
its about $1.00 per pull of the trigger

[DAA1]

J,
Which ARs won't shoot steel laquer coated ammo? My colt and my bush master both shoot it just fine??

Granted it's not the best ammo in the world and it's not match ammo, but it shoots just fine in mine..

[M1 Tanker]

I shot 500 rounds of Wolf steel laquer coated 5.56 one time at a shoot. My AR never missed a beat.

[Perro]

some ARs will not shoot the stuff
it is sticky laquer coated and the shavings gum it up

which chamber did you get for your gun jfowl
223, or 556?
that is important

[tump]

if you have a 5.56 chamber you should be ok. mine spits it all day long.(5.56 chamber model1 kit):icon_cool:

[okie shooter]

If you have a match grade chamber, they say it hates the steel, I think most ar's will work ok with steel though.

[Perro]

just so you know (if you dont already), you are not going to want to shoot 5.56 military ammo in a .223 cut chamber - they are 2 different animals - google it

i would have to think that if it was a target upper, that it will be cut to .223 right??

if it has a .223 chamber, you wont want to shoot wolf, or any of the other cheap steal in it anyway

[Jacobite]

Don't tell mine or my brothers they can't eat wolf. Of course they don't get a big diet of it. I mostly shoot reloads. If you can find the Silver Bear brand it functions really nice. ammunitionstore.com used to carry it.

[Anthropy]

If you don't know, don't ever use grease to lube the rifle. I only ever found one thing that helped the dirty little boy AR clean up nicely. Breakfree with CLP and the crud seems to just wipe off.

[jdlilfan]

I typically run wolf poly-performance 55gr and 62gr through my bushy carbon 15. Had one or two failures but I believe it was a mag issue because I was trying a buddy's orlite. Wolf poly or military classic runs $4 a box at my local small shop. The guy also carries S&B for $5. I figured after shipping and the wait it is just easier to go down the road and pick up a couple hundred rounds and pay the same price.

I have ran black hills, federal AE, remington UMC, and the old wolf through it as well with no problems. I was shopping at Gander Mtn but the service has gotten horrible and the wolf and other cheap(er) ammo is never in stock. They had 2 boxes (50rnds) of black hills the other day for $20 a piece! They used to sell it for $12 for 50.

[jfowl31]

I'll need to check on my chaber dimensions, but I do remember mentioning that I wanted it cut to 5.56 rather than 223 so I could plink with the cheap stuff.

Good to know that SOME of them like steel cased. Ill just need to pick up a box or 2 and see how mine will function, and Ill call William Snelling today and find out what my chamber is cut to. I also need to find out exactly what the twist rate is as well... its either 1:8 or 1:9, but I can't remember now what we discussed.

Will the faster twist rate barrels shoot the lighter stuff ok? Or will I need to stick to the high end of weights?

And Im used to paying a premium for match stuff... I've been paying a buck a round for a while for Black Hills 308 and match 22-250, then I started reloading for both. Ill have to do the same for 223 Im sure. Probably break it in with some cheapo stuff, and finish it off with a couple boxes of WWB to get some "brass-flow" to start reloading again.

I'll probably experiment with a heavy load for target shooting and a light v-max bullet for varmints. I'll definitely need something heavy for shooting 6-700 yards in a windy environment out in west TX.

Thanks for all the replies guys, and Ill post back with answers to my remaining questions when I get them.

[WildBillCody]

The twist rate is more important on the AR then any other gun. If you use a too heavy bullet for the twist it will keyhole at 50 yards, if you spin a light bullet to fast, I have heard of them flying apart. A 1-9 is a good comprimise, 1-7 or 1-8 are good for the heavy bullets 69 gr-77 or 80 gr, 1-12 is for the 55 gr.

BTW both of mine love Wolf, and the new ones don't have laqauer on them.

[Player]

wait till you see the price of the match grade stuff you are wanting to shoot out of it.
its about $1.00 per pull of the trigger

i just found out last week that they were selling federal gold match here locally for $27/20shots
boy does my bushy varminter eat expensive...

a full day's long range practice could get more expensive than most dates i've paid for, that's just wonderful

[okie shooter]

On twist rate, the M-16A2 has a 1-7 twist rate, supposedly it will stablize both 55 and 62 gr projectiles.

[Woodman in MO]

I remember reading that you might need to upgrade your extractor to handle steel ammo. Mine did just fine out of the box with the steel stuff though.

[WildBillCody]

On twist rate, the M-16A2 has a 1-7 twist rate, supposedly it will stablize both 55 and 62 gr projectiles.

That's what I have on mine for shooting "across the course"
The 77 Sierra's work great in it, I'll never forget the time I shot 10 bowling pins at 600 yards, 11 shots to knock them down, the guys I shoot with couldn't belive how accurate the rifle is.

[okie shooter]

Many years ago, I picked up the AR-15A2 just to be able to shoot both 55 and heaver bullets. I chicked out on building one in the day.

My only problem is now, having gone from two rifles shooting the round to five, getting ahold of enough ammo now.

[MID]

Thats all i shoot is wolf military classic. Thats laquar coated aint it?
I broke my gun in with 760 rounds of wolf. Not one single jam.

In fact with my bushy it came with a card, that listed approved ammo, ammo that they have tested and found to work good, and cause no damage. Wolf ammo was on that card.

[rustypirate]

A friend of mine has an Ar from Olympic Arms, and they specifically state in their user manual that Wolf is NOT approved or recomended.

He had purchased 1000 rounds of it, and nothing but jams. changed ammo to something else (I don't remember what) and that fixed it right up.

I don't know if the Olympic barrel chambers were a bit tight or what.

[jfowl31]

so is wolf ammo 5.56x45 dimensions or .223 dimensions?

I found out my chamber is a 223 chamber, and the twist rate is 1:8

He told me that he shoots anything from the 40 gr varmint stuff up to the heavy 75 gr bullets without any problems whatsoever. I figure I can see how it shoots with factory ammo and tune some handloads if its not satisfactory... Ill probably mess with handloads anyways just cause its fun to pass the time. Too bad I can't have a portable loader with me in my truck while I work nights.

btw, another plug here for William Snelling at the Tannery Shop... Ive never had such great communication with a "vendor" before. He's a class-act guy, and I can't wait to see how the upper he's building works out.

[nalioth]

so is wolf ammo 5.56x45 dimensions or .223 dimensions?


FWIW, the box is marked ".223 Remington" . . .

[jfowl31]

Ive seen that as well, but my Cetme is marked ".308 win"... Things are not always as they are marked. I kinda figure wolf is thinking the average .223 win shooter might not even know the metric designation for the same cartridge. And so when they go to the local Academy to pick up some cheap 223, they skip right over the box marked 5.56x45 cuz "dagnabbit the numbers on tha side of my barrel are a 2 another 2 and then a 3, and then it says WIN cuz Im a dang ole Winner man."

Ill give it a try and see how it functions.