Thank you for contacting Daniel Defense. Daniel Defense recommends using only factory-loaded brass ammunition and experimenting with different loads to find which ones perform the most reliably and accurately. There are many types of ammunition available these days that perform very well, but here are a few that tend to produce excellent results, listed below. We do not recommend the use of steel case ammunition in any of our platforms because of the poor reliability, poor performance, and increased potential for stuck cases and increased wear and tear on the components. They are often coated with a material which can transfer to your chamber and cause poor reliability with good ammunition down the road.
Our 5.56mm NATO firearms are generally most effective with 50gr-77gr rounds.
.223/5.56mm Target/Long Range Ammunition -
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Black Hills 5.56 77gr OTM
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Prime .223 77gr OTM
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Hornady .223 75gr BTHP
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Federal .223 77gr BTHP SMK (Gold Medal)
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Federal .223 69gr BTHP SMK (Gold Medal)
.223/5.56mm Hunting Medium Sized Game (Deer/Hogs) -
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Black Hills 5.56mm 62gr TSX
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Barnes 5.56mm 62gr TSX (Vor-TX)
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Barnes 5.56mm 70gr TSX (Vor-TX)
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Hornady .223 60gr SP (American Whitetail®)
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Hornady 5.56 70gr GMX
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Federal .223 62gr SP (Fusion MSR®)
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Federal .223 64gr SP (Power-Shok®)
.223/5.56mm Plinking/Training Ammunition -
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Federal/American Eagle .223 or 5.56mm 55gr FMJ (XM193, M193, AE223)
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Federal/American Eagle .223 or 5.56mm 62gr FMJ
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Federal/American Eagle 5.56mm 62gr (XM855, M855, “Green Tip”) steel penetrators are not safe for all targets or range backstops
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PMC 55gr FMJ (X-TAC, PMC223A, Bronze Target, XP193, M193, etc)
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PMC 62 gr LAP (X-TAC, Green Tip, M855) steel penetrators are not safe for all targets or range backstops
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Fiocchi 223 55gr FMJBT (223A)
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Fiocchi 223 62gr FMJBT (223C)
Let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Have a good day.
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[–] OricaTonithos 1 point 2 points 3 points (+3|-1) ago
Yeah, steel cases are for non-enthusiasts.
It's cheaper at first glance, but a lot like washing your hands with turpentine; it'll gets looks from people that know better, and eventually it'll ruin that which is most important to you.
[–] Rellik88 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago (edited ago)
I dont like steel cased in any of my guns. Steel is so rough compared to brass. Also why I like nickel cases the most because they are the most slick. Dont think ive seen nickel cased 556 tho.
[–] H4mmish 1 point 1 point 2 points (+2|-1) ago
Nosler, Sig, and Silver State Armory make nickle cased 5.56 in addition to Hornady.
Personally, I only shoot Lake City, Hornady and FBI overruns for Factory loads in my DDM4 V9, and my own handloads using Lake City or Hornady brass.
[–] Swallow_That 1 point 1 point 2 points (+2|-1) ago (edited ago)
Hornady makes nickle plated 5.56 rounds/cases. Found some spent ones at my range last year and have reloaded them a few times since.