Now that my very first AR-15 is on its way to my FFL, I figured it was time to go get some ammo for it. I’ve scanned through a lot of ammo related posts here, and pretty much got an idea what people like and dislike around here. However, I have not seen may posts regarding S&B .223 ammo. Those who have tried it, what is your experience? I’ve been shooting a lot of it in 9mm and .45ACP, and it seems to perform well, but tends to be on a dirtier side of the spectrum. Is it the case with rifle ammo? Is it much cleaner and/or more accurate than Wolf? From what I’ve read, Wolf should be OK for practice, but I don’t like the smell of it (I shot a few boxes of it through a rental AR). S&B is about $60 more expensive (per 1000 rds.) than Wolf, but still less than Federal, Winchester, etc. If in fact it’s cleaner and more accurate than Wolf, and it’s not lacquer coated, I’m willing to pay a little extra for it. Thanks in advance for you help, and I hope it doesn’t start another A-brand-is-better-than-B-brand war.

I ran a bunch of S&B though my Armalite and it ran fine with the ammo. I guess they make two different .223 rounds - the stuff I was using was all brass I guess there's some steel cased stuff out there too.

There's people that think steel hurts their extractors - but if I'm saving $60 a 1000 rounds that's half a dozen extractors worth of savings.

I don't sniff my ammo nor really care what it smells like. Nor would I shoot S&B, Silver Bear, or Wolf though my rifle when I was betting my life on it.

Some people have very good experiences with the Wolf ammo.  Others will tell you horror stories that could make your skin crawl.  Best bet...Get a few boxes and try it out for yourself.  I emphisize "a few".  I made the mistake of buying 1000 rds of Wolf .45 for my H&K USP.  Now I have 990 rds of ammo I can't use.  The slide would'nt even close all the way with some of the rds.  
Never bought any Wolf for my AR, and never will.  I bought 1000 rds of .223 from S&B, though.  Never had a problem.  S&B ammo bullets are: lead core, steel jacket, and copper washed.  They won't fragment like M193 (or others) but they won't hurt your rifle.  Good practice ammo.

I like S&B, especially the SS109 load. For me, it's accurate, not too dirty (the SS109 is clean), and I've gone through over a thousand so far with no malfunctions of any kind. I'd buy more.

It works for me.  My friend and I have shot about 10K rounds of 5.56,.45acp,9mm, and.40sw w/ only 1 bad round. A 5.56 had a primer that was not inserted correctly. I noticed it while loading and tossed it.  It may have fired, but why bother. YMMV

FB

S&B in the seafoam green boxes run just fine thru both my rifles. It groups better than Federal Am Eagle or Rem UMC ammo. I've had 3 FTF's out of ~800 rounds. Don't know about the quality of the brass as far as reloading goes. For the price it's the best practice ammo I have found. I will say that I have not put any Wolf thru my guns. That would be cheaper I suppose but I've read too many of the critical posts about it. Natchez has S&B for $3.19/box I think. They also carry the SS109 version also.

Shabo

SS109 gave 2.09" @ 100 yds @ 3242 fps in 24" RRA
"          2.86"    "   "    2940  "   " Colt M4

55 g FMJ   2.3      "    "   3322  "  in 24" RRA
"          2.38     "    "   3052  "   " Colt M4

No failures of any kind with 70 rds of each type in each rifle.

I bought some S&B SS109 at a gun show back in August.  It works great thru the Armalite, and it isn't really dirty. It is not as hot as the Federal XM193, but I would and will shoot it again.

I have bought a case of it & it worked just fine.