Federal American Eagle ammunition is a great buy, especially if you’re looking for a highly reliable, accurate, low-cost round that will perform well under most circumstances. As much is true for the American Eagle .223 FMJ that you can find at the previous link.
It is reliable, accurate, consistent in most if not all .223 platforms, affordable, and made with non-corrosive propellants and primers as well as reloadable brass cases.
With that said, here are some great uses for this ammo - along with some that are not the best.
Teaching New Shooters
One of the best things about this cartridge, and this round specifically, is that it produces such little recoil. As things go, this American Eagle .223 is one of the best out there for training new shooters.
Because the ammo is so affordable, you won’t sweat burning through a lot of it teaching new shooters, and on top of that, the low recoil and muzzle pop are unintimidating, making it a great round for teaching the inexperienced.
Drilling and Training
This is all about low-cost, reliability, accuracy, and consistency. You drill to improve proficiency, accuracy, handling, and performance. If your ammo isn’t as consistent as is reasonably achievable, you’re drilling for nothing. You’ll be well-served by this American Eagle .223.
Intermediate-Range Competitive Shooting
If you have a need for a high-quality, extremely accurate and consistent .223 round for intermediate competition - such as 3-gun, it’ll be hard to do better than this American Eagle round. Few other rounds if any offer the same combination of performance and accuracy at such a competitive price point. While there might be other better options for long-distance shooting, this is an excellent bet for anything at close to intermediate ranges.
Any Other High-Volume Target Shooting
Low-cost and reliability are the name of the game here, and this American Eagle .223 is a top-choice for high-volume target shooting. Whether you’re simply enjoying range therapy in the form of burning brass or are actually drilling or training, if what you’re doing requires a lot of pulling the trigger, the competitive price point of this round makes it a top contender, perhaps the best in the industry. Bonus points for the fact that you can reload the brass, keeping costs down further (this makes it better than steel-cased alternatives, which are also competitively priced but which are not reloadable).
Here’s one more pro-tip to keep costs down even further at the range: load all of your magazines beforehand and invest in a speed loader so you can spend more time at the bench shooting and less time stuffing cartridges into your mags.
When You Should Look Elsewhere
With all of this being said, there are instances in which this American Eagle .223 is not going to be the best choice. If you need ammo for any of the following three disciplines, there are better rounds out there than this.
Defensive Applications
This American Eagle .223 might be consistent and accurate, but it is a terrible option for defensive applications. This is not an issue with Federal, but with the fact that this is a full metal jacket round. These are designed for stability and accuracy, not for disruption. These bullets will not expand inside a target, and worse, will produce a much higher risk of overpenetration. If your .223 rifle is a defensive gun, stick with soft point or hollow point bullets.
Hunting
This .223 round is not suitable for hunting for the very same reasons that it’s not suitable for defensive applications. One, it produces a huge risk of over-penetration, and two, it is not designed for expansion inside the target, so it will not ethically dispatch game. As a result, in this situation you should also stick with a cartridge loaded with soft point or hollow point bullets. The only situation in which it might make a good choice is for varmint control, if you’re more concerned about cost and accuracy than about ethical dispatch. A .223 round is more than enough to drop prairie dogs and other similar critters, anyway. Still, they’re not ideal - just be conscious of over penetration and make sure you’re in line with all regulations. Most would say that FMJ should not go into the field and as a general rule we agree.
Long-Range Shooting (with a Caveat)
So here’s the thing. This American Eagle .223 is an excellent, accurate round, and it will perform well at long ranges, but there are better options for really distant shots - like pushing 1000 yard territory.
While this is a good caliber (and a good round) a better option for long-range target shooting and competition would be open-tip match-grade ammo like Federal Gold Metal Match.
OTM, or open tip match ammo is made with special bullets that exhibit peerless radial symmetry, for exceptional accuracy over greater distances. Therefore, these might be better for those really far shots wherein extra accuracy is necessary.
Still, this FMJ ammo isn’t a bad choice. There just might be better options.
Stock Up on This American Eagle .223 FMJ Ammo
Ready to restock your ammo cans for the range. Pick up some of these Federal ammo here and save - and make sure to check out our other sales and police trade-in specials while you’re here.