Self defense loads for .223

Mine are 55gr V-max.

I don't have close neighbors or a full household to worry about secondary penetration. Also my AR is unlikely to be used for "people" defense, and much more likely to be used for "varmint" defense. My load is the Speer 55SP. Also an all purpose inexpensive load from plinking to coyotes and such. I think it would perform well as a defensive load also, with the caveat of overpenetration of walls and such.

55 V-max are fine for urban/suburban areas where you have houses close together. Random 8's choice is perfect for where he is. I have DHS 62 gr. OTM in my AR pistol currently, but I have used 55 gr. V-max, and 62 gr. Silver Bear SP for SD rounds also. V-max will go in a few inches and basically explode, but this is not a bad outcome in crowded areas. I have shot several coyotes, and my son several deer, with them and the lungs looked like jelly. There's no coming back from that.

55 gr. Wolf Gold M193 Ball.


GR

At ranges from 10 to 225 yards. The one he got at 225 did walk about 50 yards before it lay down. The lungs weren't as damaged as the ones closer in, but it still did the job. That performance was what convinced me .223 was usable for deer.

My self defense load is Winchester 64 grain PowerPoint. I live in the country and am not worried about over penetration. The reason I use them is they are very accurate in my AR and I like their performance on every animal I’ve shot, which granted isn’t much. A couple of hogs, deer and one coyote.

cdb1 said:

My self defense load is Winchester 64 grain PowerPoint. I live in the country and am not worried about over penetration. The reason I use them is they are very accurate in my AR and I like their performance on every animal I’ve shot, which granted isn’t much. A couple of hogs, deer and one coyote.

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Those are what I would use if I KNEW i didnt need to worry about over penetration. Ive killed a pile of Axis deer with those, and they will go clean thru most of the time. An axis is about as wide,or wider, shoulder to should as a person is thru the chest.
If penetration IS an issue, id be comfortable with any varmint round 50gr of heavier. Ive also killed a bunch of Axis, sheep, and goats with the 52gr AE, 55gr Vmax, and 60gr Vmax....heck i killed a fair number of axis with 40gr balistic tips.

Since Axis are not native to Hawaii can you legally hunt them at night and all year?

cdb1 said:

Since Axis are not native to Hawaii can you legally hunt them at night and all year?

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Not at night, and not during an areas "closed" season, otherwise all mammal (including Axis) hunting is open year round.
Growing up on Molokai, I probably shot one of more a week, tho there were obviously some lulls.
A fair number of those were taken with the .223, tho i cant give an accurate guess. Most were taken with "varmint" bullets, as i didnt get into the heavy speer 70s (my rem 700 was twisted 1-12) till the last year in highschool.

In Texas we can hunt them 24/7 365 days a year. My sister and BIL have them on their place and we only see them at night up until right before half-light.

My AR isn't my primary defense weapon. But I do keep 7 magazines loaded in a small sling pouch with regular 55gr FMJ 5.56.

^ sounds about like my stuff. Same loads I use for 3 gun or around the farm, 55 gn Hornady FMJ’s and TAC or xtermanator are going to be the most likely .223 round found in a mag around my house.

In my opinion load selection with a rifle is a lot less important than with a handgun. Ive seen people shot with a multitude of different types of 223/5.56 from steel case 55 grain, to varmint bullets.All showed good terminal performance as long as barriers weren't encountered.

My department uses Federal TRU with a 55 grain Sierra Gameking bullet. This is the load I use as it's a known quantity for me. The bullet expands and fragments and the base of the bullet continues on and gives good penetration.

M193 spec ammo. Or maybe 77gr otm's should thunk pretty good from 5-100 yards...


Eta: Depending on the magazines you use you may want to make sure the BT (tipped) ammo and the heavier longer projectiles seat in your magazine well. I use P mags generally speaking but other brands may be difficult to seat the different self defense loads. I know my USGI mags dont really like the 77's unless I'm very vigilant about seating them as far back as possible. Other brands may be the same way, maybe. You shouldn't have any problems, but you def have to check function and everything before hand. I'd recommend shooting at least 100rds of a new SD type ammo before trusting it. That's why I like M193 run of the mil military ammo. Simple, reliable and devastatingly lethal......not just plinking rounds like some think. They are designed to do alot of damage. Especially at short range.....

C-grunt said:

In my opinion load selection with a rifle is a lot less important than with a handgun. Ive seen people shot with a multitude of different types of 223/5.56 from steel case 55 grain, to varmint bullets.All showed good terminal performance as long as barriers weren't encountered.

My department uses Federal TRU with a 55 grain Sierra Gameking bullet. This is the load I use as it's a known quantity for me. The bullet expands and fragments and the base of the bullet continues on and gives good penetration.

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My son’s AR likes 64 grain GameKings. I think they would be excellent for HD too.

I think police and Feds like those trophy bonded bear claws and have had good success. They will fair a lil better through barriers too

My favorite loads are using 69gr & 75gr SMKs. But it’s a 223. Pretty much anything from the 40gr pills to the heavy loads will put a hurt’n on a human being.

Bought about 200 rounds of this a little while back:

https://www.luckygunner.com/223-rem-62-grain-ot-winchester-dhs-purple-casing-1000-rounds

Its DHS contract overrun, 62 gr OTM. Runs fine through my AR and point of impact doesn't change much at self defense distance from the 55gr bulk ammo I usually run through it. I had V-Max for awhile, but moved to this stuff for a little better penetration. I'd honestly feel fine with either though.

In my defensive magazines, I have Speer Gold Dot 64 and 75 Grain Bonded LE ammo. I bought a metric crap load when they were $0.35 per round many years ago on a contract over run from a LE purchase that didn't go through.

I've tested the round on hogs and they put them down and when I've recovered a round, the bonding magic is there!

Hog huntin Harry said:

How well would a 55 grain GMX preform ?

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I've never used the GMX but the 62 grain Barnes is my go to 223 for deer and hogs. I would imagine that the performance would be similar.

That being said I use the 53 grain V-Max as my home defense load specifically because it doesn't penetrate as deeply. In ballistic gel I get about 8 inches of very violent expansion with the V-Max, with the Barnes I haven't recovered a bullet from my 18 inch mold.