Been reading this site for a while now and finally broke down and bought a Colt m4 (MT6400C). Here in St. Louis I picked one up for $945.00 hope thats a good price! Now here are the questions if anyone could help me out. What type of ammo/brand would you shoot in this gun(1:7 twist)? How many magazines and what brand would you start out with without going crazy? Is there anything I need to watch out for to keep this gun reliable? Thanks in advance for your help.

Welcome aboard!

If you have any questions regarding .223/5.56 ammo, you will be able to answer 99.9% of them by reading the Frequently Asked Questions at [url]www.ammo-oracle.com[/url].  It is an awesome place to start and it will take some time to digest.  If you still have any questions, post it in the Ammo forum and it shouldn't take long to get an answer.  Please check out the FAQ above--you will be glad you did.

As far as magazines, read Troy's Magazine review at [url]magfaq.tripod.com[/url].  Generally speaking, you should stick with USGI mags.  Stay away from USA, Triple K or other after-market mags.  The British steel SA80 mags that were recently put on the market are also very good/reliable.  You will stop buying mags and ammo when your inner urge for them is satisfied ie. never.
 

USGI 20 and 30 round mags are the best. Some people will say british SA80 and U.S. made Thermold 30 rounders are excellent also. I use the USGI mags from various manufacturers and Thermolds without any problems. Congaradulations on your purchase. Prepare to be quickly seperated from your money. Welcome to the sickness!

lots of mags.  to start about 5 will do for range use.  i'd buy ammo in bulk, you'll save money in the long run and won't have to run to the gun shop every time you want to go shoot.  clean it, feed it, have fun!

Thanks guys! I will take the info and digest and if there is anything I cant figure out I will be sure to let you know.

Your question made me sit back and take an inventory in order to give you a reasonable answer. And here it is:

I have 42 USGI 30 round magazines - 24 are in good shape with new springs and followers, 18 are range queens (busted tabs, cracked feed lips etc). My 10 USGI 20 rounders are for my target rifle and only get loaded with handloads. So to answer your question about how many mags you need and what type, buy as many as you can afford and when you think you have enough, double that number. I prefer only USGI, they are plentiful, work with almost every AR weapon system, and spare parts are readily available.

I still have empty stripper clips and bandoleers so I must not have enough ammo (1.5 k already in stripper clips and bando's in the cans). Ammo is the same as magazines, buy as much as you can afford then buy more. Most of the guys around here agree that mil-spec Federal XM 193 or Winchester Q3131a is the best. However, you will have to shoot many different types out of your rifle to determine which type and brand it likes. Once you find that out, buy plenty.

And since someone already posted the AMMO Oracle link, I won't cover that.

Good luck and welcome to the Club. You have aquired a disease that cannot be cured. 12 step methods will not help. You can only appease the addiction, and it gets stronger and stronger the longer you have it. So smile like us, because we love it.

congrats and welcome!

Congrats!  Good luck trying to ignore the voices.........

im about $3000 in debt right now purely from evil black rifles.....................so get ready for it.

hey, wanna buy an ar-10?!

i use lake city from ammoman.com and USGI and british sa-80 mags, i dont have nearly enough either.

Very truthful statement here.
Buy USGI mags, EE is the best place online.
Buy your ammo bulk or do as I do.....reload,
due to having several different AR's that require loads specific for their twist.

Have you seen the EE here yet? Look under MAGS! You will need a few dozen.

My piece of advice: Stay away from lacquer coated steel cased ammunition. It is cheap, but it will gum up your chamber and can cause big problems to the point where some AR manufacturers will void your warranty if you use it. The laquer coating can melt with the heat and form rock-hard deposits which can wreak havoc in your chamber. If it has a shiny brass case, you are usually OK. I shoot only Black Hills 55 gr and Lake City XM193 ball.

www.ammoman.com  great vendor, never any shipping charges.


Just my 2 cents worth.
Welcome to the fraternity of AR15 owners, and congratulations on your new evil black rifle!

I bought the same rifle a few months ago. The most accurate load so far is the SMK 69 grain over 25 grains of Varget in Win cases and Remington 7 1/2 primers with OAL of 2.26. This load averages 1.07" at 100 yards. On factory ammo the Q3131a is getting 1.87" and XM193 is getting 1.66". Wolf 55 grain FMJ yeilds 4.61". S&B gives 2.86" for the SS109 and 2.28" for the 55 grain FMJ. A the above are the average of five, five shot groupa at 100 yards.

Hey welcome to the club man. You did good buying a Colt M4, I've got one too! This rifle is very reliable. I shoot Winchester Q3131a, I have shot 79grain match bullets and the 1 in 7 will shoot them well. As far as mags go, I have to agree with everyone else on the USGI. I have 2 Orlites and have never had a problem, I like them, but alot of people on this board hate them. Hope I helped.

buy ammo, buy ammo, buy ammo; if you have a gun, (escpecially an AR) you're gonna want to shoot it right?? (i'm suffering from no ammo syndrome right now..)[V]