The Best AR 15 Ammo for All Your Shooting

SPOILER—if you want some decent all-purpose ammunition, get the PMC Bronze 223 Remington 55GR SP Ammunition. It’s reasonably affordable. And you could conceivably use it for everything, if you used just one type of ammunition for all your shooting.

If you have specific needs for your ammunition, we’ve got more reading for you. We’ll cover all the best AR-15 ammo, so you can get what you need.

Yes, brass-cased, soft point ammunition is more expensive than full metal jacket ammunition.

But it’s not so expensive that you couldn’t use it for training. It might cost you a bit more. But you could conceivably train with the same ammunition that you use for self-defense. That way your rifle will perform exactly the way you expect, no matter what sort of shooting you’re doing.

Unfortunately, it can be tough to find this ammunition in bulk. So you might not be able to get the bulk discount. But it’s still solid ammunition that could be your one-size-fits-all ammunition.

Also, this ammunition is loaded decently hot. The muzzle velocity is 3050 feet per second from a 16-inch barrel. It’s not the fastest around. But it’s consistent. And it’s good enough for any sort of training you need to do.

This ammunition uses Hornady 55GR full metal jacket boat tail bullets. So it’s not ideal for defense or long-range precision. But it’s great, affordable training ammunition that will perform similarly to your defensive or competition ammunition.

And the Hornady bullets use an all-copper jacket that minimizes wear on the bore of your barrel, which helps get the longest service life from your barrel.

If you’re not into shooting remanufactured ammunition, that’s cool. Many people aren’t because there’s some pretty bad remanufactured ammunition out there.

But this is excellent remanufactured ammunition that’ll work reliably for you.

So these rounds measure around 3240 feet per second, which is faster than many competing munitions.

The velocities are quite consistent, too. The performance is perfectly predictable from shot to shot.

It’s still just full metal jacket boat tail ammunition with a 55 grain round. It’s not great for self-defense. And a heavier round would be better for long-range precision. But this ammunition works great for training and recreation.

This Fiocchi ammunition is nothing fancy. But, if you need reliable training ammunition, this is a great round to use as your go-to, as long as you don’t need a heavy bullet.

And the bullets have a total copper jacket to minimize barrel wear. This ammunition does make your rifle fairly dirty, though. So remember to clean your gun.

There are only a couple things to be aware of with this ammunition:

The bullets have steel cores. Some shooting ranges won’t let you shoot steel core ammunition because it tears up steel targets and barriers pretty badly. If you have your own steel targets, keep that in mind before you blast them with this ammunition.

Also, these are 55 grain bullets. The true military rounds fire 62 grain projectiles. A heavier bullet would make this ammunition better for shooting at longer distances.

But it’s still solid ammunition that’s great for most range work and training.

But, the 77 grain Sierra Matchking bullet is an excellent hollow-point boat tail round that carries its energy further than a lighter, faster round. And it’s less wind affected than lighter bullets. That’s why this is excellent ammunition for competitive shooters who need precision at long ranges.

It’s also solid tactical ammunition. At short ranges, the muzzle velocity is high enough to get good ballistic efficiency. And this is a hollow point round. So it performs better than most full metal jacket rounds in tactical contexts.

Lastly, this ammunition is quite affordable for match-grade ammunition that’s packed with such a high quality bullet.

It’s a bit pricey to use as training ammunition. But it’s an excellent value for any type of shooting where you need true game-time performance.

That’s solid muzzle velocity. And the variation in muzzle velocity from round to round is very small. However, this round uses a 62 grain bullet to achieve that higher muzzle velocity.

But 62 grains is a decent compromise between high velocity and long range stability. It won’t get blown around as much as a 55 grain bullet. And it’s faster than a 77 grain round. That’s a good middle ground.

The bullet is a standard full metal jacket bullet with a boat tail. I’d prefer a hollow point round for tactical applications. But the full metal jacket round works well enough. And it’s got a total copper jacket to minimize barrel wear.

This Doubletap ammunition is probably too expensive for most to use as training ammunition. But the nice thing about this ammunition is that you can use cheaper 62 grain ammo for practice. And your training and duty ammunition will perform very similarly.

7. Lapua 69GR HPBT Rifle Ammunition - Match AR-15 Ammo

You could use this ammunition for tactical applications. The hollow point round and relatively high muzzle velocity would definitely do the job.

However, this Lapua ammunition is pretty expensive. And it’s just much better suited to long range shooting.

But, if you have an AR-15 that’s designed for long range precision, this ammunition will absolutely maximize your precision at the very edge of your rifle’s capabilities.