I am going shooting this weekend for the first time with my new (and first) AR-15, is the Remington UMC ammo good enough for sighting in my iron sights and shooting irons and paper?  If y'all have any better or cheaper but still quality ammo please chime in also.

Also, I know there is cheaper ammo like TulAmmo steel case, but I am extremely hesitant to use that in my gun, not only because it might damage the gun but it also probably isn't particularly accurate. Am I correct in that assumption or is that actually okay ammo?  The UMC seems to be much higher quality.

It's decent .223 power ammo. I have never had any issues with it, shot maybe 3k or so. Sometimes, during the various "crisis" it was all I could get through Walmart......If I was buying ammo right now to blast, I would buy this-



http://www.sgammo.com/product/223-556mm/100-round-lot-223-rem-55-grain-fmj-brass-case-non-magnetic-wolf-gold-ar-15-ammunit

Your Remington is GTG shoot it with confidence.

I also do not like the Tula, because of its in-accuracy and ... frankly, the smell... it REEKS of ammonia every time I have shot it. So much so that it kind of burns my sinus's.


I will also recommend an ammo for 100yd range time use ... ( not self defense, since it is a varmint bullet... )

http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/4550/category/47/

While not everyone has had outstanding results with that ammo, accuracy wise, ... it has been VERY accurate out of all of my rifles. Slightly over 1 inch groups at 100yards.

I am a firm believer in practicing with accurate ammo... not the cheapest ammo you can buy... it is more important to develop good marksmanship skills.

And using accurate ammo will allow you to focus on your trigger skills and holding the rifle steady, rather then wondering if that missed shot was the crappy ammo or you.

The sale price is a fantastic deal.... but PSA's shipping can be quite slow at times.

If you do buy some... please let us know if your rifle shoots it accurately.

Wolf Gold brass cased 55gr FMJ has a ( IMHO ) decent enough accuracy track record to use as well.


And save your brass, regardless if you reload or not..... I think about all the brass I left lying around, and wish I hadn't.

My experience with Rem UMC ammunition is that it's crap. 9mm, .45, .223 .

Very dirty and seems to have random powder charges. I don't like it or trust it and won't buy it anymore.

YMMV.

 
+1 on wolf gold

I've found the 9mm to be pretty clean shooting.  Though I do agree with the random powder charges, seems like there's always at least one or two rounds per mag that have noticeably more or less recoil than the rest.  Overall it seems to be loaded pretty weak as well.  As also gotten a couple boxes with rounds that had the bullet down in the casing as far as it would go, or the bullet moved up and down in the casing.  After that I avoid all UMC ammo.  Wolf Gold is probably cheaper anyway.

how is the UMC .223 brass? worth saving for reloading?

Yes , very much so.

Yes, decent plinking ammo and decent brass for reloading.

The brass is decent but it is consistently underpowered in 9mm and .223 . I have shot a good bit . The 9 will barely cycle my Uzi

It's crap, the only good thing about it is that the brass is reloadable.

It isn't great, but not too bad either. Probably about 2-3 moa out of my rifles. In probably 1500 rounds, I've had zero malfunctions.

Unless you can get it cheaper than Wolf Gold or PMC bronze, there are cheaper, better choices. I've seen inconsistent bullet seating depth on it often. It's mediocre.

I shot some across the Chrono from 10 feet yesterday. Test Gun , 16" Palmetto State Armory AR

Average speed = 2860 fps

Didn't try shooting accuracy groups.  I was working with some reloads and just happened to have some of this in my range bag and chronographed it just for fun.

The only place I ever see it, it seems to be 50 cents a round.

I got it for 40 cents a round, at that price is it worth spending the money? Or should I go with wolf?

Wolf.

I tested a pile of 'bulk' ammo for precision using a match-grade rifle - offerings from federal, PMC, PPU, and Wolf Gold.  Wolf Gold was the most consistent - printed an average group half the size of all of the other types of ammo.  Considering its the cheapest brass stuff out there, its a bargain.

Wolf

Another vote for Wolf GOLD. Pretty standard loading, feeds well and has pretty good accuracy out of my 16" barreled AR. Buy some!

Practice, as said in a Post above, with something that does not have you endlessly trying to sight in ... unlike the inconsistent Remington .223.
Never understood even plinking with crap, inaccurate ammo that was "cheap".


Suggestion: This shoots 2 MOA  for me and for now far more cheaper than the Remy ~
AE 50 gr VT ( shoots very well out of my 1:7's, GF...)
http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/4550/category/53/