Defensive 5.56 Ammo Recommendations

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  • OrbitalEllipses

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 18, 2013
    4,139
    DPR of MoCo

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,815
    I know, I know, I already Shanghaied this thread once, but I do not like the 5.56 as a "in home" defensive weapon/round. Build yourself a 300 AAC upper for that pistol and load up or buy some subsonics for it. They will hit hard, bark less, and eventually maybe buy a real can for it. The gun and round are made for this.
     

    knastera

    Just another shooter
    May 6, 2013
    1,484
    Baltimore County
    I know, I know, I already Shanghaied this thread once, but I do not like the 5.56 as a "in home" defensive weapon/round. Build yourself a 300 AAC upper for that pistol and load up or buy some subsonics for it. They will hit hard, bark less, and eventually maybe buy a real can for it. The gun and round are made for this.



    That's good advice. I was not intending to make this my primary home defense gun. My Glock 23Gen4 with Hornady Critical Defense has that distinction.


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    Blackstar65

    Active Member
    Jun 27, 2010
    994
    In a 7.5" barrel you will need a SBR specific round. Federal tactical bonded soft points need 2600 FPS for proper expansion. At 16" barrel hits 2800 fps. Anything shorter than 16" will not reach the maximum effective speed. Hornaday makes a 77gr SBR round with faster burning powder. That may be your most effective round out of 7.5" barrel.
     

    DaemonAssassin

    Why should we Free BSD?
    Jun 14, 2012
    23,970
    Political refugee in WV
    If you are dead set on a 556, go with a 12.5" barrel. You'll see higher velocities with ammo, than a 7.5" barrel.

    Otherwise build a 300BLK pistol upper and use that. I love the 300BLK for how versatile the caliber is. 110gr for hunting, all they way up to 240gr for subs. Since I already built a pistol, the next upper I'll be building is going to be a 300BLK pistol upper. I'm probably going to go with a 10.5" barrel and build around that.
     

    balttigger

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 15, 2008
    3,051
    Middle River, MD

    knastera

    Just another shooter
    May 6, 2013
    1,484
    Baltimore County
    The Lehigh Defense 62gr Controlled Chaos uses a bullet designed for between 1,400 - 4,200 fps. Out of a 16" barrel, their loaded ammo has an advertised speed of 2,900 fps. Out of a 7.5" barrel, I am estimating 2,150 fps. Using a ballistics calculator, it will remain >1,400fps out to 275 yards



    https://www.lehighdefense.com/colle...haos-lead-free-ammunition?variant=31930712136







    So it even expands like that at 1,450 FPS? I think we have a winner.


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