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Our swat team uses soft point .223 55grn (Federal I believe) and it works wonderful. I was talking with one member and he said they switched to the M4 with .223 softpoints from the MP5 because of increased stopping power and far less over penetration. According to him and the firearms detail who run the patrol rifle program, the softpoints rarely ever exit the badguys and when they do its just a few small pieces.
Does Federal make a 55gr softpoint that is not bonded? The Bonded softpoints they sell are some of the best penetrators in .223 available.
The department I metioned earlier in this thread uses Federal Tactical 62 gr as their main round and Remington 55gr soft points as their secondary.
Soft points have reduced penetration, especially in "hard" barriers and reduced ricochet potential as expounded on below. This quote is from
www.policeone.com.
The .223/5.56mm
The move away from pistol caliber carbines to the .223 Remington cartridge (military 5.56 mm) has been written about in great detail. The wide range of available bullet types for this caliber allows users to select ammo types according to their tactical needs.
In a recent Chicago-area shooting I described in Part 1, pistol and .223 rifle fire proved ineffective in penetrating the automobile sheet metal and laminate glass. The .223 bullet type deployed that day was not designed to penetrate hard barriers. While the final open-air head shot with the .223 proved immediately incapacitating, reports of numerous officer-involved shooting incidents in recent years show many took place on the street and included gunmen taking cover behind autos and other barriers.
In such situations, officers can address vehicle or barrier penetration with the Federal Tactical bonded bullet, the Hornaday TAP barrier penetrator or the recently introduced Corbon DPX solid copper round. Each of these bullets is designed to penetrate barriers with minimal deflection while retaining sufficient weight and velocity to make deep wounds. A number of federal agencies (e.g., DEA, FBI, etc.) issue the 62-grain Federal Tactical round as the primary duty load for the above reasons. The Corbon load demonstrates excellent performance against sheet metal and auto glass, losing less than 10 percent of its weight.
Yet populated, high-density locations may require the reduced penetration and ricochet potential found in more frangible projectiles, such as a 55-grain soft-point. Deploying the .223 with 55-grain soft point in a residential structure, school or workplace environment reduces the likelihood of a bullet passing through multiple walls or doors and striking an unintended person.
In addition, the .223 effectively penetrates soft body armor. This is a real consideration as violent criminals increasingly use body armor, such as the bank robbers involved in L.A.'s North Hollywood Bank shootout.