What kind have you folks decided on? How much do you have on ice? Thanks…
I’ll largely use my own handloads with RL15 and a 69 Sierra. I have probably 3000 loaded now, plus a smaller supply of PRVI to supplement it.
Get as much as you can, as much as you can afford. Prvi Partizan M193 seems to be one of the best buys as far as quality/price goes.
I keep 2 mags in my redi-mod of 55gr TAP. I know it’s penetration is dubious, but virtually everyone in the building is right in front of my door, so that means I’m going to have a lot to worry about if I were using my SHTF ammo for home defense. I’m not too confident in this ammo, but it best addresses my concerns for reduced penetration, so it’s what I’m using right now.
My SHTF ammo is a Barnes 55gr. TSX Federal Premium .223 load. It’s weight matches my plinking ammo (55gr) so I’m not playing around with X and Y zeros. This ammo penetrates very, very deeply, which is great for me, as I want my rifles to behave like rifles. (Go through lots and lots) plus it has some pretty good initial disruption, much quicker than M193 in my (very unscientific wet paper) testing.
It’s also supposed to perform better than FMJ on automobiles, which is also great for me, since SHTF = all bets are off, and my AO is pretty much suburban, which means pretty high odds that the badguys will be in vehicles.
And of course, I have my full supply of plinking m193 stuff, but I’d only dig into that once everything else was gone.
My “stash” Mk262 which is also used overseas and has had good success. Shoots very well in my guns.
I’d also take a look at the SSA copy which is also a 5.56 pressure load with a 77GR OTM bullet. Easier to get, and is a pretty fair price for what you are getting. Ive shot quite a bit of it, and its definately capable of sub-moa groups.
If you are looking for a HUGE stash of ammo for SHTF Id get a quality M193 round such as Federal, IMI, or Prvi. Ive shot tons of this stuff and its all gone bang. Just doesn’t perform as well on humans as other rounds…I keep 500-1000 rds of the quality stuff on hand in mags, and rotate it out. I keep around 5k of M193, and buy more as I shoot it.
SSA 77GR OTM 5.56
I keep 2009 manufacture IMI M855 as SHTF…
Unfortunately I’m pretty long on the old XM193 that I bought cheap back in the day. It will work in a pinch, but the more closely I work with this ammo, the less I like it.
Iraqgunz helped me with some real M855 so my ammo stash isn’t all crap. And of course I have a ton of reloads as well. 
Lots of M855 - I am training these days with bulk reloads of 62gr Lead core FMJ.
Privi 75gr and 262 mod 1 which I too used overseas to great effect.
This and 5.56 TAP are among the best according to most.
2 ammo boxes of Georgia Arms 223 fmj… plus couple of hundred Black Hills ammo…
8 mags loaded and about 300 rnds i shoot and reload,if i could find some commercial 223 brass and not milspec stuu i would buy 500 cnt once fired,but cant see carrying much more then 250 rnds if i had to,so idont need 5000 sitting in the basement
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Your stash sounds like a mirror of mine, plus some MK262 mod 1 and lots of boxed IMI M855 I have saved from when it seemed plentiful in 04 and 05.
how much can you carry if shtf happens???Dont need 20k sitting as you wont use it as 1 white phos or a few frag grenades to the house and bad guy has all your shit so there is no place to hide in the home.
Keep MK 262 Mod 1 for LR issues and US GI issue M855 and 193 in original sealed cans for quick use in dutch loaded mags
I have about 600 rounds of 5.56 TAP ammo for serious perp repellent and another 9K rounds of various ball and M855 for the other shit heads.
Winchester 64 grain PSP and some Sierra 60 grain HPBT’s (reloads). Not a a premier round like some of the newer stuff but they have a proven track record and are reliable in my guns.
I would like to try some of the newer stuff but until I can find a large enough quantity at a decent price then I am staying with old reliable.
Same here. The Win SP is pretty cheap compared to premium bullets. I have about 400 rds of reloaded Win 64 gr SP loaded in mags, backed up by lots of M855, and the ultimate fallback is even more of the cheaper M193.
I am doing some test loads of Hornady 75 gr OTM. I would like to load up some Nosler 60 gr Partition, Barnes TSX, or 54 gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw but it is hard to justify the much higher expense. It comes down to I would rather have 1,000 rds of Win 64 gr SP on hand than 200 rds of 60 gr TSX or TBBC.
Got around 1500 rounds of BVAC ammo, plus another 4-5 hundred of other “mixed” floating around…