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Ammunition

Rifle Ammo

Rifle ammunition spans a wider range of purpose than anything else in this catalog. The same shelf holds thousand-round cases of bulk 5.56 bought purely on cost per round, hunting cartridges chosen for how a specific bullet behaves on a specific animal, and match ammunition manufactured and lot-tested to a completely different standard. Buying well means being clear about which of those three you are doing, and then paying attention to two things the box does not always tell you: your barrel's twist rate, and whether your chamber is cut for the pressure of the round you are about to put in it.

Before you buy

What to know about rifle ammo

What people buy it for

  • AR-15 and AR-10 range practice and carbine courses
  • Deer, hog and elk hunting
  • Precision rifle matches and long-range steel
  • 3-Gun and multigun competition
  • Varmint and predator control

Chamber before pressure: the 5.56 and .308 cases

Two pairs cause almost all the trouble. .223 Remington is safe in a 5.56 NATO chamber, but 5.56 is not safe in a chamber cut only for .223: the shorter throat drives pressure higher. .308 Winchester and 7.62x51 NATO are dimensionally alike, but .308 is loaded to a higher commercial pressure and military chambers often carry more generous headspace, so a surplus rifle of unknown history deserves a gunsmith's look. Read the barrel marking; it is the authority.

Twist rate sets the heaviest bullet you can use

Long, heavy, high-BC bullets need a faster spin to stay stable. A 1:7 or 1:8 twist AR handles 77gr .223; a 1:12 varmint barrel will not. A 1:12 .308 sporter is happy through 168gr and opens up with heavy match bullets. The twist is normally stamped on the barrel, and it does not negotiate. Buying heavy match ammunition for a slow-twist barrel wastes money and looks like a rifle problem.

Match bullets are not hunting bullets

The hollow point on a match bullet is a manufacturing artefact of a very consistent boat tail, not an expansion mechanism. Those bullets are engineered to fly, and their behaviour on game is neither designed nor guaranteed. Hunting calls for a bullet built to expand in a controlled way and hold together: bonded, partitioned or monolithic. Accuracy at the bench is not the same as performance in the field.

Steel case, bi-metal jackets and range rules

Steel-cased ammunition is the cheapest way to shoot volume in 5.56, .223 and 7.62x39. It also tends to use bi-metal jackets that are magnetic, which gets it banned at many indoor ranges and makes it unsuitable for steel targets at close distance. It is not reloadable. None of that makes it bad ammunition; it makes it ammunition with conditions attached, and the conditions are worth checking before a case ships.

Questions

Common questions

Can I shoot 5.56 NATO in a rifle marked .223 Remington?

No. 5.56 is loaded to a higher pressure and its chamber has a longer throat to accommodate it; firing it in a .223-only chamber puts the bullet into the rifling sooner and pushes pressure higher still. The reverse (.223 in a 5.56 chamber) is always safe. If the barrel marking is unclear or absent, ask the manufacturer rather than assume.

Is bulk ammunition accurate enough for hunting?

Bulk practice ammunition is loaded for volume and price, not for consistency, and it uses bullets designed to punch paper rather than to expand on an animal. It is excellent for training. For hunting, buy a load built for the job, zero the rifle with it specifically, and expect it to land somewhere other than your practice ammunition does.

How should I store rifle ammunition?

Cool, dry and in its original packaging, which carries the lot number you will want if anything is ever recalled or if a lot shoots particularly well. Humidity is the enemy rather than time; a sealed ammunition can with a desiccant pack in a stable indoor space will keep factory ammunition serviceable for decades. Heat cycling in a car boot or an uninsulated shed is what does damage.

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Further reading