What type of Ammo do you load in your Home Defense AR

[BCGlocker]

55 gr. Gold Dot Soft Point.

[TheDude]

Home defense AR? Is there a difference between that and any other AR? Is this for defending your home from outside threats trying to get in or inside threats? I personally think it's too much gun for inside defense unless you don't have anything else. At close quarters combat I don't think it matters a whole lot what you use. It's going to go through pretty much anything you hit and then some. Now if you have a bunch of Zombies coming down the street heading toward your house and you want to get them before they get there. Well, the AR would be a good choice. It can be fun pretending you're with SWAT or on a SEAL team. (Just kidding of course)

I will never understand comments like this. You managed to totally not answer his question and insult everyone who uses an AR for HD by saying they are playing Navy SEAL. If you studied up on 5.56 and over penetration you may understand why some people chose it. With most ammo its not going to penetrate anymore than pistol ammo and definitely not more than 00 buck that so many people recommend. Mag in my AR is loaded with 75gr Hornady TAP. The rest of them are loaded with soft points or FMJ's.

[Ameer]

I used to use green tip because my HD AR is also my vehicle AR, but after some testing I found Federal XM193 penetrates pretty good too, so I buy that in bulk now.

[LTUME1978]

55 grain soft point Speer Gold Dot Law Enforcement (bonded). I recently took a class at PSC that was taught by a retired HPD Swat Officer (heavily credentialed and experienced). He told us that HPD Swat has used the 55 grain soft point bonded bullet for more than a decade and only had one instance where the bullet left the body of the person they were shooting. That only happened because the officer took an angling shot that ricocheted off of a rib. He commented that the 55 grain soft point is less likely to penetrate walls, etc. in a house if there is a miss.

He also talked about shootings that they were involved with where the bad guy used 55 grain FMJ and how badly they over penetrated (left the property and did a good bit of damage across the street) . He did not recommend them for home/personal defense. Green tip are even worse.

He did state that he used 69 grain HP in his 223 sniper rifles but recommended that we use the 55 grain soft point for home defense.

Hope this helps, I try to learn from those that have already blazed the trails :-) .

[cirus]

Fmj 168 gr. I don't think it really matters if you empty a 25 rd.Pmag at them what grain you use.

[C-dub]

Fmj 168 gr. I don't think it really matters if you empty a 25 rd.Pmag at them what grain you use.

What caliber is that?

Wait, .308/7.62. Never mind.

[bobby]

60 rds of 52gr BTHP

[Skiprr]

I've recently switched from a carbine to a pistol for HD; put a Streamlight TLR-4 on it. For the gun's dedicated use, I like the option of light, laser, or both with a momentary-on switch activated by my left index finger.

I don't expect to ever have need of it outside of 20 yards. Decided on Hornady 75-grain Interlock HD SBR Black; 40-round PMAGs.

[The Annoyed Man]

208 grain A-Max subsonics.

[WTR]

55 grain soft point Speer Gold Dot Law Enforcement (bonded). I recently took a class at PSC that was taught by a retired HPD Swat Officer (heavily credentialed and experienced). He told us that HPD Swat has used the 55 grain soft point bonded bullet for more than a decade and only had one instance where the bullet left the body of the person they were shooting. That only happened because the officer took an angling shot that ricocheted off of a rib. He commented that the 55 grain soft point is less likely to penetrate walls, etc. in a house if there is a miss.

He also talked about shootings that they were involved with where the bad guy used 55 grain FMJ and how badly they over penetrated (left the property and did a good bit of damage across the street) . He did not recommend them for home/personal defense. Green tip are even worse.

He did state that he used 69 grain HP in his 223 sniper rifles but recommended that we use the 55 grain soft point for home defense.

Hope this helps, I try to learn from those that have already blazed the trails :-) .

I'm surprised to hear of a major city SWAT team using .223 as a sniper round.

[broberts001]

64gr Gold Dot's.

[C-dub]

55 grain soft point Speer Gold Dot Law Enforcement (bonded). I recently took a class at PSC that was taught by a retired HPD Swat Officer (heavily credentialed and experienced). He told us that HPD Swat has used the 55 grain soft point bonded bullet for more than a decade and only had one instance where the bullet left the body of the person they were shooting. That only happened because the officer took an angling shot that ricocheted off of a rib. He commented that the 55 grain soft point is less likely to penetrate walls, etc. in a house if there is a miss.

He also talked about shootings that they were involved with where the bad guy used 55 grain FMJ and how badly they over penetrated (left the property and did a good bit of damage across the street) . He did not recommend them for home/personal defense. Green tip are even worse.

He did state that he used 69 grain HP in his 223 sniper rifles but recommended that we use the 55 grain soft point for home defense.

Hope this helps, I try to learn from those that have already blazed the trails :-) .

I'm surprised to hear of a major city SWAT team using .223 as a sniper round.

I'm not terribly surprised by that revelation. Police snipers aren't generally going to be out at 800+ yards like the military. I would be surprised if many of their shots were any further than 100 yards. With a scope the 5.56/.223 round seems like a decent choice for that relatively close range.

[Bitter Clinger]

Speer Gold Dot LE 64 gr soft point .223

[WTR]

55 grain soft point Speer Gold Dot Law Enforcement (bonded). I recently took a class at PSC that was taught by a retired HPD Swat Officer (heavily credentialed and experienced). He told us that HPD Swat has used the 55 grain soft point bonded bullet for more than a decade and only had one instance where the bullet left the body of the person they were shooting. That only happened because the officer took an angling shot that ricocheted off of a rib. He commented that the 55 grain soft point is less likely to penetrate walls, etc. in a house if there is a miss.

He also talked about shootings that they were involved with where the bad guy used 55 grain FMJ and how badly they over penetrated (left the property and did a good bit of damage across the street) . He did not recommend them for home/personal defense. Green tip are even worse.

He did state that he used 69 grain HP in his 223 sniper rifles but recommended that we use the 55 grain soft point for home defense.

Hope this helps, I try to learn from those that have already blazed the trails :-) .

I'm surprised to hear of a major city SWAT team using .223 as a sniper round.

I'm not terribly surprised by that revelation. Police snipers aren't generally going to be out at 800+ yards like the military. I would be surprised if many of their shots were any further than 100 yards. With a scope the 5.56/.223 round seems like a decent choice for that relatively close range.

The average Police sniper shot is reported to be 51 yards. I still think you will be hard pressed to find many departments using a .223 round. The only actually sniper kill I personally know of was made through a plate glass window. I would rather be putting through 168 grs of lead over 69 grs in that senerio.