AR15 home defense ammo

[breakingcontact]

I read about lots of guys going away from the shotgun to the AR for home defense.

What type of ammo is suggested? If you don't have a specific load, what type of round and what weight?

 

[X-Rap]

I use 55gr Ballistic Tips over 25gr H335. They will shoot straight until they hit something and then pretty much come apart. They have to travel a long way and shed a lot of energy before they won't perform well.
I can only speak of actual performance with 4 legged varmints but it is generally spectacular.

 

[gotigers]

Are you worried about wall penetration? Yes: Black Hills 77gr OTM 5.56 (MK262). No: Black Hills 50gr TSX, 62-64 JSPs.

What length barrel do you have?

google Doctor Gary Roberts. He has done some serious research in this over the last decade.

 

[Torian]

I prefer 75 grain BTHPs. I use PRVI Match load in .223.

 

[rcmodel]

55 grain Hornady V-Max or Nosler Ballistic Tip.

See Hornady law enforcement TAP Gelatins tests for performance comparisons in ballistic jell.

http://www.hornadyle.com/products/rifle-ammunition/223-remington/55-gr-tap-urban

rc

 

[CoRoMo]

Heavy Hornady TAP.

And a suppressor.

 

[sgtstryker]

55 grain Remington HP's. They work good on armadillers, too. It seems I have a lot of the Remmy's left over from when I shot armadillos with my Contender carbine. They are available, function in my AR and are 55 grains. The V-max is surely a better round for a home defense gun, for the reasons stated and proved out by studies.

 

[gotigers]

55 grain Remington HP's. They work good on armadillers, too.

lol, It is all i could find a few months back. As soon as my SBR stamp comes in, i will spend time testing some better SD rounds.

 

[breakingcontact]

Just talking typical carbine use.

So a hollow point or open tip is about all you need? I figured it would take some sort of frangible or ballistic tip.

 

[X-Rap]

I think that if you study up much the frangible bullets like the BTips or VMax have the lowest chance of passing through multiple layers of wall but are quite devastating upon impact to flesh.
I would not say that all hollow pts will perform the same.

 

[rcmodel]

Yes.

You put a double tap of 55 grain HP, SP, or BT varmint or hunting loads in Attila the Huns chest and he will assume the Dying Cockroach position, DRT.

rc

 

[SpentCasing]

I trust my family's lives to Hornady TAP.

 

[Art Eatman]

IMO, "defense" means pretty much up close and personal. Probably inside of twenty yards. Inside the house, maybe twenty feet at most.

Based on my autopsies of several coyotes and a bunch of jackrabbits, any .223 ammo will do just fine. That puts me in accord with rcmodel.

 

[wnycollector]

I use PRVI Match load in .223

Same here.

Below is some data from Dr. Gary Roberts, on the terminal ballistic properties of the Prvi Partizan 75 grain OTM load.

Privi Partizan 75 gr OTM

Velocity: 2468 fps from a 16" 1:7” twist barrel

penetration in bare ballistic gel: 12.6"

neck length: 0.8”

maximum temporary cavity: 3.2” at a depth of 4.7”

recovered diameter: 0.36”

recovered length: 0.15”

recovered weight: 30.1gr

percentage of fragmentation: 60%


The “ballistic neck” length or initial upset depth is a critical component in evaluating the terminal ballistic properties of a round of ammunition. It is the length that the bullet travels in the body before it begins to upset (expand, yaw/fragment.) Keep in mind that on an average adult male, the surface of the heart is roughly 1.5” below the surface of the chest. Basically, the shorter the ballistic neck, the better.

 

[jerkface11]

55gr HPs repeat as needed.

 

[allaroundhunter]

I like my Hornady TAP. Currently use 75 gr, but I will probably drop back to 55 gr when it becomes more available.

 

[gotigers]

Everything read leads me to think that heavy OTMs (Black Hills MK262, Hornady 75gr tap) are the way to go for non barrier blind. They work close or further out, long or short barrel.

 

[PabloJ]

Please do not kill any trees.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

For home defense?

M193 55gr FMJ.

Video of typical terminal performance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOYPxiRldaE&lc

It's what I use for "inside" the home.

For "outside" the home in situations where I may have to shoot into autos I handload Nosler 60gr Partition JSP.

For a one-size fits all general purpose cartridge, then I suggest Black Hills 50gr Barnes TSX (FYI: the bullet used in the Black Hills load is NOT the same as the 50gr TSX bullet offered by Barnes as a reloading component).

 

[gotigers]

There are better choices over M193 for inside the home.

http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2008Intl/Roberts.pdf

http://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/ballistic_gel_experiments/btammolabstest6/test6.htm

http://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/DocGKRData/223%20Barrier%20Rounds.htm

 

[JShirley]

Most .223 is not highly penetrative in tissue.

If you want super-low penetration, something like the Federal American Eagle 50-grain HP has dramatic fragmentation and minimal penetration- many would say it doesn't have enough. Personally, I'm willing to take the chance of needing to fire twice- which I tend to do by training anyway- instead of risking overpenetrating an attacker.

John

 

[jmr40]

Any 50-62 gr softpoint. I don't think it matters much exactly which one. I'd still feel better with a SP round even though I know FMJ 223 ammo at that speed probably won't overpenetrate that badly.

 

[gotigers]

good read with lots of good SP loads.

http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19881

 

[Dr.Rob]

Winchester 55 gr soft point. Barring that, Prvi M193.

I have a bunch of 55 gr ballistic tips developed for varminting in a single shot, but I haven't run them through my AR. I'd rather trust ammo I KNOW is reliable and accurate.

 

[jim243]

Use these, no over penetration, no lead, no problem.

Jim

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/93...ain-barnes-rrlp-frangible-lead-free-box-of-20