I keep a 5.56 rifle for home defense. I’ve always just bought regular old M193, and have a stock of M855 for when the STHF and I don’t know what I’ll need to be defending against.
Anyway, I always thought that with 3000fps+ rifle ammo, it was the energy transfer and tumbling bullet that did the work to stop a threat. Slow hand gun ammo needs the expanding bullet to do the work, but rifles are relying on velocity.
Having said that, there seem to be a million options now for hollow point and expanding .223/5.56 ammo, and wonder, is that just to sell ammo, or is it a real thing? The little bit of YouTube watching I’ve done shows me the wound channel from a single M193 is absolutely devastating when compared to even the strongest expanding handgun rounds.
I see value in using the same ammo for plinking and HD, the rifle is zeroed with it, and it’s cheap. What am I missing?
The advantage of a HP would be insuring that the round tumbles and fragments reducing the collateral damage from anything that makes it THROUGH the BG.
I saw some of these on the shelf one day about 5 years ago.
I intended to shoot these to see how POI was compared to 55 grain FMJ. I never got around to it and probably won’t because I’ve never seen them on the shelf again. Target Sports has them for $1.20/round, so don’t see me buying any more.
With that said, my belief/thoughts about 223/5.56 bullets is they tumble on impact as long as the impact is not at a 90 degree angle. The odds of hitting something/somebody at exactly a 90 degree angle is pretty slim in my opinion. Even if you did, the velocity going straight thru will be brutal, IMHO.
In my personal opinion you are not missing anything. A couple of years ago I started training with my SD round of choice (Hornady Critical Defense or Duty) my physical ability isn’t what it used to be so now I try to keep my range practice as close as possible so I can focus on my range goals.
I use black hills 556 50 gr tsx optimized swear by it. Solid copper hollow point. Gel block 16 " perfect expansion/ energy transferr. BBarrier blind, and wont fragment. My 10.5" barrel 556 , 2850 fps . I stockup on fmj 55gr and 62 gr m855 but blackhills will make short work.
The Army’s been helping bad guys to the promised land since the sixties with M193. The M855 has been helping them get for a shorter time frame but splatters Hadjis like you wouldn’t believe. So yea all I have is one or the other,just lots of each.
If you want TUI 5.56, Ft. Scott makes some. Pricey, however. With ball ammo there is a relatively high risk of a through and through shot, which could be a bad thing indoors.
It is a real thing – called “marketing.” Plain Jane .223/5.56 loads are a more than effective self-defense round. Ammo sellers (and their internet influencers they pay) just want to scare you into parting with cash.
If you are reloading, a higher twist rate in the barrel will stabilize a longer, heavier bullet. Firing the heavier bullet at a slower twist rate will render it unstable, making it more likely to tumble upon striking the target. A twist rate 0f 1:7 will stabilize a longer heavier bullet than a 1:10(+) meaning a 77 grain bullet fired out of a 1:10 twist will be more unstable than a 55 grain bullet fired from the same barrel, which will drill a neat hole in your target. Something to try if you truly desire instability.
Just use M193 ball ammunition, M855 if you just want to shoot green pointy things. The M193 was developed to allow the M16 to acheive similar ballistic performance as a .30 caliber round at 300 yards, with enough energy (108ft/lbs) to kill or incapacitate an enemy. The M855 was developed later with a tiny steel point to move the center of gravity of the projectile further back to allow firing from M16A2 and NATO rifles with a higher twist (which is what the green tip is for “use with M16A2 only”). Yada-yada-yadaaaaaaa, long story short, 5.56mm/.223 ball looks good, works fine, no need for hollow points or other embellishments designed to pick your pockets.
For my HD ARs I prefer a slower twist because I favor light weight HP bullets at high speed. These projectiles are meant to disintegrate in small light skinned game like prairie dogs and coyotes and not over penetrate. They create devastating damage on tissue and break up on impact with solid objects like wall studs and such.
The issue is that everyone likes 1:7 twist battles for ARs like we’re all shooting heavy match bullets which is silly. At 1:7 a 45gr HP thin jacket bullet is likely to self destruct after it leaves the barrel. I’ve actually seen them vanish in a puff in the way to a target. So I won’t buy anything higher than a 1:8 twist barrel and prefer 1:9 for my HD guns.
Picking SD ammo for an AR is science and requires knowledge and experimentation.
The military has been moving away from M855 for quite some time. My understanding is that due to variabilities in rifles and the bullets themselves there are stabilization issues that cause it to not reliably tumble and inflict sufficient damage at ranges closer than 50 to 25 yards. Regular old M193 seems to be a much more reliable choice. Plus it is cheaper and doesn’t mess up steel targets as much. Or you can look into some of the heavier options the military switched to after moving away from M855.
Though I actually have a mag of Federal Tactical Tru loaded in my home defense firearm. It expands impressively but still meets minimum penetration standards while being a little less likely to pass through barriers. Then I keep Speer Gold Dot ammo in my backup mags in case I need to take care of problems beyond room distance. Tests show it to reliably penetrate and expand even after passing through barriers like auto glass.
Yep, inside the house I’m with @Gene46, though I use the quicker .223 variety 50gr. TSX, though by NORMA MLE. For CQ, need the round to get up to speed so it goes SPLAT and not just leave a hole.
Also, have .223 55gr. Hornady Urban TAP and 55 gr Federal TRU LE.