New AR

So I picked up a DPMS Prairie Panther .223. Anybody have/shoot one ? Any ammo received better than others for this weapon ? So many questions I have, but figure I should lob some lead before I get too crazy on here…

Nice addition to the collection, G. You’ll have a lot of fun with that.

Haven’t shot one personally. Can only speak for my experience. If there is a rifle out there that does NOT like Hornaday’s V-Max or Z-Max bullets, I’d like to know. Anything with a V-Max bullet on top would tops on my “to try” list.

I don’t think you’re a handloader, but in case you are, I found it helped accuracy to seat the bullets out as far as possible. Still they must fit in the magazine, of course, so 2.250 is generally the longest safe length. Seating everything at 2.250 has given me a good accuracy bump.

Obviously, your mileage may vary, but anything like Superformance with v-max are worth a try if the goal is max accuracy.

Grouse

Thanks Grouse ! Actually, I will use it more for plinking and an occasional varmint… more important will be smooth put through of brass…. think quantity of shots, not quality…

I do know that with the great twist rates you can feed some pretty heavy bullets down that barrel. If you’re looking for distance at all some of those heavier bullets would be a good choice.

big_g wrote:

So I picked up a DPMS Prairie Panther .223. Anybody have/shoot one ? Any ammo received better than others for this weapon ? So many questions I have, but figure I should lob some lead before I get too crazy on here…

I have the same gun. I shot American Eagle 55g FMJ’s for target practice and sight in out to 300 yards (Nikon P223 scope). For what I wanted/expected from that gun, they worked very well.
I then shot Hornady Rem .223 55g BT Spire Points and the 55g Winchester Silvertip Balistic’s to fine tune. Both bullets did very well in that gun out to 300 yards. I’ve never had reason to shoot beyond that – and if I did, I’d be using my .243 anyhow.
The latter two brands are what I use to hunt with in that gun. I tend to try and be a one shot type of guy, but I love the Silvertips and usually back-up the first 3 rounds of Silvertips with Hornady Spire Points to follow – for no other reason than it saves some money when dumping a clip at a running wide-open yote. Both of those rounds can drop a coyote it’s tracks very well though. A lot of guys that I hunt with use .223 Silvertips for hunting. They’re kind-of expensive to target shoot though. Good hunting!

big_g wrote:

Thanks Grouse ! Actually, I will use it more for plinking and an occasional varmint… more important will be smooth put through of brass…. think quantity of shots, not quality…

An AR certainly does “quantity” well. I haven’t had any problems with feeding and cycling of any ammo. I managed to stick one case in the chamber the first time I had it out, and not a one since.

There is plenty of decent bulk ammo out there. I don’t know if any of it is any better then the rest.

If you have your own range, steel targets are terrific fun. Gotta get good ones though or they won’t last.

Grouse

Had the brother in law build me a simple 4″ double swinger target… out of 1/4 inch plate steel

I have a few friends that own them and that is their primary song dog gun.

Few consistent things they had on theirs:
1. Factory triggers were heavy. They either replaced or modified the triggers to get them in the 3# range and crisp.

2. Ammo – I don’t know what twist rates they had. I think they had the standard 20″ floated barrel, but I’m not sure. They all had best results with 55gr factory loads. Each varied a bit, but that was consistent enough to give us a starting point for hand loading.

I have had really good luck with the fiocchi 50 gr vmax. The price is better then most fmj available. Plus great for coyotes and prairie dogs. I don’t think you will have to many issues up to 300 yards.