For those of you running home defense ARs do you use hollow point 5.56/.223?

[GRA556]

Yup. Thousands of AR's riding in Patrol vehicles every day are loaded up with 55 gr Soft Points and "Ballistic Tip" JHP's.

We were issued either 62 or 64 grain Gold Dot SP ammo to use in our M4(s). We were prohibited from using anything other than what was issued.

[davidjinks]

Blackhills MK262 Mod 1 is what I run for my SD/HD ammo.

My back up ammo is Nosler 62 grain bonded .223 ammo.

I am looking at ammo choices for my AR Pistol that I keep at home for defense us and I wonder what you guys keep loaded and how you came to the decision. Also any links to affordable ammo for training and defense would be appreciated since I've been mostly a 9mm/.45 guy until switching platforms.

[Sugar]

I run a 10.3" barreled upper with an Eotech as my grab-and-go but I also keep a 14.5" for situations that require a bit more range. I've started stocking the Hornady Frontier 75gr BTHP 556 for HD/SD/SHTF but I've seen a lot of guys preach SP ammo out of shorter barrels for better terminal ballistics. I know Hornady also has a 62gr SP 556 in their Frontier line and i'm wondering if that might be something to keep in the 10.3".

Reading about test done with SP ammo, it seems to be more barrier blind than HP. In this thread I see a lot of guys talking about the 64gr Speer Gold Dot SP's. Any concern about having more over penetration inside a house running SP versus running HPBT?

[1168]

Overpenetration with Gold Dots is not a serious concern, in my opinion. My mags have Fusion MSR.

[GRA556]

Reading about test done with SP ammo, it seems to be more barrier blind than HP. In this thread I see a lot of guys talking about the 64gr Speer Gold Dot SP's. Any concern about having more over penetration inside a house running SP versus running HPBT?

Before I retired from my career with DHS-ICE we were being issued 62 and 64 grain Gold Dot Soft Point. They worked flawlessly in all operations and training in the Colt M4 with the 14.5” barrels and later some of the SBR(s) that we’re issued.

[Todd.K]

Don't confuse bonded soft point with regular soft points.

It's better to classify barrier blind vs fragmenting designs. Barrier blind can be bonded soft point, solid copper hollow point, partition, and tipped versions of the above as well. They all expand with minimal to no fragmentation and this is what makes them good through a barrier.

Plain soft point bullets in 62gr and up have just decent penetration, outside of barriers. They do not do well against barriers.

[Sugar]

Don't confuse bonded soft point with regular soft points.

It's better to classify barrier blind vs fragmenting designs. Barrier blind can be bonded soft point, solid copper hollow point, partition, and tipped versions of the above as well. They all expand with minimal to no fragmentation and this is what makes them good through a barrier.

Plain soft point bullets in 62gr and up have just decent penetration, outside of barriers. They do not do well against barriers.

So given the option for an in-the-house defense 10.3", regular soft points are probably a safer bet compared to a jacketed HP round.

Good to know! Guess i'll be ordering some SP rounds for my grab-n-go and leaving the 75gr BTHP for the 14.5"

[Todd.K]

Regular soft point, HP, non bonded tipped, and OTM are in the fragmenting category. The heavier 75gr and up OTM can often do reasonably well against barriers.

The barrier blind expanding category performs more consistently, with or without a barrier, and is my preference.