Good .223 Price? - New to ARs

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NEW QUESTION:

This thread originally pertained to .223. That question was answered below and basically the answer was $0.24 - $0.26/rd for steel, $0.35 - $0.38/rd for brass. I managed to get steel for .24/rd and brass for .36/rd so I'm happy with that. Now I want to know about 5.56...

For the cheapest 5.56mm 55gr JHP range ammo what's the best price I'd see in this market and at what price should I pass? I've seen as low as $0.50/rd for Independence 5.56. Is that high, low, or just right?


ORIGINAL POST:

I'm currently assembling parts for my first AR build. I've never owned an AR (or any centerfire rifle for that matter). I recently saw a 500 round tin of Tula steel .223 at Walmart for $117 and jumped on it. (I know people have concerns about ammo that's steel cased with the bi-metal jacket. I read through some thorough tests and concluded I don't want to shoot too much steel in my AR, mostly because of faster barrel wear — but I digress...) Sub $24/100rds seems to be by far the best price I've seen. I'm curious in the current market what the low end threshold is for brass cased .223.

What I mean is when I shop for 9mm I know that $0.24/rd is a good price and will pay up to $0.27/rd if my ammo shelf is running low. Anything at $0.23/rd or less I'll jump on whether or not I need it. What should I look for with .223?

I should mention I don't care what the prices were in the good old days. It's not the good old days and I just want to know what price I should jump on at Walmart and what price I should pass on (in the current landscape).

ORIGINAL QUESTION:

What price range (in cents per round) should I be looking for when buying steel .223 and brass .223?
 
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I don't own an AR but I'm familiar with steel cased rifle rounds and I don't think you need to be concerned about barrel wear. I'm pretty sure the bullet is a lead core with a copper jacketed just like in a brass cased round so you're not shooting steel bullets down the bore. As far as I know, it's just more dirty as it doesn't expand like brass but otherwise works well. Can't comment on accuracy but I know plenty of people that only shoot cheap steel cased .223 out of their ARs and they're plenty satisfied with accuracy out to 120 yards.

Cheapest .223 brass cased rounds I've seen is 35-38 cents per round but I think 38-40 cents is decent/reasonable for brass cased .223 from what I see and hear from others. So at 23 cents per round for steel cased, that's pretty good and well worth buying.
 
I'm new too. I've been paying .45 cents a round for Brass 5.56

Have not run into any steel case yet, but I guess that's the way to go.
 
You just need to buy in bulk to save a few bucks when buying brass cased. Take a ride up to Shooters Outpost or Riley's and buy a case of brass cased .223 for $370.
 
Steel cased is in between .24-.28 per round.

Brass cased is still around .35-.45 per round.

I'll shoot steel all day long until brass comes down in price.
 
Here's a lucky gunner article where they compared steel-cased ammo vs. brass-cased. Basically they determined that the savings on steel-cased overrode any concerns about increased wear by a wide margin. Even if you have to replace the barrel after 5000 rounds, you've saved way more than the cost of a new barrel by shooting 5000 steel cased rounds vs 5000 brass cased rounds.
 
Don't even think about steel being an issue besides the 1 out of "maybe" 200-300 that has a FTF, FTE, Or Just a dud. I have no issues with steel but some places wont let you shoot 223 steel because of the Bi-Metal (speed factor) but ok to use it at the 7.62 caliber. I pay 35 cents for Brass delivered and 25 cents for steel.
 
Didn't dcmdon just have a post recently about running a class with steel cased ammo and getting malfunctions once everything was stupid hot? It sounded like steel was fine for range plinking but putting lots of rounds down range in a short time could lead to headaches.
 
Everyone has there opinion. I ran steel cased cheapest ammo I can find through my stag and a elcheapo build. I didnt have any more issues with it vs the cheapest brass I could find.
The bi metal jackets are as soft as any copper jacket. There are a few postings on you tube where they actually test the hardness.
If your going to put enough rounds to wear out the barrel the cost savings alone shooting steel cased ammo could possibly buy you a new rifle!
I recently seen on the great web independance ammunition 223 for 230/1000 rnds no idea the quality of that ammo.
I have completely abused my stag carbine dumping what ever cheap shit ammo I could find in it...I never had a round jam in the chamber. Sure misfires duds yes a few .....I seriously put over 3k rnds through that stag with out a proper cleaning.
Bore snake and oil patch after range use. Quick spray of BCG with CLP. I only gave it axproper cleaning when it became impossible to handle the rifle with out getting dirty....my throw together Frankenstein AR has seen more use....I sold it to my friend who I know wont clean it either....
Buy what you can, shoot and have fun! If you actually wear you rifle out you have shot a shit ton more than most.....smile when that barrel is worn....good job!!

Only consideration I will address is if your build is of the higher end for accuracy? If so shooting cheap shit deminishes the effort of building a "target" style AR vs a M4 style. I'm not going to debate the accuracy of any particular AR style or manufacture. I can only tell you my A2 match rifle laughs at my milspec A2 rifle.
 
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What I mean is when I shop for 9mm I know that $0.24/rd is a good price and will pay up to $0.27/rd if my ammo shelf is running low. Anything at $0.23/rd or less I'll jump on whether or not I need it. What should I look for with .223?

Where are you finding 9mm for $12/box??
 
I pay 35 cents a brass, about 25 cents for steel, i prefer brass. Deals are out there you have to look. I personally would not pay more than 40 cents now. I always see it for 50 cents at dicks/walmart

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Where are you finding 9mm for $12/box??

must luck out with wally world value packs or buying steel or someone is selling him ammo who knows nothing. lol
 
Where are you finding 9mm for $12/box??

Walmart (southwestern NH if that helps). Tula steel 9mm is $10.50/50 [.21ea]. Tula brass 9mm is $23.50/100 [< .24ea]. They have both pretty often with no box limit. I'm a big fan of Tula brass ammo. Runs great and doesn't bind in my mags like their steel.
 
Walmart (southwestern NH if that helps). Tula steel 9mm is $10.50/50 [.21ea]. Tula brass 9mm is $23.50/100 [< .24ea]. They have both pretty often with no box limit. I'm a big fan of Tula brass ammo. Runs great and doesn't bind in my mags like their steel.

Oh so plaistow only limits me... awesome. Hate crime. [frown]

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Oh if you come across 5.56 save that shoot up the .223 first. 5.56 is hotter/better for zombies and russians.
 
Wal-Mart actually sells 9mms and 22lr? The 5 I went to today sure didn't have any. I never see any of the bulk packs mentioned here.

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Walmart (southwestern NH if that helps). Tula steel 9mm is $10.50/50 [.21ea]. Tula brass 9mm is $23.50/100 [< .24ea]. They have both pretty often with no box limit. I'm a big fan of Tula brass ammo. Runs great and doesn't bind in my mags like their steel.

Good price for the brass! I'll have to look for that, thanks. I tried the steel and it was ok but it was significantly harder to load in the mags than brass. I'd rather use the brass for a couple of cents more and be able to reload it.
 
223 price is finally coming back down. Found PMC Bronze for $360/1k online (not including shipping).
 
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Wal-Mart actually sells 9mms and 22lr? The 5 I went to today sure didn't have any. I never see any of the bulk packs mentioned here.

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I saw 22 for the first time at a Walmart up here in VT on Monday for the first time since I think December or January. It was cci mini mag hollow points for $7.47 plus tax for 100 rounds. I didn't grab any.
 
I saw 22 for the first time at a Walmart up here in VT on Monday for the first time since I think December or January. It was cci mini mag hollow points for $7.47 plus tax for 100 rounds. I didn't grab any.

Good price for the brass! I'll have to look for that, thanks. I tried the steel and it was ok but it was significantly harder to load in the mags than brass. I'd rather use the brass for a couple of cents more and be able to reload it.

Wal-Mart actually sells 9mms and 22lr? The 5 I went to today sure didn't have any. I never see any of the bulk packs mentioned here.

Off topic but ya I feel lucky around here. We see 9mm (WWB, Fed, and Tula) pretty much all the time at my Walmart. .22 is more and more available. I've been seeing Blazer 40gr, American Eagle 40gr, Mini Mag 36gr HP, and WWB 36gr CPHP. Two days ago I was able to grab 300 rounds of Mini Mag. Not my favorite but it's okay and cheaper than GunBroker.

Tula 9mm steel is a pain. Binds during loading and sometimes fully binds up during shooting... DON'T use Tula steel for defensive stockpile. Good odds it binds when you need it... Tula brass is as good as all the others with a lower price tag.

As for .223. Sounds like the basic idea is .24 - .26 for steel, .35 - .38 for brass. Don't pay over .40 for brass unless desperate. Based on what I've seen that means online ammo is out. Just need to keep my eye on my (apparently well stocked?) Walmart shelves.
 
Only place you will find steel .223 for that cheap seems to be when Walmart has it. Everywhere else I have seen is .27 - .30 a round when buying bulk. .37 - .40 seems to be the average for brass.

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The only thing I have heard and witnessed that holds water is that the extractor tend to wear out a little sooner.

I'm interested to see how their .308 performs.

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i have shot nothing but tula .223 through my AR since I built it. Never had a malfunction in the 500 rounds I have shot. I pay 5.99 for 20 rounds at FS. Probably could find a better price if I bought in bulk but at 27 cents or so a round I am a happy camper :)
 
The only thing I have heard and witnessed that holds water is that the extractor tend to wear out a little sooner.

I'm interested to see how their .308 performs.



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How was this measured? I have had one extractor failure so far. I'm not sure what the round count is to wear out a extractor? Extractor gets the shit kicked out of it.
My failed extractor actually broke. Short rnd count 300ish. I think steel cased ammo is a lot dirty and fouls more. I think the biggest problem with steel 223 is most of what I tested over the crony was under powered. I don't think steel seals in the chamber as well as brass. The chamber gets fouled. If not cleaned......I just run a bore snake at the range. It might cause some sticking cases putting more stress on the extractor.
 
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i have shot nothing but tula .223 through my AR since I built it. Never had a malfunction in the 500 rounds I have shot. I pay 5.99 for 20 rounds at FS. Probably could find a better price if I bought in bulk but at 27 cents or so a round I am a happy camper :)

That is still .30 a round though. Riley's has it for $275/1000 but that is the cheapest I have seen it (27.5 cents) other than the mythical spam cans at Walmart.

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$0.23 a round for .223 is a GREAT deal.

STEEL is currently $0.25-0.35
BRASS is currently $0.35-0.45

Unless you plan on buying brass that is good enough to reload a few times, and you plan on doing so or recycling to a re-manufacturer for credit towards more ammo I'd suggest you stick with Steel.
 
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