.223 too powerful for home defense?

Bulletski

Bulletski

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2020
Messages
61
Location
South Carolina
You always hear of the AR 15 as being a good home defense gun. I see the AR as a great self defense gun but not a gun that should be discharged in a home. The .223 is a high powered round and will go through plywood and sheet rock just as easily as it would a piece of paper.
And even the short barreled AR "pistol" guns that are in .223 seem to me to be way over powered for home defense. The problem of course being the bullet going through walls and into a neighbor's house.

As to what constitutes better choices for home defense is a moot point and I'm not looking to get into that here. Just that it seems to me the .223 is too much for an inside the house defense caliber.
Am I wrong?
 
www.theboxotruth.com

.223 hollow point penetration

I have heard a .223 rifle loaded with hollow point ammunition recommended as a home defense gun. Aside from its other virtues, the bullet is supposed to shatter easily on contact with typical house walls. If true, this would avoid the risk of hitting an innocent person outside. Have you...
www.theboxotruth.com www.theboxotruth.com
 
v8stang289 said:
Obviously it depends on the ammunition used, but I seem to remember seeing some tests being done where .223 had less interior wall penetration than 45acp and 9mm.
Maybe it was "box of truth" that did the tests?
Anyone else recall?
Click to expand...
Yes, he was using V-Max bullets to achieve the low penetration.

V-Max Wall 1 front:
tn-VMax-Wall1-Front.jpg


v-Max Wall 1 rear:
tn_VMaxWall1Back.jpg


V-Max Wall 2:
tn-VMax-Wall2.jpg


V-Max Wall 3:
tn-VMax-Wall3.jpg


All images from Box-o-Truth.
 
A few years ago, I watched a video supposedly put together by a former spec-ops military guy. He setup a test environment where he had an interior wall with no insulation and just sheetrock, then 10' past that or so was an exterior wall with insulation, sheetrock and exterior covering (can't remember if it was brick or plank boards). A few feet past the exterior wall was a human gelatin form. Regardless, from behind the interior wall he tested an AR-15 with HP ammo, a 12 ga shotgun with 00 buck, and a 9mm with HP ammo. The only one that didn't penetrate the gelatin was the 9mm HP.

Based on the tests, he recommended a 9MM HP round configured in a SBR or AR-style pistol... this was before the ATF brace ban. I thought and still think this is good information for anyone who lives in a neighborhood and has the potential to be in close proximity to other humans or pets outside their home.

If you live in the country without anyone or anything nearby, that changes the game and gives you more options.
 
Bulletski said:
You always hear of the AR 15 as being a good home defense gun. I see the AR as a great self defense gun but not a gun that should be discharged in a home. The .223 is a high powered round and will go through plywood and sheet rock just as easily as it would a piece of paper.
And even the short barreled AR "pistol" guns that are in .223 seem to me to be way over powered for home defense. The problem of course being the bullet going through walls and into a neighbor's house.

As to what constitutes better choices for home defense is a moot point and I'm not looking to get into that here. Just that it seems to me the .223 is too much for an inside the house defense caliber.
Am I wrong?
Click to expand...
Spend some time researching and watching videos comparing penetration of various .223, 9mm, .45 ACP, buckshot etc rounds. You may find it enlightening. In a nutshell, they all penetrate too much for it to not be a concern, and in many cases, pistol or shotgun rounds penetrate further, in various building materials, than does .223/5.56.
 
Bulletski said:
The .223 is a high powered round and will go through plywood and sheet rock just as easily as it would a piece of paper.
Click to expand...

LOL, I have a pellet gun that will go through sheetrock. My NAA mini revolver in .22 lr will go through sheetrock. Buckshot will go through sheetrock. You are going to have trouble find much that is centerfired that won't go through sheetrock. Bunches of people get shot on the other side of walls with comparatively low powered pistol calibers like 9mm and .45 acp. Sheetrock should not even be considered as a standard. It is concealment, not cover.

High powered? It is one of the lowest powered centerfire rifle cartridges in common use. https://backfire.tv/chart-of-all-rifle-calibers-in-order-and-their-power/

Oh, and you don't want to take Joe Biden's advice and just use a 12 ga. shotgun. It has about 150% to 250% the power of the "high powered" .223. Even a little .20 gauge can have more power than the .223.

Bulletski said:
Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

For you? No. For anyone else, quite possibly so.

If you live in a paper house, a pellet rifle may be too much. It is all relevant to a particular situation, not to a particular caliber. You and your situation have ZERO bearing on me in my situation or anyone else's situation. A buddy of mine lives in a 12,000 sq ft. home, brick, on several hundred acres. It is 2/3 of a mile from his front door to the road. He feels his .308s are adequate for his home defense. Who are you to say he is wrong?
 
Charlie98 said:
Actually, I can't think of any cartridge or gauge I would want to discharge indoors without ear protection...
Click to expand...

Well, a carbine length .357 Mag./158 gr. is not too bad.

Would think a subsonic carbine, either a .45 ACP/230 gr. or .40/180 gr., would be even better.

All would be effective threat-stoppers.
 
Gun-Reck said:
Well, a carbine length .357 Mag./158 gr. is not too bad.
Click to expand...

"HUH?!? WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!"

I have both a .41 Marlin, and a .45 Colt Winchester Trapper... I would NOT want to discharge either of those in the house.

FWIW, I have my 16" AR next to the bed... if I ever have to discharge it in the house, It's likely my hearing will be pretty low on the list of importance. It is what it is.
 
Charlie98 said:
"HUH?!? WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!"

I have both a .41 Marlin, and a .45 Colt Winchester Trapper... I would NOT want to discharge either of those in the house.

FWIW, I have my 16" AR next to the bed... if I ever have to discharge it in the house, It's likely my hearing will be pretty low on the list of importance. It is what it is.
Click to expand...

Have a 18.5" barreled Ruger 77/357, and it's not bad, especially compared to a 5.56 NATO.

Doesn't mean that the Mini-14 isn't loaded and ready to go, but a .40 carbine would be outstanding.
 

Why "High Powered" 5.56 NATO/.223 AR-15 Ammo is Safer For Home Defense (FBI overpenetration testing) - Prepared Gun Owners

If you listen to the mainstream media, then the standard 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington cartridges the AR-15 shoots are “high powered assault weapon” rounds that have no place in civilian hands. (I hope you are catching the sarcasm as I’m pouring it on) Yet, as we’ve discussed previously, the AR-15 is...
www.preparedgunowners.com

The major problem with .223 in a building is extreme noise.
 
As has been pointed out, just about anything can be made to penetrate multiple interior walls. City dwellers - and folks in apartments/condos especially - need to pay careful attention to bullet selection.

Put another way, I'd rather my neighbor defend himself with a frangible bullet from a .223 than with an FMJ from a 9mm.
 
Most 223/5.56 ammo, even FMJ penetrates building material less than larger caliber rifles, typical handgun rounds, buckshot or slugs. This is a common misconception. It is actually one of the safer options if you're worried about overpenetration.

Concern over muzzle blast is a real thing.
 
Bulletski said:
The .223 is a high powered round
Click to expand...
Could you define "high powered" for us? I feel like that's a term I see most often used by the news media to make a gun seem scarier. Sorta like "heavily armed, "fully loaded", "high capacity" etc. When's the last time anyone ever heard of a "lightly armed individual with a partially loaded, medium capacity, low powered rifle", in the news? :)
 
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