When loading for the Ar-15 what bullets do you use, I know this will vary but surely some are not good if shooting through an AR, and would be fine with a bolt action.
Getting ready to order some reloading supplies and hoping to get some ideas from you guys already loading them.
Also any preference in primers / powder.
I usually use sierra bullets, IMR, bullseye or unique powder for my .270/.45 loads. But not familiar with the loads for the AR .223
Went to my local gun shop and they had NO primers or bullets in stock said they are very hard to get, can primers be ordered online?
You are going to have a hard time finding primers even on line panic buying and hording. Stop at my dealer last week he was bragging that they had bullets in I asked if they had small rifle primers NOPE hadn’t seen any in months.
Good Luck YMMV
primers are hard to get right now. Supposedly Cabelas will take your backorder and the prices are relatively decent and supposedly they don’t take months to ship the backorder.
Bullet depends on what you are doing with it. For normal practice/plinking etc your 55gr FMJ with cannelure is the std. Watch www.wideners.com. They list them in bulk when they get them in – they do not last long though – last week they had hornady 6000 for $449 delivered.
H335, Ramshot X-Terminator (I think that is what it is called – double check it is the rifle powder), and many others (AA 2460) work with 55gr bullets. Some people use Varget (expensive and hard to get) and TAC. Those will work but are better suited to the heavier bullets for full burn etc and are usually more expensive.
I’ve been using surplus WC844T powder but it is out at the normal source right now (Pats reloading) and you have to carefully work up a load since it is a commercial and not canister powder and can vary widely for burn rate. It is very approx like H335
I"ve always been partial to 62 gr FMJBT w/cannelure and Acurate 2230 powder. Graf & Sons has both 55 and 62 Armscor usually in stock. Not the most accurate in my Colt- groups were around 2" for me with the 62’s.
Keep checking Widener’s. The 62 gr. IMI FMJBT w/cannelure will give sub 1" if I do my part, but I’m the weak link in that chain.
I use either Hodgdon BLC-2 powder or Winchester 748. I like it because I can buy it in bulk and it meters well out of my RCBS powder measure. Some people say it is temperature sensitive, but I haven’t had any issues with it.
I mostly shoot Hornady 55gr SP bullets because I can buy them in bulk for almost as cheap as FMJs. They also shoot quite well in my rifle. I’ve used Hornady 52gr BTHP, Sierra 69gr BTHP, and Nosler 55gr BTs. All functioned fine, but none shot any better than the cheap Hornady 55gr SPs.
I have used Remington 6.5 primers for years, but due to some people reporting bolt face erosion with this primer in ARs, I have switched to CCI 450s.
My primary bullet is the Hornady 55gr FMJ using AA2230 or AA2460. I like the Sierra 69gr MatchKing as a heavier target bullet. For this I use Varget. The 60gr Hornady VMax is very accurate too and I use AA2460 with that. I just received some Barnes 62gr TSX bullets yesterday. Probably use Varget for those too.
Your bullet choice will probably be dictated by your end use.
For 55 grain blasting loads, I like to use 25 grains of H-335 or 24 grains of AA2230.
My preferred bullet for this is the Hornady 55gr FMJ. However, I also use Winchester and Remington bullets of the same weight. When really desperate, I use pulled bullets that are available from hi-techammo.com. They are good out to about 50-75 yards.
For accurate loads through my target upper, I like 69 gr Sierra Match Kings propelled by Rem 7.5 primers and Varget.
My target rifle really likes the 60gr Hornady V-Max pushed by 23.8 gr of Varget and Rem 7.5 primers. The 60 gr V-Max are extremely accurate in my rifle and are devestating on small varmints.
The Sierra 77 gr Match King is also very accurate when using Rem 7.5 primer and 24.1 gr of RE-15.
BTW, my target upper is RRA w/stainless 20 inch barrel. My blasting gun is a Leitner-Wise (or whatever they call themselves now) M4 type carbine that I got in Dec of 2005.