C-grunt
Member
Lots of nonsense in this thread.
Due to my job history (4 years as an Army Infantryman with two tours in Iraq and coming up on 8 years in patrol as a cop for a major metro city) Ive seen my fair share of people shot with the 5.56 and the 7.6x39.
As much bad publicity as M855 gets Ive never seen a failure with it nor has my brother in law who was a Marine Infantryman in Fallujah. Ive seen some seriously nasty wounds created by it out to several hundred yards. M193 and its copies are reported to fragment better and more reliably. Ive only seen a few people shot with 55 grn and all were dead. One dude was missing a large amount of his head.
As far as penetration goes Ive never found M855 to be lacking. Ive shot up several buildings and vehicles with it and I can tell you being inside either would not be a good time.
My department issues a 55 grn hollow point made by Federal as our duty 223. We have never had a failure with this round when getting a torso or head shot. Ive also never seen a bad guy move away from where he was shot either. The Homicide detectives joke that it makes their job easier as they dont have to trace the bad guys path as they always are still at the location where they were shot.
Ive also seen the aftermath of a hostage taker shot with a heavy weight 223 (cant remember if it was 75 grn TAP or M262) out of a Colt Commando, 11.5 inch barrel. That is an extremely lethal combo at grocery store stock room distances. I can also attest that M262 (77 grn Sierra Match King) is plenty effective out to 410 meters (map measured) even with a low shot that hits in the lower abdomen. My old team leader who is 18 series now has a confirmed kill with his Mk18 (10.3 inch barrel) out to around 400 meters using M262 as well.
As for 7.62x39 is concerned I believe its a good round but the standard FMJ isnt the best at creating devastating wounds. Dont get me wrong, its still a rifle and does way more damage than a handgun, but compared to M855 I felt it was inferior. Ive seen several Iraqi police and military guys shot with x39 and the wounds were less than I expected. I assume its because the round has late yawing and doesnt fragment.
Ive yet to see a good deforming round in x39 used on a person or animal, as far as I know, but looking at the ballistics I would say it should similar to a 30-30. Thats nothing to sneeze at.
As to the original poster. For self defense I choose 5.56 but that has way more to do with having used the AR platform professionally my entire adult life. If I was stuck with using FMJ it would be 5.56 using M193 all the way. If you plan on buying self defense ammo than either will be more than enough at self defense ranges.
Due to my job history (4 years as an Army Infantryman with two tours in Iraq and coming up on 8 years in patrol as a cop for a major metro city) Ive seen my fair share of people shot with the 5.56 and the 7.6x39.
As much bad publicity as M855 gets Ive never seen a failure with it nor has my brother in law who was a Marine Infantryman in Fallujah. Ive seen some seriously nasty wounds created by it out to several hundred yards. M193 and its copies are reported to fragment better and more reliably. Ive only seen a few people shot with 55 grn and all were dead. One dude was missing a large amount of his head.
As far as penetration goes Ive never found M855 to be lacking. Ive shot up several buildings and vehicles with it and I can tell you being inside either would not be a good time.
My department issues a 55 grn hollow point made by Federal as our duty 223. We have never had a failure with this round when getting a torso or head shot. Ive also never seen a bad guy move away from where he was shot either. The Homicide detectives joke that it makes their job easier as they dont have to trace the bad guys path as they always are still at the location where they were shot.
Ive also seen the aftermath of a hostage taker shot with a heavy weight 223 (cant remember if it was 75 grn TAP or M262) out of a Colt Commando, 11.5 inch barrel. That is an extremely lethal combo at grocery store stock room distances. I can also attest that M262 (77 grn Sierra Match King) is plenty effective out to 410 meters (map measured) even with a low shot that hits in the lower abdomen. My old team leader who is 18 series now has a confirmed kill with his Mk18 (10.3 inch barrel) out to around 400 meters using M262 as well.
As for 7.62x39 is concerned I believe its a good round but the standard FMJ isnt the best at creating devastating wounds. Dont get me wrong, its still a rifle and does way more damage than a handgun, but compared to M855 I felt it was inferior. Ive seen several Iraqi police and military guys shot with x39 and the wounds were less than I expected. I assume its because the round has late yawing and doesnt fragment.
Ive yet to see a good deforming round in x39 used on a person or animal, as far as I know, but looking at the ballistics I would say it should similar to a 30-30. Thats nothing to sneeze at.
As to the original poster. For self defense I choose 5.56 but that has way more to do with having used the AR platform professionally my entire adult life. If I was stuck with using FMJ it would be 5.56 using M193 all the way. If you plan on buying self defense ammo than either will be more than enough at self defense ranges.
