.223 ammo for home defense

[collateral]

what I'm looking for:
-maximum effect on the target, if I'm going to fire I want the round to drop whoever is in my sights, I practice every week, sometimes multiple times, shot placement shouldn't be a problem for me.

-poor penetration of walls.

-no over penetration on COM hits.

I'm looking for whatever should work best out of a bushmaster 16 inch M4 type rifle.

I'd like to get a few different suggestions so I can go out and try a few boxes of each out.

Right now all I have is wolf 55 grain FMJ and black hills 55 and 62 grain FMJs.

 

[RockyMtnTactical]

I use XM193 or Black Hills 68gr OTM.

These are a better choice than any standard handgun defensive load (that would be what I would consider effective) as well as shotgun rounds as far as overpenetration of soft tissue is concerned.

Walls (and penetrating them) are a wash with those other rounds when compared to .223.

I wouldn't look for any frangible rounds or anything else that would ultimately limit effectiveness of .223 on your intended target as well. Stick with proven self defense loads in this caliber. Avoid Trophy bonded bear claws or anything else made to penetrate super deep though.

 

[X_m1tanker]

I'm a master of .223. I've shot thousands of rounds and reloaded thousands. I've done penetration tests of .223 and seen firsthand terminal balistics. The best home defense round is a 12 gauge #6 shotshell, hands down. Won't go through multiple walls and will take the fight out of a bad guy when you jack the first round into the chamber. .223 will go into the neighbors house 2 houses down the street. Rifle ammo will over penetrate everytime on a miss or even on a hit the bullet still has enuff energy to kill someone behind the target. Can't have your cake and et it too...

 

[SJG26]

"I've done penetration tests of .223 and seen firsthand terminal balistics. The best home defense round is a 12 gauge #6 shotshell, hands down."

Another opinion:
http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs10.htm

For personal defense and law enforcement applications, the International Wound Ballistics Association advocates number 1 buckshot as being superior to all other buckshot sizes.

Number 1 buck is the smallest diameter shot that reliably and consistently penetrates more than 12 inches of standard ordnance gelatin when fired at typical shotgun engagement distances. A standard 2 ¾-inch 12 gauge shotshell contains 16 pellets of #1 buck. The total combined cross sectional area of the 16 pellets is 1.13 square inches. Compared to the total combined cross sectional area of the nine pellets in a standard #00 (double-aught) buck shotshell (0.77 square inches), the # 1 buck shotshell has the capacity to produce over 30 percent more potentially effective wound trauma.

 

[Buzztail]

I'm a master of .223. I've shot thousands of rounds and reloaded thousands. I've done penetration tests of .223 and seen firsthand terminal balistics.

So have These Guys. My bedside M4 is loaded with Win 64gr. PP. or TAP. I don't have to use FMJ, and it shoots well in my RRA. Since the OP asked about .223 for HD that's what I am offering- My

 

[Wopasaurus]

I have Hornady .223 TAP 55gr in mine in the closet.

 

[Zach S]

I havent tested it or anything, but I use 75 grain TAP for HD. TAP is reccomended a lot in these threads.

Since your rifle is a BM I'm assuming its a 1/9 twist. 75gr pills through a 1/9 twist bbl is a crapshoot, some shoot it very well, others not so much. Shouldnt really matter at HD ranges, but you may want to go lighter anyway.

 

[sacp81170a]

I'm a master of .223. I've shot thousands of rounds and reloaded thousands.

That's probably not a good choice of words around here... There's a few around here with a couple hundred thousand rounds on you.

The best home defense round is a 12 gauge #6 shotshell, hands down.

SJG26 beat me to the punch. The problem is finding anything with #1 buck these days. I agree that it's great stuff, but nobody seems to be making factory loads in 12 ga. anymore. I've got a few boxes of Federal #1 buck that I am now hoarding. I used a bunch in a tactical course once several years ago when you could still get it, and it was outstanding. I think Winchester may still make shells loaded with #1, but you'd probably have to special order it. On the other hand, Federal 00 Tactical with the flight control wad was giving me fist sized groups at 25 yards out of my Mossberg 590 at our shotgun quals for the PD a couple weeks ago. The chief was so impressed that he got a few boxes to evaluate. Worked great out of the department's 870's, not so good out of the short barrelled 1187. That's the way it is with shotgun rounds, ya gotta find what yours likes.

Won't go through multiple walls and will take the fight out of a bad guy when you jack the first round into the chamber.

If it won't go through multiple layers of sheet rock, it probably won't penetrate far enough to stop the fight. The sound of a pump shotgun being racked has never killed anyone. This topic has been hashed to death.

.223 will go into the neighbors house 2 houses down the street. Rifle ammo will over penetrate everytime on a miss or even on a hit the bullet still has enuff energy to kill someone behind the target.

Every time you make an absolute statement on this board, you should be prepared to eat your words...

There are plenty of situations where .223 is a good option for HD. In an inner city apartment, maybe not so good. In a rural setting it may be the best option. We have different calibers and cartridges for the same reason we have different size wrenches and screwdrivers. Choose the tool that fits the best.

 

[csmkersh]

I recently bought 250 rounds of #4 buckshot for my 12 guage. For the 20, I'd have to settle on #3 buck. No. 1 buck is good, but if you really need to put 'em down, slug is better. Me? I recommend 7½ shot for in the house. YMMV.
​

 

[briansmithwins]

Mine is loaded with 50 gr Nosler ballistic-tips with thin jackets. They shoot to the same POI as my practice 55gr load out to 100 yards. They should be the least penetrating of pretty much any available ammo that has a hope of being effective (#6 shot not included).

BSW

 

[hankdatank1362]

I'm a master of .223.

Really?

.223 will go into the neighbors house 2 houses down the street. Rifle ammo will over penetrate everytime on a miss or even on a hit the bullet still has enuff energy to kill someone behind the target.

Hmm. I figured a "master" of .223 would have known that those old notions and myths have been disproven for years, with 9mm FMJ actually overpenetrating more than 5.56 NATO/.223 Rem.

 

[riverdog]

I'm not a master of the .223, but don't confuse over-penetrate the target with miss the target. 5.56 XM193 at HD distance should yaw and fragment, and not over-penetrate at all -- don't miss.

As for shotguns: I bought some Federal 12 ga 2 3/4" 1 Buck (20 pellets) less than a year ago. For most HD (home interior) anything from 00 to 4 Buck should do fine although all will penetrate sheetrock walls -- again, don't miss. #6 shot probably won't penetrate enough, although it will hurt a lot and may eventually kill the perp, it's still just birdshot.

 

[Onmilo]

I normally select FMJ bullets for defense shooting but inside a building my choice is the 50 grain hollowpoint out of a 1-9" twist barrel.
Results are awesome and ricochet and excessive penetration probability is greatly reduced.
Always remember to keep a pair of ear plugs or muffs, (I like Wolf Ears) on or near the defensive rifle used for in building defense.
You won't be very effective if you burst your eardrums with your own weapon.

 

[Geronimo45]

55gr HPs. Or a bayonet, if you're inclined to go medieval.

 

[pgeleven]

i feel the best home defense round is a CCI Shotshell (45ACP for mine, but any caliber will do, shooters preference). personally, im not a morning person and i feel that realistically, if i were to be woken at night by an intruder, my eyes may not be on their best game. i cant say if i could properly aim in the darkness given that situation, and who is to say its just one person? i could empty the mag on one guy just trying to hit him, and be totally screwed when his buddies pop around the corner. so i would much rather pepper him with a few hundred little ball bearings from 2 shots rather than have a HP round fly out my sliding glass door and cause a collateral injury/death on a neighbor. less stress on aiming and whats behind the target makes me sleep better.

 

[Jacka L Ope]

The problem is finding anything with #1 buck these days. I agree that it's great stuff, but nobody seems to be making factory loads in 12 ga. anymore.

Not many do but here's a link to some Winchester & Remington. Decent price too.

http://cheaperthandirt.com/1_ceha.htm

 

[sacp81170a]

As for shotguns: I bought some Federal 12 ga 2 3/4" 1 Buck (20 pellets) less than a year ago.

riverdog:

Where did you buy and can I get some? Federal doesn't even list it in their catalog anymore.

Back on topic, M193 ball (55 gr) generally will yaw and fragment at ranges less than 150-200 meters. IIRC, the critical velocity is somewhere around 2600 fps, give or take. Depending on the length of your barrel you'll drop under the critical velocity at roughly those ranges. Once that happens, you will definitely overpenetrate a human body. Inside the house range is plenty close enough for fragmentation to occur, thus lessening the chances of overpenetration and enhancing the chances of stopping the attack.

A note on the 45 ACP shot shells: good for stopping a snake, not so good for stopping a person. If you've ever patterned shot from a rifled barrel, even one as short as a pistol, you wouldn't put any confidence in stopping an attacker. More likely you'll just make him mad.

Jacka L Ope:

Thanks for the link. I looked for some a while back but wasn't able to find any. Hope the Winchester and Remington pattern as well out of my 590 as the Federal does.

 

[kBob]

Darn it I keep promisisng to make my self a canned response to these things ......

I started using yea olde Remington 55 grain JSP about three decades ago because .....wait for it....I found it did not penitrate as well as M193 ball against a house trailor (used a real trailor) or wooden barrackades and it did even more wonderous things to water filled jugs and paint cans than M193.

ABout half that time back I had a discussion with Dr Martin Fackler where in in those early 1990'2 days he opined that in his direct personal experience based on reviewing autopsies and photos and x rays from autopsies the JSP did more appearent damage to humans than M193.

Split that in half and yea verily Marshall and Sanows numbers from "Stopping Powere; A Practical Analysis of the Latest Handgun Ammunition" look at .223 from Carbines and rifles as well. Regretably there is no notation of barrel length in the tables I have so no saying what performance of brand X is in a 10.5 inch "pistol barrel" verses a 20 service rifle or what twist. Still not a bad set of numbes to look at. That old Remington 55 grain only penitrated an average of 8.7 inches of human flesh, BUT produced 92 percent one shot stops. Not bad for a three decade old design.

The best performer on humans that prodused an average person penitration of less than 10 inches was the Federal 40 grain which while it penitrated 9.8 inches on average gave a one shot stopping performance of 96 percent.

Things that fell between those two on one shot stops and gave less than ten inches average penitration
included:

Winchester 52 grain
WInchester 64 Grain PP
Federal 52 grain match
Winchester 55 grian JSP (conditional as it is 10.3 inches of penitration on average)
Federal 62 Grain JHP

All but the Winchester and Remington JSP loads typically fragmented and those two broke in two pieces

FOr comparision Winchesters M193 clone for Civilians penitrated 12.3 inches of people on average and only gave 83 percent stops.

SS109 62 grainish turned in an impresive 96 percent stops, but with 15.7 inches of average penitration sort of fails the COM overpenitration test you are looking for.

In Carbine class taught by Bill Geans (who wrote the police carbine standards for a number of western states including California) he told us that in the states he wrote those standards for there had been zero reports of .223 rounds escaping the structure they were fired in by police. Notice that is the entire structure, not room to room nor did he indicate how many of the shots failed to pass through a human.

Penitration of interior walls is something to be addressed in your home defense plan. WHether you use a .22short or a Barrett Light Fifty you need to follow that old guideline of being sure of your back stop.

Think about what I have written but remember, .... I am not an x-spurt.

In the end YOU live with the decisions YOU make.

-Bob Hollingsworth

 

[glockman19]

IF you're going to use a .223 for HD/SD then I'd use Remington 45 grain Hollow points.

 

[briansmithwins]

Just to add:

I've talked to local PD about what they use in their rifles, the light varmint rounds they use 'generally drop them with one hit'.

BSW

 

[pgeleven]

well i would hope the PD could drop a guy with one hit with a rifle. our county had a marksman/sniper takedown a few months ago and the community is still b*tching about it. thanks for the reminder :-(

 

[Vicious-Peanut]

I keep my Mini-14 loaded with 55 grain soft points.

 

[Frog48]

I'm a master of .223.

Hahaha, you're kidding right?

 

[blackhawk2000]

If you really want people to think you are a "master", maybe you shouldn't go around reccomending an ineffective round such as #6 birdshot.

 

[pgeleven]

maybe a 10/22 carbine for home defense with these? 35 of these in a mag will keep a platoon out of your house. as long as this topic keeps coming up we may as well be creative and innovative