My buddy and I went shooting yesterday and we both have DPMS AR-15s....
So here is an FYI on some ammo and mags. I am posting as an FYI as we used this sight to determine what ammo and mags to buy and shoot. Take it for what it's worth as this was not scientific but thought the info would help.
We shot about 1100 rounds of various .223 ammo we had bought over the past 2 months.
1) The guns had never been fired before
2) The weather was cool and 60 degrees
3) We shot 25 yards, 100 yards, and just for the hell of it yardage.
4) It was fun
5) Ammunition was loaded into mags the night before
6) Used a mag/stripper clip loader from cheaper than dirt and it worked great, saved time and kept thumbs from hurting.
7) All rounds fired. There was never a misfire or a round that failed to ignite.
8) The only rounds that did not fire were ones that were purposely discarded due to clearing a shell or the next round in a magazine when clearing the rifle due to a shell not ejecting properly. (These were all RAdway and green issues)
Below is our findings:
AMMO GUN A:
100 rounds of federal xm855 in cardboard boxes
500 rounds radway green from aim on stripper clips
20 rounds of hot shot bosnian ammo
The federal had a little more kick than all the others we shot. Very accurate at 25 and 100 yards.
The radway green would jam every first or second shot out of every mag. It was accurate also but frustrating because of the jamming.
The hot shot was accurate and seemed to have the same kick as the federal.
MAGS GUN A:
Gun A used 4 Orlite clips, 2 DPMS provided mag and 1 aluminum mag from Cheaper than dirt and 3 Taiwan imported aluminum mag.
Orlites --performed flawlessly and it helps that they have a raised mold mark halfway down the clip that goes around the clip so you know the mag is in.
The DPMS clips --worked fine too.
The aluminum Cheaper than dirt clips-- were ok.
The Taiwan clips-1 was defective as it did not feed properly but the others worked fine.
Gun A's mags were all loaded with 30 rounds each at start of day. 6-7 of the clips jammed when using the radway and green ammunition. I then loaded 25 rounds into a few clips, this helped a little, but the radway still jammed.
CLEANING AND OVERALL FINDINGS GUN A:
When I cleaned the gun it was cleaner than Gun B which shot Wolf and Silver Bear.
It might take time to break the gun and mags in but I'll stay with Orlite clips and Federal Ammo. I beleive the charge in the radway may not be enough to throw the bolt back so the shell can be extracted.
AMMO GUN B:
100 rounds of federal xm855
200 rounds of Silver Bear Zinc casing from Cheaper than dirt
200 rounds of Wolf steel casing from cheaper than dirt
30 rounds Radway and green
20 rounds of hot shot bosnian ammo
The federal had a little more kick than all the others we shot. Very accurate at 25 and 100 yards.
The radway green jammed every first shot.
The hot shot was accurate and seemed to have the same kick as the federal.
Silver Bear worked fine with no jams. Not as accurate as Wolf.
Wolf worked fine and was almost as accurate as the federal. No jams. For the cost, this is his choice of ammunition.
MAGS GUN B:
Gun B used 6 Orlite mags, 2 DPMS provided mags and 2 Taiwan imported aluminum mags.
Orlites --performed flawlessly and it helps that they have a raised mold mark halfway down the clip that goes around the clip so you know the clip is in.
The DPMS clips --worked fine too.
The Taiwan clips were fine.
Gun B's mags were loaded with only 25 rounds each and only jammed with radway and green.
CLEANING AND OVERALL FINDINGS GUN B:
The gun was far dirtier than GUN A. We speculate that the wolf and silver bear were dirtier. Can't pinpoint which one because they were both shot equally. My buddy says he will always load clips with 25 as he had no jamming problems. He says he will use wolf because of the cost, then Silver bear, hot shot, the federal and definitely no radway.
FINAL WORDS:
If cost was not a factor, the ammunition we would chose would be:
1) federal-very accurate and clean.
2) hot shot-very accurate and clean. Just as good as federal but is kept out of first place due to only 40 rounds were shot.
3) wolf-dirty but good for plinking
4) silver bear-dirty but good for plinking
5) radway and green-very dissapointing and will not use again. Too many jams.
Magazines
1) Orlites--We both agreed that we will only buy Orlites from now on.
2) DPMS
3) Cheaper than dirt aluminum
4) Taiwan
We both beleive that the AR-15 is a delicate rifle. If you want to keep her for a long time use the best or at least watch and research what you put in her. The AR is not like an ak or nagant that you can drop in mud, don't clean for a month, use all types of ammo or use as a tent pole in a pinch. It's a rifle that will let you know what's right.
Anyway, take it for what it's worth and hope the info is useful to some shooters.
ENJOY!