Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Project Ralph

I posted this earlier today on the 'Campfire, and it fell off the front page. I'll try here.

In honor of Virginia's Governor, Ralph Northam, I've decided to put together a .223 Semi-Auto project. Part of it involved trolling the lake bottom for all those rifles y'all say got lost in a boating accident. With that part complete, I'm now getting on to the next step: ammunition.

The goals of Project Ralph are as follows:

1) Put together a well-regulated semi-auto rifle for the well-regulated post-militia-aged fatman (me). It should be as handy and serviceable as said fatman's M1 Garand, but updated to modern contingencies.
2) Assemble a reasonable stash of 223 Rem/556 NATO ammo that shoots well out of #1
3) Have it all stashed away and forgotten until somebody says I need to hand it over for the good of Society.

As I said, step #1 is complete. I'm now onto the second part of the challenge. For this, I would like to ask for the help of the Campfire.

1) I have a progressive reloader that is set up to load 223 REM.
2) I have some, but not all of the components at hand

Given all that, I have a bunch of questions:

1) Help me define "reasonable stash." I'm figuring 500 rounds ought to be sufficient. I've got more. I'll get more. This is just a first step. By the time I use up 500 rounds, I'll either have made my point or be dead.

2) Purchase or mfg? I see cheap steel-cased blasting ammo for $120/500 right now.

3) FMJ or. . ? To me, FMJ is not necessarily the way I want to go. It's fine for punching paper, and taking on nation states while holding to the Hague Convention, but I'm not thinking of either right now. I'm looking for suggestions. I'm currently leaning towards a 62 grain SP load. It would be enough to take on all manner of vermin, 2-legged or 4. However, there are a lot of good deals out there on 55 grain FMJ.

4) Steel or brass? If I buy ammo, should I figure on reloading brass cases or shooting disposables?


I've got 5 30-round magazines on order along with a pile of stripper clips. My goal is to load everything up, stick it in a bag with a shoulder strap and then seal it all up and wait for a bright shiny day.

1000 rounds of .233 for plinking.
1000 rounds of 5.56 for making a statement.

If I were new to ARs, that's what I'd have laying around.
(I read an article by a snowflake whining about "green tip' ammo and how there was no need for civilians to own such.😘 Enough said?).

I'd just buy a couple cases of 55FMJ and be done with it. LC or Wolf Gold.

Lets shoot that snowflake in one leg with a green tip bullet, and the other leg with a V-Max bullet, then ask him which he prefers...

I
Fixt
Do something for society

No way. Not wasting two bullets.

Shaman,

Put a couple cans of this away for that rainy day:

Real LC brass, on strippers, and shoot decent for what it is.

https://palmettostatearmory.com/fed...m-nato-55gr-fmj-500rds-xm193lc1-ac1.html

Here's a great plinking bullet:

http://www.shootersproshop.com/load...-custom-competition-hpbt-blem-100ct.html

And this one if you want something more serious:

http://www.shootersproshop.com/load...-solid-based-w-cannelure-blem-100ct.html

And don't forget the classic, campfire favorite general purpose stockpile bullet:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1165324457

Cool!

Thanks for the links.

I wouldn't get so serious on ammo. I would on components though. That you need a lot of stashed IMHO.

IF it ever gets really serious I'm going to guess that guns and ammo will be available laying around, not all will survive and you will need to scrounge. Which is a super reason to have a common caliber. One of the few reasons we have a 9mm laying around too...

That said, a couple thousand rounds of ball won't break the bank. OTOH if you have time and not money then you can usually find processed primed brass and some cheaper powder and bulk bullets and 1000 rounds really doesn't take much time to load. I loaded a lot on a Dillon over the years but then to be honest we shot about 500 rounds or so a week between the wife and I. Toss in others junior ammo at times, and a lot was loaded all on a rockchucker. While working an normal job to boot.

Good luck.

Well that's good for Saturday afternoon but what you gonna do after church? I like to think more like 5k stashed in vac sealed 250 rd lots with them on strippers and a mag shoe in every pack. All stashed where not easily found by searchers yet obtainable when needed as needed. MB

I figured 500 rounds would get me through the start-up of all this-- get the magazines filled and see how accurate it all shoots. I'm not in a big hurry on this. 500 rounds would be also enough for any immediate concerns. Once I have the load all figured out, I'll start cranking the handle and turning out batches. I'm also not thinking about putting a lot of wear and tear on the barrel. I've got plenty of other stuff to go plinking with. I'm one of the lucky few that have his shooting bench within 10 feet of the bed.

I'd get it while LC is selling for under $280/thou. It's going to go up if it appears the Dims have a chance in the elections and if they win it will be nearly unobtainium.

How about 1000 rounds of factory and 4000 of reloads and another 4000 pieces of brass to reload just in case ?? Just asking for a friend.

kwg

RVO who probably isn't in business anymore, used to sell once fired LC primed in boxes of 3500. In a perfect world a man MIGHT have like 10 of those boxes under the loading bench.

But if you don't have powder or bullets... or lead to cast bullets...

Now that sounds like a plan as long as that is just for EACH AR you have. I have lots of 9mm ,223 , 38 brass that cost nothing more than the time to pick them where some dickhead littered them. Back during the Sandyhook shortages a guy who custom reloads offered me 10 cts each for my 223 empties. They were worth a lot more then than now. Political climate controls the price and availability of all components anymore. MB

Where is a good place to get mag strippers and shoes? I like that idea and need to pre-load a 1k can with these.

I got mine on Ebay.

I have a few stripper clips and a couple of shoes, I much prefer a LULA loader and a stash of magazines.