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Armalite 13.5" 3 gun model practice/match ammo?


Tank0211

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Hi all, I'm looking for advice on affordable ammo for both practice & 3-gun matches for my new Armalite 13.5" 3 gun rifle. This rifle has both & adjustable gas block & an adjustable muzzle break. I plan to buy a new set of muzzle break plugs so I can tune my rifle to both match & practice ammo. This is my first ever rifle & being so new I'm not sure what type of ammo I need to be using for both practice & 3 gun matches. I need the ammo to be relatively affordable as I'm simply not able to just buy whatever regardless of price range. I'd like to find two type of ammo. One decent precision ammo for matches & one for practicing. I'm really not wanting to be using ammo of a $1/ round range as that's simply not something I can maintain w/ my current situation. I'd prefer to use ammo of around .30-.50 cents/ round for both practice/ competition if possible. However, I don't plan on becoming a pro 3-gun guy & will likely only shoot, maybe, between 3-4 matches/ year in my region so keep that in mind what making suggestions. I'd sure appreciate it if anyone could give me some good advice on which type & grain of ammo will suit my gun & financial situation. Keep in mind the Armalite has a SS competition barrel & needs a specific break-in sequence. Now they recommend both black hills & federal .223M, but from what I've found those seem more than what I'm wanting to spend on a regular basis. Again I'm new so maybe I'm not finding the best prices. Thanks to all that find time to respond.

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I had good luck with Freedom Munitions 55gr reman ammo before I started reloading. Even made first round hits on silhouettes at 500yds in matches. Others have had bad experiences with them but it always worked great for me. Oh, and Armalite's voodoo black magic rain dance barrel break in procedure is BS, your barrel is no different than any other SS barrel.

Edited by TonytheTiger
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13 hours ago, TonytheTiger said:

I had good luck with Freedom Munitions 55gr reman ammo before I started reloading. Even made first rounds hit a on silhouettes at 500yds in matches. Others have had bad experiences with them but it always worked great for me. Oh, and Armalite's voodoo black magic rain dance barrel break in procedure is BS, your barrel is no different than any other SS barrel.

 

Thanks Tony, it sure seems like a whole crazy deal, even for a noob, amateur like me, how they want you to break it in. What is a normal break in procedure for a SS barrel? Or is there even one at all? I just wanna make sure I take good care of this weapon. It wasn't cheap for me!

 

4 hours ago, troupe said:

I have had good luck in all of my rifles with the PMC Bronze 55 gr. It is a little slower than some, but it is cheap per case and I can get 1 moa with it.

 

Thanks troupe, from what I'm reading it seems like 55gr is the most commonly used for .223 AR types. I'll keep looking into it & listening to others that may reply here. Seems like I can likely find one brand of ammo to use for both practice & matches that will be around .30-.40 cents/round.

 

Btw, can anyone explain the difference between 'reman' & 'new'.  I'm also seeing alot of abbreviations like V-MAX, PSP, SS109, HPBT & FMJ that I'm not exactly sure what the difference is & what the application is for each. Is there a place someone can point that explains these differences so I learn about it? I know FMJ is full metal jacket, but I don't know it's applications. The others I'm completely at a loss...

Edited by Tank0211
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20 minutes ago, Tank0211 said:

 

Btw, can anyone explain the difference between 'reman' & 'new'.  I'm also seeing alot of abbreviations like V-MAX, PSP, SS109, HPBT & FMJ that I'm not exactly sure what the difference is & what the application is for each. 

Reman just means they're using previously fired brass cases, just like any handloader does. V-Max is a Hornady bullet designed to turn little critters to yogurt, PSP is a just a standard soft point, if I remember correctly SS109 is a clone of a military loading and will have a steel core in the bullet, DO NOT take them to any matches, you'll get in trouble shooting the ranges steel targets with any steel cored bullet. HPBT means Hollow Point Boat Tail, and it usually refers to a match/target type bullet built with accuracy in mind. FMJ is generally cheapest and the most logical for 3 gun when most of your targets are cardboard inside of 100 yards. If you regularly shoot past 300yds or so you might want to look into a dedicated longer range load just for those targets.

As far as barrel break in, I'll probably start an Internet war if I go down that road. Its my firm belief that any break in your barrel needs (or doesn't need) happens all on its own in the first few boxes of ammo. I don't think any amount of cleaning in between X number of rounds helps smooth out the barrels throat better than just shooting normally would.

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For precision match ammo I've had really good results with Australian Outback 69gr Sierra Match King.  It's as good as my best handloads in my rifles and the price, if you buy it by the case is in your bracket.

http://www.sgammo.com/product/adi-outback/200-round-case-223-adi-outback-69-grain-bthp-sierra-match-king-ammo-aob223smk

 

For short range match ammo, the PMC Bronze will work just fine.

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Thanks for the replies, I'll check out what you all have suggested. I was planning to use a high grade ammo such as Hornady® Custom Match Rifle Ammunition

when sighting in the scope is that what is usually done? I ask because I won't be using that ammo on a regular basis & won't be tuning the muzzle or gas block to it either.

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ok my opinion is different... use a 22 upper or conversion kit for MOST of your practice. Switch over to whatever you sight in with after using that to clean out the junk and practice with real ammo. My game gun (and SBR) both run with a conversion kit, recoil about the same because of the comps, and I don't have to adjust optics on either inside 50 or so yards. It's close enough for practice. rifle stages are won and lost on transitions, moving well with it, finding in targets close, and being familiar with running a rifle hard. long range is not something you can fake so do the work there. Otherwise, 22s all the way. 

 

I paid maybe $150 for a conversion kit, and shot something like 800 rounds through it my first day. that was enough to pay the kit off, and now I practice for like 4 cents a round. I have since built dedicated 22 uppers to save on my barrels, but it's something to consider for sure. 

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