Acquired my first AR 15 today a diamond back 15 chambered in 223/556. I’m not an ar person by any means and no next to nothing about them, first impressions seem good, I think it’ll be good quality for the price point. I mounted my atn sight 4k night vision scope on it this evening (looks and feels a lot better on the ar than the bull barrel savage bolt gun I originally had it on) so I’m very happy with that. Anything to watch out for specifically on these guns?

Any how, the gun has a 1:8 twist so I’m thinking heavier bullets because the rifle will be able to stabilize them. My first thought was 60 nosler partitions or 62 grain federal fusions (can’t find factory ammo or projectiles to load). What do y’all think? I hand load also so open to just about anything let me know what y’all use and have had success with.

I had pretty decent success with factory 55 grain Remington psp and 55 grain soft point black hills ammo in the mid 200’s when I was younger, but would like to go heavier now

I’d just go with whatever controlled expansion bullet shot best.

I like the Fed Fusions or 62gr TSX.

I know quite a few people use 75gr Hornady amax when it was around and now use 75gr vldM

I like my reloads with 75gr Swift Sirocco

If you are going factory ammo, the 64 Power Points have a good reputation and they are affordable.

https://www.academy.com/p/wincheste...gton-64-grain-rifle-ammunition-20-rounds

You have several options that work great like the Barnes TSX bullet of Lehigh Controlled Chaos bullet or Lehigh Max Expansion bullets, which are solid copper bullets made for impressive expansion. They aren't cheap, but you'll only be using a few of them to sight in your rifle and then kill hogs. There are several other respectable performers. The .223 don't throw a heavy bullet so need to use whatever advantage you can to improve its terminal performance. That said, nothing does better than a well placed shot.

Hornady VMax bullets and standard FMJ bullets are not nearly as effective.

I prefer rapid expanding bullets. Honestly if you don’t ear hole them and sometimes even if you do it doesn’t hurt to give them one or two to grow on if they’re down.

My favorite 223 load for pigs is a 6.5 Grendel.

Vmax below/behind the ear is a great combination.

Sierra 65 grain Gamekings.

FIFY

77gr TMK

FIFY

I’ve been using 55g FMJ with better luck than anything else from a 223/5.56. I’ve got over 2,000 rounds of the FMJ, so that will be my go-to round for the foreseeable future. I save the soft points for coyotes.

I really like the Federal Fusion .223 62 grain load. It flat out whacks them.

I've shot many animals with a 223. I've tried many different bullets. The BEST bullet I've found is the 64 grain Nosler bonded PSP. It provides deep penetration with good expansion. On deer and most pigs, I get a dime size exit wound with good trauma. The other one I like is the 70 grain Barnes TSX, but you need an 8" twist or faster. I have both available and in stock, currently.

https://dallasreloads.com/product-category/rifle-ammo/223/

Prior to the Grendel, we used the 65 gr Sierra GK. It worked Ok, but we did trail most of them. I do have a sack of the Nosler 64 gr BSB. Maybe I should dust them off for my next reload session.

FMJ is my go to round. No need to waist premium type ammo on hogs. Works great every time.

Partial to the 65 gr Sierra GK, usually over a heavy load of Varget (flame away!).

I use the same combination! My favorite though is the 70 grain Accubond. Unfortunately I ran out of them. New ones appear to be constructed of unobtainium.

Shoot what you can afford, just shoot the bastards, regularly!

Helping family friend mow some trails on a place that has basically been uninhabited for years and the feral pig land mines are hell on my kidneys while riding tractor!

Historically I’ve always been a fan of the 60 grain partition, and still am, but with the faster twist commonly standard in that platform I would want to play with the heavier end of the spectrum. I almost always find bullet performance on game more to my liking with heavy for cal bullets. More mass a little less speed and higher sectional density shine when penetration is desired.