What is the Best .223 Ammo for your AR-15?

The 5.56/.223 ammo is an American cartridge, designed for the revolutionary American AR-15 rifle. The AR-15 rifle has been designed for competition, recreation, and varmint hunting, and is also being used with impressive results to hunt medium-sized game as well as for personal defense. It is, therefore, one of the most versatile rifles, with the capability to handle as many chores. When it comes to choosing the best .223 ammo for your expeditions, there some things any buyer must know.

Reviewing the 5 Best .223 Ammo for your Ar-15 Firearm

PMC Bronze Line Rifle Ammunition

Simmons 511039 3 - 9 x 32mm .22 Mag(R) Matte Black Riflescope

If you are truly interested in realizing the full hunting results with your AR-15 barrel .223 Remington rifle, then PMC should be your next friend. It will offer you not only great hunting results but it is also a piece of ammunition that you can trust when it comes to plinking as well as for home defense. It is a deep-penetration, no-expanding bullet that features a lead core that is housed in a strong metal jacket.

​Ballistic Information

  • 3195 FPS muzzle Velocity
  • 1250 ft-lb muzzle energy

Technical Information

  • 55 grain bullet weight
  • FMJBT and PSP bullet style options
  • Reloadable boxer-primed brass casing

There is no doubt that this is open of the very best .223 ammo on the market. It offers smooth and reliable feeding in your firearm with accurate field performance being guaranteed thereafter. All these great reliable features are due to the fact that the bullet undergoes some extensive inspections thus exceptional uniformity is a guarantee.

Federal Premium .223 Remington Rifle Ammunition

Simmons 511039 3 - 9 x 32mm .22 Mag(R) Matte Black Riflescope

It is yet another bullet brand that hasn’t just found itself on the list of the best .223 ammo by mistake. It has won itself the position. With a precise penetration capacity, maximum energy transfer and extreme accuracy, this is the best .223 ammo to use in hunting Varmint as well as other small game. It has been designed to produce very explosive results to the extent good shooters having over 90% of their shots hitting their targets.

​Ballistic Information

  • 0.267 ballistic coefficients
  • 1280 ft-lb muzzle energy
  • 3240 FPS muzzle velocity

Technical Information

  • Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet style
  • 55 grain bullet weight

The velocity clearly tells you that the bullet is capable of chasing even those fast coyotes and upon hitting the target, fatality are the results. The tip style boosts the efficient performance of the bullet and is one of the main reasons why it scores high as the best .223 ammo for hunting.

Remington UMC Rifle Ammunition Value Pack

Simmons 511039 3 - 9 x 32mm .22 Mag(R) Matte Black Riflescope

This is yet another caliber that ranks high as one of the best .223 ammo for maximum plinking, target shooting and practice performance. The ammo is precisely loaded in a metal-case, offering the shooter 6 different caliber options to choose from. The baseline of each of these loads is that they have been designed and manufactured with quality in mind. They thus offer superior dependability as well as maximum reliability, thanks to the extreme accuracy and performance that’s characterized by their filed performance.

​Ballistic Information

  • 3240 FPS muzzle velocity

Technical Information

  • 55 grain bullet weight
  • Full Metal Jacket bullet type with a lead-core Metal Case

In a nutshell, the UMC ammo offers an outstanding, dependable and unbeatable value to any type of action. As a high volume shooter, this will be a real jewel. At just around $100, you get 100 rounds for your next series of successful hunting expeditions.

Black Hills Rifle Ammunition

Simmons 511039 3 - 9 x 32mm .22 Mag(R) Matte Black Riflescope

This is the best product for those who are in love with major manufacturers such as Barnes, Hornady and Nosler, yet you can’t use all their bullets concurrently. The Black Hills Ammo is a hybrid production that comes with components and features that are attributed to such companies. The result is a fast, durable and powerful bullet, that is capable of transferring more energy than you can imagine. Together with its penetration power, what else would you be looking for in a .223 ammo?

​Ballistic Information

  • 3250 FPS muzzle velocity and 1219 ft-lb muzzle energy for the 52gr
  • 3200 FPS Muzzle velocity of the 55gr
  • 3100 FPS muzzle velocity and 1280 ft-lb muzzle energy for the 60gr
  • 2850 FPS muzzle velocity and 1227 ft-lb muzzle energy for the 68gr
  • 2850 FPS muzzle energy and 1245 ft-lb muzzle energy for the 69gr caliber

Technical Information

  • Features 52 grain, 55 grain, 60 grain, 68 grain and 69 grain calibers
  • Bullet types are: 52gr-Match Hollow Point, 55gr- FMJ, 60gr-VMAX, 68gr-MHP, and 69gr-MK

At an average price of $45, you can be able to get 50 rounds of any of these 5 bullet types. The product is loaded in a mil-spec brass casing that ensures non-corrosion, water resistance, maximum velocity, improved penetration and better energy transfer from bullet to target.

Hornady Custom Rifle Ammunition – Per Box

Simmons 511039 3 - 9 x 32mm .22 Mag(R) Matte Black Riflescope

The performance of your favorite AR-15 can be supercharged by this ammo that was developed with an innovative powder blend, whose main purpose is to accelerate the bullet by about 200fps more. The result is a superb performance caliber that produces a reduction in wind drift thereby increasing the accuracy as well as the energy delivered on to the target. Imagine such a performance without any noticeable muzzle blast and recoil increase.

​Ballistic Information

  • 1282 ft-lb muzzle energy for both
  • 3800 FPS Muzzle velocity for the 40 grain bullet and 3240 for the 55 grain

Technical Information

  • 40 grain and 55 grain caliber weight
  • V-Max bullet style
  • Available in either the expandable or solid bullet forms
  • Sturdy construction for enhanced weight retention

The ammo is a very affordable piece of self defense accessory that features antimony/hard lead allows that is surrounded by a copper-clad steel jacket. The construction is meant to make penetration easy as well as to maximize the energy transfer. The result is a full satisfaction of what your bullet does.

Things to Consider when Choosing Best 223 Ammo

Purpose

As mentioned earlier, the .223 caliber rifle can be used for a number of reasons, purposes and roles. It is important to understand that there is no single load that can be deemed perfect for many roles. One load suits one or just a few purposes.

For instance, it will be very uneconomic for you to go for the expensive ammo, if your purpose is recreational shooting. For such a purpose, the best .223 ammo will be the cheapest. You don’t even need to bother much about the quality, unless you are looking for something reloadable.

Conversely, when you are looking for competition ammo, or one to use in varmint hunting, you have to go deeper into the choosing criteria. We are talking about something reliable and dependable. Such are a bit more expensive. Still between competition and game hunting, the former isn’t interested in high penetration capabilities whereas the latter really values such a feature.

Medium-Sized Game Hunting

Medium sized game hunting requirement are a bit different from the small game hunting needs. When hunting such sized animals, you need a bullet type that exhibits a great balanced ration between penetration and expansion. The best .223 ammo for deer hunting must thus have a high energy as well as expansion capacity once it penetrates through the muscles.

Bulky Buying

When buying just a few bullets to be used within just a few days or weeks, it will also be prudent if you go for the less expensive bullet types. It will also be wise to buy just a few pieces. However, when you want to economize, you need to buy the bullets in bulk. Boxer primed brass has been found to stay longer in storage as compared to the steel case loads. I would therefore recommend that you find the cheapest boxer primed brass if you are seeking for reliability.

Gun Cleanliness

Other than just having a shorter shelf life, the steel cased bullets aren’t the best when it comes to gun sanitation. This is because although they produce excellent performances, their powder is always dirty thus will give you quite some headache during scrubbing.

Bullet Types

There are two big bullet families namely the HP/SP (Hollowpoint/Softpoint) and FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) bullet types. All the other sub-categories fall under these two main categories. When looking for the best bullet for long range and home defense application, it will be in order for you to consider the HP/SP categories. On the other side, go for the FMJ if plinking is your game

Conclusion

With all this data and information, you are now at a better position to acquire the best .223 ammo for your AR-15 firearm. Though it is important to know some of the things to look for in ammo, the list above contains products that have been tried and tested, hence a guarantee that you will never go wrong with your shooting expeditions if you use any of them.

2 thoughts on “What is the Best .223 Ammo for your AR-15?”

  1. The question isn’t what ammo is best for your AR-15, it’s “What ammo is best for your intended use?”

    Most of your choices are good for all-around general shooting. But I’d offer a few more pointers for more specialized tasks:

    If you want the most accurate factory ammo money can buy, you’re probably going with Federal Gold Medal featuring 69 grain Sierra MatchKing bullets. This is what I keep in the magazine for home defense. Super reliable and accurate, hard-hitting heavy bullet. A defensive gun is probably not going to need to shoot more than 25 yards, unless you’re out on a ranch under siege. But where I live in suburbia, I can’t imagine a defense shot longer than across the street, even in a civil unrest scenario. You don’t need to buy hundreds of rounds at a premium price for these, just 30 or 60 to fill a few magazines that you will hopefully never have to use. But you’ll have a little more peace of mind knowing that you’ve got every advantage with these babies loaded up.

    If you’re doing some longer range (200 yards+) hunting, you definitely want a boat tail bullet. At under 100 yards, bullet shape is insignificant for accuracy and probably not worth spending any extra money, but when you get out to longer ranges, you’ll see a noticeable jump in accuracy with boat tails. And if you might be hunting game on the heavier end for the .223, like small deer, you’re going to want a good hollow point or soft point round to increase your chance of a clean kill.

    If you’re doing a lot of training or plinking, you want the cheapest reliable ammo you can find. I like Winchester white box 55 grain FMJ, in addition to the choices you have listed.

    Reply

Leave a Comment