1) depends. Top ranked loads include in no particular order: 77TMK from Black Hills, Fusion MSR 62gr, Gold Dot 75gr, Barnes 70gr, Federal FBI T3, Ranger Bonded 64gr, and Barnes 50gr. I would suggest doing a Google search of those to start, and then choose how deep down the rabbit hole you wish to go. My HD mags have Fusion MSR in them; you might arrive at a different conclusion.
2) If I remember correctly, the shortest necks I have seen in amateur videos has been the 77TMK and the Gold Dot 75gr. No neck. All of the loads I listed in (1) have acceptably short necks. Nothing like M855. Andrew at The Chopping Block youtube channel does tests of most available AR ammo, and appears to do so reasonably well, but with small sample sizes.
3) Fusion 62gr expands to 190% at 1700fps. No idea what it does at less than that. There are several other loads that will work at 1800-2000, such as the 77gr TMK, any of the Gold Dots, and at least some of the TSX’s.
5) I’m not sure anyone, including the .Mil has a perfect answer for this. I suspect that with 5.56, its somewhere on the spectrum of 12.5”-16” and suppressors, optics, training, and tactics can invalidate that answer. I’ve arrived at the conclusion that 16” would actually work pretty well for a general issue infantry carbine. Then again, so does a 14.5”.
RLTW
Former Action Guy
Disclosure: I am affiliated PRN with a tactical training center, but I speak only for myself. I have no idea what we sell, other than CLP and training. I receive no income from sale of hard goods.
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