I live in an suburb and am surrounded by houses built with plastic cladding and drywall.
To try and keep my problems from becoming my neighbors problems my rifle is loaded with 50gr V-max varmint bullets. Those start falling apart when they hit anything and produce shallow, explosive wounds.
BSW
I strongly disagree with that. 55 grain blitz kings have accounted for 6 deer per season by my nieces for the last 7 years. Not one of them got away.
That's why this is a forum. I have my opinion based off my experience. You have yours.You can disagree all you want, but if you called Sierra about their Blitz Kings or Hornady about their VMax bullets and would they be a good choice for deer size game or duty use I am 100% sure they would direct you to a bullet designed to penetrate a lot deeper.
Glad you are not losing deer with these rounds, and people have lost game with proper bullets for whatever reason, but the fact is that these bullets are NOT proper for this type of purpose.
They are designed to explosively fragment on impact and not penetrate...this is the opposite of the design for a SD or large game hunting round.
MK 262 fragments on hitting the target, but still usually has 1 or more fragments that penetrate more deeply than varmint rounds.
Here is an article on the subject of defensive 5.56mm/.223 ammo. 75 and 77 OTM rounds are the first choice if barrier penetration is NOT desired AND you have at least a 1 in 9" twist.
I will say that most .223 or 5.56mm loads should work fine, with the exception of varmint loads (unless possibly out of a very short AR "pistol" or SBR), or M855 out of short barrels.
John
I thought that way too, until the Minneapolis Riots. Fortunately, my hunting round is exactly what you describe. The AR is also kept nearby with my .45 ACP and 12 ga.
I'm going to say that using a lightweight varmint bullets is about like using shotgun birdshot for home defense. Any gun is better than none, but if one is going to take the time and thought to make a deliberate choice for home defense, I would like something that can expect to penetrate more than 6 in. There's a whole lot of difference between a 40-lb 'yote and an aggressor.
if you want to test it out, just get some milk jugs and fill them full of water. If you can't penetrate over three milk jugs full of water, your round doesn't have enough penetration for SD. OTOH, if you penetrate more than 5, that's too much.
but what 55g bullets are better than M193?
What works well on deer will work well against human threats
I'm going to say that using a lightweight varmint bullets is about like using shotgun birdshot for home defense.
Best bullet for 5.56 self defense?
My choice for my AR HD rifle is 62gr Nosler Defense. At the very least the bad guy is going to take a knee, put a hand up and ask me to STOP!View attachment 925521
Except birdshot even at contact distance does not introduce hydrostatic shock. All a V-max or similar bullet has to do is punch through a rib or the sternum at SD distances, and instant jelly. They do it on deer at 200 yards, don't know why they wouldn't do it on a human at 10 yards, even with the thicker bones.I'm going to say that using a lightweight varmint bullets is about like using shotgun birdshot for home defense.
#7 1/2 birdshot at 10 feet penetrates just under 6", and creates a very wide wound...almost exactly like T223D (40 gr), though of course the .223 isn't as velocity/range sensitive. LOL!Wait..what? Did you compare a high velocity rifle round to birdshot? There are several loads of 223 using a 40gr Ballistic Tip bullet with muzzle velocities at or greater than 3800FPS. If that were to hit a human body, the tissue damage would be horrifying. Unless of course you were comparing to a 12g bird shot wound at POINT BLANK condition?? If that’s what you meant...than sure..I agree, LOL!
The V-Max, and most lightly constructed high speed loads, would be more effective at 200 yards on larger game/targets than at HD ranges, due to velocity loss causing less fragmentation and deeper penetration.Except birdshot even at contact distance does not introduce hydrostatic shock. All a V-max or similar bullet has to do is punch through a rib or the sternum at SD distances, and instant jelly. They do it on deer at 200 yards, don't know why they wouldn't do it on a human at 10 yards, even with the thicker bones.
I understand the attempted analogy, but it isn't quite that bad.
Thanks for posting that link BigBL87, I just ordered some also!
Doesn't this depend on what SD scenario you need the AR for? Noise upstairs in middle of night, live in an apartment or pretty 'soft' house? Or live in the country and see a bunch of yahoos in a pickup truck bent on breaking down your gate and stealing your (whatever)???I typically just load my AR with M193 55g FMJ, but was wondering if I want to switch to a different bullet that might be more effective. I think I want to stay with a 55g bullet if possible, at M193 velocity, so point of impact would be hopefully about the same.
Looks like most ammo sources are pretty dry right now, but what 55g bullets are better than M193?
Mk 262 is more effective at almost everything, except barrier penetration. A bit of research, and perhaps a moderate bit of testing, should allow any reasonably intelligent member to cover all bases with 2 rounds.Doesn't this depend on what SD scenario you need the AR for? Noise upstairs in middle of night, live in an apartment or pretty 'soft' house? Or live in the country and see a bunch of yahoos in a pickup truck bent on breaking down your gate and stealing your (whatever)???
More effective dong what?