AR15 ammo for home defense

[ryuu]

What do you keep in your AR15 at home, if you have some of each what would you grab first.

I'm looking at Hornady Zombie Max 223, 55gr. Don't care for the "Zombie" part but the price isn't bad.

[David]

Dumb decision.

[svauto-erotic855]

Why is that dumb? It is just a normal Hornady bullet with a green tip instead of a red one. Do you have a color preference or do you not care for Hornady ammo?

[jammeejamm]

buy a shotgun. your neighbors will appreciate it.

[David]

Why is that dumb? It is just a normal Hornady bullet with a green tip instead of a red one. Do you have a color preference or do you not care for Hornady ammo?

More or less the gun option over ammo choice.

[2000 vert]

More or less the gun option over ammo choice.

Exactly what i was thinking.

[Sean88gt]

buy a shotgun. your neighbors will appreciate it.

Every bit of this.

But if you are dumb enough to use an ar15 for home defense, go with the 172gr. bullet.

[ryuu]

darn it, wasn't clear enough.
The ar is not the goto gun for bump in the night but I still want something in the mags should it ever be needed.

do y'all leave all your mags empty???

edit: have a 12ga, loaded with 3" 00 so we are good there

[Cobraman]

darn it, wasn't clear enough.
The ar is not the goto gun for bump in the night but I still want something in the mags should it ever be needed.

do y'all leave all your mags empty???

If it "should ever be needed" over your bump in the night selection it doesn't matter what you have in it. Lol

[ram57ta]

12 or 20 guage shotgun with 00 and a .40 on the nightstand should be sufficient unless you're preparing to take on a gang of drug dealers.

[BMCSean]

Every bit of this.

But if you are dumb enough to use an ar15 for home defense, go with the 172gr. bullet.

I agree. The best round for any circumstance!

[kingjason]

12 or 20 guage shotgun with 00 and a .40 on the nightstand should be sufficient unless you're preparing to take on a gang of drug dealers.

Or shit stashed in every room of the house. You never know what room your going to be in when you need to pop someone. To me, whatever I am closest to is what I am grabbing.

[soap]

I keep one of my pistols next to my bed. But have an AR ready to go behind my bedroom door if it gets too bad.

[ryuu]

well this was a waste of time ... doing more research ...

learned that the zombie stuff isn't the best choice but for the price of 60 rounds still considering it.

also learned that there are very good arguments for the ar (5.56) over 12ga 00 for home defense

interesting data from here http://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/
As far as the idea that pistol bullets will inherently penetrate less than rifle cartridges, take a look at this graph comparing common weapons one might employ in the role of self-defense:



Notice that the penetration of all these calibers using high-quality ammunition is approximately the same, quite contrary to common belief. The reason pistol calibers penetrate quite deeply is, as has been mentioned before, the fact that momentum is the key factor here. The slower, heavier bullets retain more momentum and can thus penetrate as much as a bullet launched at much higher velocity. Bullet construction obviously plays a key role as well.

[dee]

That link is a waste of time. Velocity is a large factor in penetration. That's why there are velocity limits at ranges that have steel targets.