.223 ammo for home defense

[macadore]

This is one of the more interesting threads on THR. The people recommending handgun shot shells are jerking everyone’s’ chains. As a callow youth, I once shot a 44 mag shot shell at an old tire from about 10 feet. The pellets bounced back and splattered all over me. They didn’t break the skin or even leave marks. They did sting but not as much as the angst over my stupidity. I later shot one at a paper target. It made a large donut pattern. Anyone with any experience shooting these cannot be serious about using them for self defenses against anything but snakes at close ranges.

So far the .223 recommendations have been that it should not be used because it penetrates too much and that it should not be used because it does not penetrate enough. I have to believe the .223 varmint round would be very effective for close range defense. The 13 inch penetration recommendation was for hand guns which don’t have enough energy to do anything but punch small holes in things. A .223 that purees several cubic inches of body parts would have to cause more bleeding/trauma/shock than any handgun round leisurely passing through the body.

 

[sacp81170a]

The real argument over whether to use .223 in my mind shouldn't be over too much penetration as it should be over "what happens to the rounds that miss everything and go flying off into the wild blue yonder"? There is a real difference between using shotgun rounds with a rainbow trajectory that likely won't travel more than a couple hundred meters and rifle cartridges that can easily travel 600 to 1,000 meters and still be lethal. That's a huge difference.

The scenario of being inside one's home reduces the chances of having a round "flying free" to almost nil, but the possibility still exists. If you're uncomfortable with that, feel free to use whatever (effective) tool meets your needs.

Given Bartholomew's excellent post, it looks like the Federal LE 223 tactical in 62gr BSP gives the most consistent overall performance against intermediate obstacles (with a single exception where it still came in second and penetrated adequately). Looks like I'm gonna be shelling out some bucks for some in the near future. That said, my earlier point about the fragmentation characteristics of .223 ammo at close ranges still holds true. Given no choice, I'd say that 55gr FMJ is still a good general purpose HD round.

 

[Mannlicher]

Ever stop and think about how ludicrous it is to pick a Home Defense platform and load based on the least effective combinatin you can find. Using 'over penetration' and 'what happens to the bullet if you miss' as your main criteria, will result in a reduced capability for stopping the bad guy.
If shotguns and birdshot were the most effective thing you could use in CQB, then the troops in Iraq would be issued that instead of an M4.

Without advising anyone, and without caring how many shotgun fans bleat "bird shot", I use an AB with a red dot sight, and WW white box 45 grain HP for HD.

 

[RockyMtnTactical]

If shotguns and birdshot were the most effective thing you could use in CQB, then the troops in Iraq would be issued that instead of an M4.

Makes me wonder why SWAT teams don't use birdshot since it is the bees knees of CQB shotgun loads... Why the hell do they even make Buckshot??

 

[jakeswensonmt]

.223 ammo for home defense

Black Hills 55's.

Fact is I wouldn't use an AR for HD.

Not all HD is shooting a BG 10 feet away in your hallway. Think post-Katrina rooftop.