View Full Version : Home Defense ammo - .223 vs. 5.56 ? Please rank my on-hand loadings.
I have some AR ammunition on hand and have no idea if any of it is necessarily great for home defense use.
I'm sure any of it would be better than shooting a pistol, but is any of this ammo considered very good for home defense use?
My AR is a BCM chambered in 5.56 with a 1/7 twist rifling.
Which of my available ammo would be the best for home defense?
Here's what I have... can someone rank them best-to-worst as far as personal defense use goes?
1) 5.56 Federal XM193BK 55 gr. MC-BT
2) 5.56 American Eagle XM193BL 55 gr.
3) .223 PMC 55 gr. FMJ-BT
4) .223 Black Hills 75 gr. Match HP
5) .223 Remington UMC 55 gr. MC L223R3
Is 5.56 a significantly better choice/more powerful than .223, for defense use... given the same bullet technology?
vicious_cb
11-27-15, 18:22
The Black Hill 75
This. Its not about power, its about bullet design.
OK... thanks guys. After the Black Hills, how would you rate the other ammo offerings?
Auto-X Fil
11-27-15, 20:06
What's your barrel length? 16"?
1) Black Hills
2) XM193
3) .223 55gr
Read up on 55gr FMJ fragmentation. With XM193 velocities, it does OK out of longer (14.5"+) barrels. Going to 16 or 20" buys you some additional range. It's not the best, but at close range, from a 16" barrel, XM193 is not awful. From a 10.5" barrel, or at 300m, it's real bad compared to the heavier, thin-jacket match bullets.
With commercial .223 velocities, fragmentation from even a 16" barrel only occurs reliably at very short ranges. And that assumes the bullet is designed similarly to the XM193 in terms of jacket thickness, etc. Save it for plinking.
What's your barrel length? 16"?
1) Black Hills
2) XM193
3) .223 55gr
Read up on 55gr FMJ fragmentation. With XM193 velocities, it does OK out of longer (14.5"+) barrels. Going to 16 or 20" buys you some additional range. It's not the best, but at close range, from a 16" barrel, XM193 is not awful. From a 10.5" barrel, or at 300m, it's real bad compared to the heavier, thin-jacket match bullets.
With commercial .223 velocities, fragmentation from even a 16" barrel only occurs reliably at very short ranges. And that assumes the bullet is designed similarly to the XM193 in terms of jacket thickness, etc. Save it for plinking.
Yes, 16" barrel with 1/7 twist rifling.
I also concur that the Black Hills is your best in the list. The other ammo is great for plinking, use that to get some trigger time & practice with.
Does the Black Hills 75gr. HP do effective work by mushrooming from the hollow point, by tumbling, or fragmentation?
Does the Black Hills 75gr. HP do effective work by mushrooming from the hollow point, by tumbling, or fragmentation?
Fragmentation. It's technically an open tip match, the jacket is drawn bottom up and the hole at the tip is a side effect of the process, but they fragment much more reliably than fmjs. They are great for unobstructed shots, but I prefer barriers to not be an issue.
If you want more good hd ammo grab some of this, it's fed fusion 62 gr for $10/box of 20. It's one of the best and easily available loads and this deal is a steal. It's not match ammo, but people, myself included, get about 2moa accuracy.
http://palmettostatearmory.com/catalog/product/view/id/13744/
Considering more people across the globe have been killed by FMJ ammo, it stands to reason they will be sufficient assuming you do a couple of things.
1. Keep shooting until the threat has stopped.
2. Put the rounds where they need to go.
I use a mix of Magtech 77gr. OTM ammunition and Hornady 75gr. TAP T2. Once those run out, I will be shooting FMJ like everyone else.
Considering more people across the globe have been killed by FMJ ammo, it stands to reason they will be sufficient assuming you do a couple of things.
1. Keep shooting until the threat has stopped.
2. Put the rounds where they need to go.
I use a mix of Magtech 77gr. OTM ammunition and Hornady 75gr. TAP T2. Once those run out, I will be shooting FMJ like everyone else.
So true. I have no doubt that the 55 gr. FMJ stuff can definitely stop a threat, especially when arriving on target in numbers. But having heard many accounts of the stuff zipping right through with little damage, I'm trying to sort out what is most effective of my ammo on hand.
MegademiC... thanks for that link! That is an outstanding deal indeed.
Fragmentation. It's technically an open tip match, the jacket is drawn bottom up and the hole at the tip is a side effect of the process, but they fragment much more reliably than fmjs. They are great for unobstructed shots, but I prefer barriers to not be an issue.
If you want more good hd ammo grab some of this, it's fed fusion 62 gr for $10/box of 20. It's one of the best and easily available loads and this deal is a steal. It's not match ammo, but people, myself included, get about 2moa accuracy.
http://palmettostatearmory.com/catalog/product/view/id/13744/
You've forced me to Vote BLACK HILLS to the top of a list. That's a bad statement on how poor the balance of your ammo is. 55 gr will certainly kill someone, but the 75-77 variants out there run rings around 55 FMJ.
Timely thread for me as I have been asking myself a similar question. Does the Hornady 75gr Match projectile do a similar job to the Black Hills ammo?
Sorry to the op for the slight derailment.
You've forced me to Vote BLACK HILLS to the top of a list. That's a bad statement on how poor the balance of your ammo is. 55 gr will certainly kill someone, but the 75-77 variants out there run rings around 55 FMJ.
Well my friend, thank you! This is why I started the thread. Now I know what to rely on for defense (and what to buy in the future) and what to use at the range. I appreciate the help from you folks!
So... are you saying that even the . 223 Black Hills 75 gr. Match HP isn't a very good defense load?
The 62gr. Federal Fusion MSR (linked to above), which is primarily a hunting load, I believe, with plenty of penetration and expansion, looks like it would be good defense ammo! Possibly as good as (or better than?) the 77 gr. SMK?
So... are you saying that even the . 223 Black Hills 75 gr. Match HP isn't a very good defense load?
No. It may not be the supreme pick, but it's monumentally better than any 55 gr FMJ.
The 62gr. Federal Fusion MSR (linked to above), which is primarily a hunting load, I believe, with plenty of penetration and expansion, looks like it would be good defense ammo! Possibly as good as (or better than?) the 77 gr. SMK?
I don't know a lot about the 62 gr bonded type bullets. Very good, I'm sure... and barrier-wise, possible better than the 77. But for a do all round that I can set all my zeros with, etc. The 77 can't be beat. I have bonded soft point bullets and ammo, but I don't mess with it because I'm fully dialed into the 77 match stuff.
No. It may not be the supreme pick, but it's monumentally better than any 55 gr FMJ.
I don't know a lot about the 62 gr bonded type bullets. Very good, I'm sure... and barrier-wise, possible better than the 77. But for a do all round that I can set all my zeros with, etc. The 77 can't be beat. I have bonded soft point bullets and ammo, but I don't mess with it because I'm fully dialed into the 77 match stuff.
Sounds good. Thanks for your input on that.
Both heavy otms or bonded are very good. Bonded sps are better for barriers, and are more consistent. Markm does massive amounts of long range shooting, and the otms penetrate deep and perform great, so it makes sense for him, but if you have to shoot through anything like autoglass or loaded mags, the bonded rounds perform better. You need to analyze your situation to make a decision, but both are better than m193 which does very poor on barriers and is variable on unobstructed shots, and inaccurate at distance.
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