223 and 556 Factory Ammo Choices for Accuracy and Home Defense?

[Fattygabbiee]

Hi all,

I am going to spend more time behind my 223/556 setups: KAC SR-15 E3 Mod 2 for SHTF/home defense, 20” AR15 with a 1:7 Bartlein 223 Wylde, and an upcoming 223 bolt gun with a 1:7 Bartlein or 1:8 Rock Creek.

After researching a ton of threads, I think I have a solid list of ammo for my AR15s to purchase with a focus on 100 and 200 yard paper punching groups and steel targets. Once a month I might be able to hit the 600 yard steel targets but it won’t be as consistent as the 100 and 200 yard choices.

For home defense, I belive Hornady LE 8126N - 5.56 NATO 75 gr. BTHP T2 TAP will be my only choice. The current setup is a townhome with one adjoining neighbor and the other neighbor separated by about 30 feet. I need non-barrier penetrating ammo and this seems to fit the bill.

Here's the breakdown of ammo that I plan on buying a few boxes of each to test and find out what works best for each barrel. Unfortunately I won’t be able to reload as I don’t have the equipment. Please let me know if there are any other choices I should consider.

Home Defense

• Hornady LE 8126N - 5.56x45 NATO 75 gr. BTHP T2 TAP

556x45 Accuracy Choices

• IMI 5.56x45 69g BTHP OTM SMK
• IMI 5.56x45 77g BTHP OTM SMK Razorcore
• Hornady Frontier 556x45 75g BTHP Match
• Hornady 556x45 73g ELD Match Superformance
• Hornady 556x45 75g BTHP Match Superformance

223 Accuracy Choices

• Hornady 223 Frontier 68g BTHP Match
• Hornady 223 68g and 75g Match BTHP
• Hornady 223 73g ELD Match
• Hornady 223 73g ELD Match Superformance
• Hornady 223 75g BTHP Match Superformance
• Federal 223 69g and 77g GMM SMK
• Black Hills 223 69g and 77g SMK OTM (new and reman)

223 and 556x45 Plinking Choices

• Black Hills 223 55g FMJ
• Hornady 223 Steel Match 55g HP and 75g BTHP
• IMI 5.56x45 55g and 62g FMJ

Thank you again for you time.
FattyGabbiee

*edited so it's much easier to read

 

[Greg Langelius *]

For Home defense, I'd suggest Hornady 223 Critical Defense 55gr FTX.

For plinking and accuracy, I suggest the Hornady Steel Match 55 and 75gr.

Greg

 

[Fattygabbiee]

Thanks, Greg. Never heard of the Hornady 223 Critical Defense. I will check that out for home defense. Can't wait to get the steel match too.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

I'm sitting on the sidelines right now, all set up to test a number of the ammo choices you mentioned above in a pair of as widely different AR Uppers as I can muster. One is a Stag Super Varminter 24" 1:8" Stainless Bull Barrel, and the other is an AR Stoner Pencil weight 16" 1:7" set up for 2-gun combat match. I simply can't put together a free day and a low wind day right now. I have the guns and the ammo all set up, I just need to get in the car and ride the 50 miles to the Douglas AZ Shooting Park's 300m line. It will happen, the only question is when.

Hornady 223 Critical Defense. The 55 and 75 Steel Match should turn out to be pretty good training ammo for the pair of Critical Defense choices.

I will note with caution that no mention of wall penetration is made for this ammo in the available advertising.

Greg

 

[Fattygabbiee]

I understand what you are saying. I just joined this outdoor range and collecting all my ammo. I have a 224 Valkyrie upper coming from Craddock Precision and can't wait to try that out as well. I will also report back with my current setups.

And since this is all new to me, I think I accidently overtightened my ADM QD mount on my Nightforce 4-16x42 ATACR F1 and the glass is cracked. I thought it was dust and hair but it looks like spider webs and squiggly lines. I hope Nightforce won't charge me too much to replace. I think it's a lost cause and I will need a new scope.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Aoow! That's gonna hurt.

I try to see how far I can get on a buck, working with lower to medium priced glass. I do this because I know that life is unforgiving, and stuff like this happens. One small oversight, and POW, there goes the investment. If it helps, I understand your situation.

I've been putting some of the more economical options to work over the past decade or more, and a few scopes have found my approval.

The Vortex SPARC II is a good Red Dot scope and I have been using it for years, but these days, I'd be buying the AR SPARC because it uses the AAA battery. The Bushnell AR Drop Zone 223 3-12x40 is a very good BDC scope for standard MSR type applications. I have three. One of them is on my Mossberg 223 MVP Predator. It works well in conjunction with an LR600-type Laser Rangefinder. The Mueller 8-32x44 Target Dot scope is my choice for precision at longer distances. I have three of these as well. I've just this week set up a Bushnell TRS-25 Dot Scope to see if it can be relied on.

A Laser pointer sight may be something to consider for indoor Defense usage, I have a Crimson Trace Green Rail Master on my Ruger American 9 Pro.

I'm not poor, I'm just trying to get a useful outcome without breaking the bank. Top dollar is great stuff, but there's still a lot you can do on a budget.

The part about having three of something rather critical onhand is a strategy; it is what I call "having hot spares onhand", something we used to do in the computer/data communications trade.

Having several 'more affordable extras' up and running with lower priority applications and onhand allows a critical failure to get immediate resolution when 'more expensive' carries an extra time/cash tariff come emergency times. It's one of the ways economy gear can pay off in an emergency.

Now an argument can be made that economy carries its own cost in more common failure. That has yet to be the case in my own experience with these scopes.

Greg

 

[redneckbmxer24]

The Hornady 75gr bullet isn't really a fragmenting bullet. A varmint bullet would be a far better choice for your application. I'd go with one of the Varmint Express (non superformance) V-max loads. It will be devastating for terminal performance but a single sheet of drywall will cause the fragmenting to start, a wall (2 sheets) pretty much causes full fragmentation. Town homes generally have some extra insulating layers between units so the likelihood of it making through into your neighbors is pretty slim. The BTHP in the TAP I bet would blow right through and still be lethal on the other side.

Personally I use the Federal American eagle 50gr tipped varmint. It shoots phenomenally in 1:7 and 1:8 twist barrels and is extremely explosive. It is said to be a 50gr V-max bullet. It's also only $.50/round.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

I can't fault that viewpoint, hence my note about penetration.

Varmint bullets can leave a nasty wound, and are notorious about fragmenting on a grass blade.

But if I wanted stopping power, I'd be using #4 Buck and not a 223. If what you got is an AR, all the stuff mentioned including this last is gonna put a hurt on a perp.

Greg

 

[redneckbmxer24]

IMO if you live in a town house, apartment, or live with anyone else in a single family then a shotgun is a terrible choice. Even hits often over penetrate and a miss is certainly going to go through a wall with lethal capabilities on the other side.

A 223 with a varmint round is going to dump all of its energy on the target and is a great man stopper. They're like shooting little grenades.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Again, I agree.

I live in a masonry home, and the neighbors are far enough away to be a likely miss with a through and through 20ga buck load.

...If it made it through the concrete block walls.

I can't predict whatever or if ever I'll be doing in an HD situation. I choose what I think will work and I pray that if such a situation ever arises, that I can use some decent judgement about backstops and loved ones. I am flatly not looking forward to squeezing off any rounds inside my own home.

I've been shot at and missed, and shot at others and not missed; enough to know that armed combat is all mostly a crapshoot to begin and end with. Like the cops told me, their first two usually end up in the dirt, anyway...

My HD firearm is a Ruger handgun with a laser and Federal Premium Jacketed Hollow Points, just exactly the same as Local LE uses. My competitive shooting began with a handful of years shooting 3-Gun Bullseye; and that's not any good training for anything but 3-gun Bullseye.

I don't want to be stuck indoors with a long gun, or outdoors with a short one.

Greg

 

[VegasHKShooter]

Of the bullets you mentioned, the Federal GMM in a 69 or 75 is a very good bullet if it encounters NO barrier. It is known to come apart quite easily. That could be a good thing if you aren’t looking to over penetrate. We used the Federal TRU loaded with the Sierra GameKing for years as a duty rifle round. It was fantastic on open air shots. If it encountered anything but flesh, it came apart.
We are now using a 55gr Speer Gold Dot, and also the same load in 75gr for our DMR (scoped) rifles. Much, much better as an LE duty round.

The Federal GMM is superbly accurate, and may fit the bill for what you are looking for.

 

[Potss]

It all depends on if care about drywall penetration or not. The Hornady 55gr and 60gr Vmax loads stop the fastest in drywall and still hit 10-14in penetration in gel. If you don't care about penetration and in fact prefer penetration of intermediate barriers, you cannot beat the new M855A1.

For long range, the 77gr TMKs cannot be beat for mag fed factory available. If you just want to print small groups at 100-200y though, the flat base Berger bullets are great, HSM loads them very well.

 

[schlaiek]

All of the data states that 00 buck is not your friend in an urban/suburban environment. it will penetrate multiple layers of drywall, insulation, and siding with minimal deterioration/fragmentation. The advice on FGMM (and similar rounds) seems solid, but I don't recall ever seeing data and/or ballastic gel testing to model wounding/stopping power.

logistics dictates a sig 226 (with white light) in my bedside biometic safe, but push comes to shove and I'm grabbing my Tavor. mag changes & accuracy are inferior to a good AR, but it's doubtful either will matter and the smaller size makes logical sense to me and I find the manual of arms simple. An aimpoint T2 and surefire scout are best in class IMO and I'd rely on that package to protect my family in the VERY unlikely event it's needed in the uber safe suburban world I live in.

 

[Codiekfx400]

The Hornady 75gr bullet isn't really a fragmenting bullet. A varmint bullet would be a far better choice for your application. I'd go with one of the Varmint Express (non superformance) V-max loads. It will be devastating for terminal performance but a single sheet of drywall will cause the fragmenting to start, a wall (2 sheets) pretty much causes full fragmentation. Town homes generally have some extra insulating layers between units so the likelihood of it making through into your neighbors is pretty slim. The BTHP in the TAP I bet would blow right through and still be lethal on the other side.

Personally I use the Federal American eagle 50gr tipped varmint. It shoots phenomenally in 1:7 and 1:8 twist barrels and is extremely explosive. It is said to be a 50gr V-max bullet. It's also only $.50/round.

Tipped varmint is a great recommendation. Works for everything from varmints to personal defense to accuracy. My friend shoots a local benchrest competition at 100 and 200 yards with tipped varmint and does quite well. You should see everyone’s reaction when he breaks out that cheap factory ammo.

 

[Fattygabbiee]

Thanks for all the replies. I will defintely add the Federal 50g Tipped Varmint and Hornady 50g and 60g V-Max to the home defense list.

@potts, I can't seem to find the HSM ammo with Berger bullets. The one place that had a varmint load was sold out and wasn't sure if that was what you were referring to.

 

[Potss]

Fattygabbiee
They are available here and several other places: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...rger-varmint-hollow-point-flat-base-box-of-20

Keep in mind those are NOT for home defense, just printing tiny groups with factory ammo at 100y.

 

[Nik H]

You'll really like the IMI 77 grain BTHP OTM SMK Razorcore. Works extremely well in my Larue tOBR and my KAC

 

[Fattygabbiee]

Thanks again, everyone. Extremely helpful. Ordered 2-4 boxes of the following:

50g AE Tipped Varmint
55g Hornady V-Max Varmint Express
64g Federal TRU Soft Point
69g and 77g Federal GMM
69g and 77g Black Hills SMK (both reman and new)
75g Hornady BTHP Training Steel
75g Hornady Frontier BTHP
77g IMI OTM SMK

Can't wait to have some fun at the range and report back what worked best.

 

[bunsen27]

From my testing last year on woodchucks I found out that the 73gr ELD-M's actually do a really good job of fragmenting in soft tissues. They won't be as explosive as say a 55gr V-max, but still killed them all dead right there. Unlike the 75gr ELD-M they are specifically designed to be loaded to AR mag length. If you have a chance test out a box.

 

[flyer]

I like $0.30 a shot better than $0.50 so the factory ammo I stockpile is PMC Xtac 62 grain green tip.

I think it's steel penetrator FMJ and it seems to shoot cleaner than the American green tip. My rifles seem to shoot it better than XM193 55 grain ball so I pay the slight premium to get Xtac. I don't think I've ever paid more than $350 for a case. I wait for sales and mostly I've paid $300-320 per case.

I am set up to reload, I just need to find the time for load development, then I'll start turning out some reloads with 50 grain Hornady ZMAX bullets. I'm hoping I can find a nice accurate load. The bullet construction should give good fragmentation, almost frangible as far as walls go and they were cheap. My reloads will cost less than $0.25 in components and hopefully I'll be able to tune them for my rifle better than that tipped varmint box ammo.

 

[deersniper]

The Superperformance 53gr seems pretty good on paper at longer ranges.

It all depends on if care about drywall penetration or not. The Hornady 55gr and 60gr Vmax loads stop the fastest in drywall and still hit 10-14in penetration in gel. If you don't care about penetration and in fact prefer penetration of intermediate barriers, you cannot beat the new M855A1.

For long range, the 77gr TMKs cannot be beat for mag fed factory available. If you just want to print small groups at 100-200y though, the flat base Berger bullets are great, HSM loads them very well.