Ammo for my new rifle, new shooter

[Vintovka69]

I recently built my first ar15, mostly Aero parts with an 18 inch 223 Wylde Faxon match grade barrel. I'm a new shooter and want to slowly get into some long range shooting.
I'm currently shooting 223 55g frontier FMJ since it's cheap but I got good enough to definitely know that I'm outshooting my ammo at 100 yards, especially since I've installed a 6-24x vortex.
At my local range I have to qualify at 300 to shoot beyond so that will be my next step on my journey.
Can I please get some recommendations for some affordable ammo that may match well with my setup. I would love to practice at a 100 with ammo I know I can't outshoot.

 

[acudaowner]

congrats on the new gun it's sweet looking sorry no drooling emoji hope it provides you years of great use .

 

[Dave62677]

Just invest a little of the reload equipments.

 

[bmash]

Since I reload I can’t recommend affordable ammo. You will likely get some advice here.
if you are going for long range go up in bullet weight. You don’t list your barrel twist but you can Google charts on how high you can go for your barrel. Try various ammo until you find what works best in your rifle. I know it is a bad time to do this with lack of availability…

 

[powdahound76]

Hornady Black 75 gr has been accurate out of many rifles for me.
Bolt, KAC, Geissele, WOA , Centurion, Douglas, BCM, Proof.

Actually better than FGMM 77

Norma 77 gr sucked for me in more than 2 that shoot a generic 68 gr bthp handload sub moa for 10 shots.

Now to find some.
Reloading is key, but its a crap time to start that unless you have SRP for something else.

 

[Holliday]

At my local range I have to qualify at 300 to shoot beyond so that will be my next step on my journey.

Wow, strict range......

 

[DocRDS]

Affordable and accurate are sometimes at the opposite ends of the spectrum.
The above mentioned Hornady, Federal, Norma in a "Match" config with a heavier bullets all great--beware, if your rifle twist is 1:9 it may not like some of the 72-77gr bullets (heavier/longer bullets use the 1/8 or 1/7 to stabilize). Look for ammo that uses good match bullets like SMK, Barnes, or Berger target bullets. With ammo selection so sporadic, you may not get your choice specific choice.

While many prefer the 70+ range, a heavy 65+ grain match bullet isn't the end of the world if you happen upon some.

.223 can go a long way in Long Range (no pun intended) and you can pick up everyone's brass to make cheap 'practice' match ammo.

And start stockpiling components for reloading

 

[The38Super]

My setup is darned near the same as yours, particularly since Faxon upgraded me to the flame fluted, versus the regular fluted, as a replacement for a defective barrel. Need to break that one in now.

I've only ever shot my gun out to 200 yards, but IMI 77g Razorcore has served me well. I was averaging .6-.8 MOA at 200 yards all day with that ammo. Considering that's what my first groups from my new Bergara have been, I'd say those groups were shooter limited. It's in the $1-$1.35 per round range, so it won't completely break the bank.

 

[DownhillFromHere]

"Affordable" match-grade ammo doesn't really exist right now... perhaps "affordable" .223 ammo is relative to larger calibers.

Anyway. Look for ammo with 69- or 77-grain Sierra Match King (SMK) bullets, which were designed to be loaded to AR magazine length. You didn't mention the twist rate on your barrel; the 69gr SMK will stabilize at 1:10 and the 77gr at 1:8.

When buying factory .223 match ammo, be sure it's compatible with your barrel and AR magazine.

Bullets heavier than 77 grains need 1:7 twist to reliably stabilize, and cartridges loaded with them almost certainly won't fit in an AR magazine (but can usually be single-loaded). Similarly, extremely low drag bullets like Hornady's ubiquitous 75gr ELD-M, while light enough to stabilize in a 1:8 twist barrel, are too long for AR-length cartridges. Someone at one of the clubs to which I belong bought a 100-count box of Hornady 73gr ELD-Ms for reloading and gave them away when he found they weren't compatible with AR mags (again, single-loading can be an option).

Save your brass, and keep it sorted by brand and even by lot within a brand (sure, you can pick up range brass and load it, but God only knows what kind of garbage is laying there - certainly, optimal accuracy doesn't come from this practice, and I won't even use range brass for mild bulk .223 blaster ammo because I don't know what condition it's in). At present, it's as hard to find reloading components (especially primers) and presses/dies/etc as it is to find loaded ammo. While it costs less to reload bulk or match-grade ammo, startup costs are high. That's another near-infinitely-deep rabbit hole. Dillon Precision has reloading cost and equipment purchase vs. savings break-even calculators to help pull you in.

Fwiw, I started precision rifle a little over four years ago with a rig very similar to yours. While I could wear out 2MOA plates at 400-500 yards with ease using decent ammo, I gave up the AR platform pdq because one can do so much more to chase accuracy with bolt rifles....

 

[308pirate]

I recently built my first ar15, mostly Aero parts with an 18 inch 223 Wylde Faxon match grade barrel. I'm a new shooter and want to slowly get into some long range shooting.
I'm currently shooting 223 55g frontier FMJ since it's cheap but I got good enough to definitely know that I'm outshooting my ammo at 100 yards, especially since I've installed a 6-24x vortex.
At my local range I have to qualify at 300 to shoot beyond so that will be my next step on my journey.
Can I please get some recommendations for some affordable ammo that may match well with my setup. I would love to practice at a 100 with ammo I know I can't outshoot.

Depending on what exactly the standard is to qualify at 300 yards, the shit you're shooting now could be more than sufficient.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

I suggest a 69gr Match ammunition. My experience with PPU/Prvi Partizan Match ammo, 69 and 75gr, has impressed me greatly. The 75gr is currently not available from SGAmmo, but if it does become available, and if your rifle has a 1:8" twist, I strongly recommend it for distances out to at least 600yd. A longer barrel would be even better.

Also good and available from SGAmmo is IMI 77gr Matchking. But I really recommend a 1:8" twist (or 1:7")

Greg