FMJ XM193 was designed to "fragment" or break at the cannelure. Do a google search as there has been a lot of testing on that round.
Otherwise I agree with your post 100%.

First Post

Hornady 75 gr TAP, or 77 gr SMK

77gr tmk based on all of the gel shots I've seen down to 1900fps. However, at home defense range, you can't go wrong with either. I actually have mags of each waiting to go here.

I always hear of people talking about Hornady TAP 75gr but I never see that stuff online. Are ya'll buying locally?

I buy online. The double tap nosler round is likely very close. BT ammo labs when it was Around tested the 77gr nosler round at 5.56 velocity and found it was either equal or very close to the tap round.

The double tap round clocks in at 5.56 velocity and is a great, easily available online, choice of tap or tmk isn't ready.

To keep things in perspective, ANY round fired from a 10.5" .223/5.56mm at home defense distance is going to put a real hurt on a bad guy. The worst.223/5.56mm from a 10.5" barrel will be far more effective than the best pistol round. Take a look at the Wolf Gold 55 gr FMJ test in the other thread. There was very little fragmentation but it yawed early and went straight apeshit in there.

Don't get wrapped around the axle over ammo selection. If barrier performance is a priority, select a medium weight soft point like the Gold Dot or TBBC. If it is not, select a heavy OTM like the 75 gr TAP or 77 gr SMK/TMK. If those aren't available, other heavy OTMs will perform well, too. The market is chock full of ammunition that will perform well. The only thing you need to steer clear of is ammunition which will not penetrate adequately like 40-55 gr varmint bullets. Virtually any 40-55 gr hollow point or tipped bullet (like V-max or Z-max) will penetrate inadequately. Most 55 gr soft point will penetrate well from a 10.5" but some could be marginal.

Can you point me to that?

Thanks!

What's the ballistic and range difference of a 77g otm and something like the 50g jhp?  At point blank home situations I can't see a difference in effectiveness but when we start looking at ranges, I think choice will matter.

I find it weird that some people say 77g or 75 is best vs the people who like the lighter 50 range.

If you find small 5 shot groups weird, than I am weird.  I find 77gr SMKs match loads to be much more accurate at distances beyond 100 yards. The heavier bullets buck the wind better, typically have better BC and retain more energy down range. This is very common among match shooters. As far as for bad guys, I will just go with the info from the experts like Dr. G. Roberts and others.

read post 2

a study done by Dr. G. Roberts

an article with some history

look at the rifle section

Maybe bluefalcon has some gel tests.

At 100 yards, many shooters find the 52-53gr match loads to be very accurate.

5.56 = 60gr V-max
300BLK = 110gr V-max


Both as hot as I dare load, and with a suppressor.  Will still be loud, but the suppressor will take the sing off of it a bit.

Good info.  Takeaway is that anything will work but whats better?


Here are some quick summaries to make it easy:


1-

I spoke with a good friend with multiple combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. His experiences as both a Special Forces sniper team leader and assaulter offered a unique perspective on ammo performance. As a sniper, MK 262 was his preferred round (when he was not using 7.62x51mm NATO), and he said simply, “It’s the best, most accurate round the Army has ever issued.” When carrying the shorter SBR, he ranked Hornady’s 75-grain TAP as the most lethal, followed by MK 318 and with MK 262 riding herd at third. Anything was better than M855 in a CQB environment.

“All 5.56 rounds suck out of SBRs, but MK 262 is way better than M855,” he said. “The only time M855 shines is when you are shooting through intermediate barriers like car doors.”


Read more: http://www.shootingtimes.com/ammo/special-forces-to-civilians-black-hills-mk-262-mod-1-review/#ixzz3aoDvmXRL






2-

At this time, given the current ammo choices available via the standard green/white side military supply system, for a general purpose carbine, I'd load my mags with Mk318 Mod0 if available. For long range shooting the Mk262 Mod1 is optimal. A couple of mags of M995 AP for barriers wouldn't be a bad idea either.







3-

If using a short-barreled weapon: The same guidelines apply as for barrier penetration loads. SBRs usually have insufficient velocity to achieve fragmentation velocity.

As per Doctor Roberts: "Keep in mind, that with non-fragmenting bullet designs, heavier bullet weights are not necessarily better, especially at closer ranges and from shorter barrels. As long as penetration and upset remain adequate, it is possible to use lighter weight non-fragmenting bullets and still have outstanding terminal performance. With fragmenting designs, a heavier bullet is ideal, as it provides more potential fragments and still allows the central core to have enough mass for adequate penetration. In addition, heavier bullets may have an advantage at longer ranges due to better BC and less wind drift."

What about these vs Hornady TAP?  I cant find or get TAP.


Winchester 223 64gr Power Point Super-X Ammunition 20rds - X223R2

See my post above. There're two readily available heavy otm rounds that match or exceed the 75gr tap

If that is what you took, then you didn't read all of it. There are clearly better rounds than others out of a short barrel. There are several good loads, many listed in this thread. "Anything" will punch holes, but "anything" is not the way to go. Fusion, Gold Dots, TSX, heavy OTMs, etc, all are good from a SBR.

My last post in the other SBR thread, has a good example. 77SMKs have much better energy than 50gr varmint bullets. Take the same two bullets in a gel test. The 77MSK will a short cavity neck and will have a much better cavity and penetration. The 50gr vmax will fragment immediately and may not penetrate enough to get to the vitals of a person. The rapid expansion of a vmax is great for small game, but not ideal for bad guys.

I wasn't simplifying it that much. I personally use cbc 77g otm for sd/hd but after reading that's best for long range. For short range the 62g stuff mk318 was a better option. Then the best for sbr close range was Hornady tap.

So my 77g mk262 stuff is the 3rd best option but still a good one.

There's something worse than dead?

How about raped, tortured and then killed?

B ack on track, for OP I don't have the answer, but I would say to AVOID the barrier blind.  You mention townhouse (nobody seems to care about that) and I think minimizing penetration is key.  I would seek the same if using a rifle in my house (concrete block walls so outside my home not a concern, but I would be concerned about drywall penetration and going into one of the children's rooms).  I *think* the best choice is a fragmenting bullet such as the OTM (I have TAP as my "go to" ammo, but don't keep my rifles at my house..).  I think the soft point ammo is the "barrier blind" which is all the rage, but for YOUR situation I think would be best avoided.  You want to minimize stray bullets going into your neighbor's houses.

ETA: I *think* lighter would be better also since light bullets do all their damage from velocity, once you go through some barriers they will slow down and do less damage on the other side.  I've seen some posts/videos (I think box o' truth and others) that show .223 will go through a lot of layers of things.  I've read that was one reason police/SWAT went away from subguns is that the heavier pistol bullets would do more damge after going through barriers (although the trend now for LE is the "Barrier Blind" ammo.  I'm not sure how to interpret that)

I was hoping to learn more from this thread about best choice to minimize damage past barriers, such as apartments/townhomes etc.  Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can answer THAT specifically (seems this is more of "here's what I use" rather than "here's what YOU should use, because.....")

I was just using 77 SMKs as an example. There are better than MK262, however it is very good from an SBR. Also mentioned in the links I posted. Especially good if less-barrier blind is a requirement. It is for me.

I agree that MK318 and TAP are better out of an SBR. T2 TAP has great velocity out of an SBR. Almost 200 fps faster than MK262. However, in my experience TAP gets the worst groups. Groups don't matter in a home invasion or similar, but if you ever need to reach out to 200 yards, hits will be much more difficult.

Here is some factory data from the ammo I am considering purchasing based on this thread and a few other threads and research.  

To summarize, from research and quotes from "experts" out of an SBR the best ammo is:

1-Hornady 75g TAP
2-MK318
3-MK262



I cant get Hornady 75g TAP but I can get (all Hornady):

-223 75g BTHP Match      2790    1296
-223 69g BTHP Match      2690    1323
-223 75g BTHP Super performance Match   2930   1429
-556 75g BTHP Match      2910    1410


I am not sure what to make of the above data but it seems like the 223 Super performance OR the 556 Match would be the best options for an SBR.
Private testing shows that the 556 75g is faster than the 75g 223 super performance.



MK262

-CBC  556  77g  OTM  -  No data but private testing shows 2750
-SSA  556  77g  OTM  -  No data but private testing shows 2750


MK 318

-Federal 556 62g OTM  2650  1239





So whats best for CQB?  I would say that the Hornaday 223 Super Performance Match 75g is the best for an overall load.  For long distance this will do a great job as well but the MK 262 seems to be the best choice.  For barrier penetration and an overall good round the MK 318 might be best if you had 1 option only.  

Why are you advocating varmint loads for self defense?

Doubletap. And by the way, DSG has the hard to find Federal Bonded .223 62 gr. in stock for $20 a box.

I'm advocating supersonic vs. subsonic as there were some posts above debating subsonic 300BLK.  ETA:  300BLK SBR is my home defense rifle.

My personal bullet choice is based on seeing the performance of the 110 V-max and 125 Nosler BT against medium size game, such as deer.  Using that as a human analogue, those bullets had acceptable performance from my 10.5" upper at ranges inside of 25yds, which would be typical for a home defense situation.

I agree with you that my only experience with the 60gr Vmax is on small game, where it is devastating.  It may not be as good as the .30 cal on larger targets.  My thinking is that Energy = 1/2m*v^2.  I can minimize the effect of velocity loss of the short barrel by using the lighter bullet.  I honestly haven't done testing to compare the 60v-max vs. some of the heavier OTM's discussed.  I do have those and load them, so maybe I'll work some up.

Varmint bullets for self defense is a well discussed bad idea. Varmint bullets are great for small game because of the short cavity neck and rapid frag/expansion. They do not penetrate deep enough on a consistent basis to put you life on the line vs bad guys.

Energy is a big part of it, but if it is all used up in the first couple of inches it does not good against a bad guy. If you want a faster bullet vs heavy bullet, look at the 50gr TSX, 62gr Fusion or gold dot.

The 1900 fps shot is also extremely impressive. It fragments down to ranges far below other heavy otm rounds.

Just for clarity. ..I'm using 300blk,  so far from a varmint  load.

Check this out.  I think it fits your needs for 1.) effective in SBR and 2.) minimize risk to neighbors etc for use in Townhome:

55 gr. TAP URBAN® - Item No. 83276



The Hornady® 223 Rem 55 gr. TAP Urban is the preferred choice for use in standard length down to 10.5” barrels when the possibility for barrier penetration is low. Rapid expansion provides dramatic wound cavities and prevents over penetration on non-barrier engagements. These factors make this bullet a great choice when collateral risk is high.

Hornady site

This thread has really made me think about my HD ammunition choices.



I keep my 11.5" SBR loaded with XM193 for HD and with a maximum distance in my home of 10 yards I still feel comfortable with my choice. If I were to use my 10.5" for HD I definitely would NOT be using XM193 based on the chart above.

My plan is to do some research, pick a few loads that I think would work well, then fire them in to some gel at the distances I intend to use them at. It may not be the most cost effective method but it is the most definitive one for the end user.

Right now I have Federal T556TNB1 (mk318 SOST) in my 11.5 but i'll kinda go between that and 70gr Barnes TSX



Kinda shitty of them to say "55gr" and not specify the ammo.  My BCM 11.5 averaged higher than that (right at 2910) with 55gr Fed xm193 and my LMT 10.5 averaged less (just below 2700... like 2680 or something... i need to re-chrono) with the same ammo.  This is prob better data: https://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=509733.  I see no reason not to use an expanding projectile in your HD rifle.  The mk318 is purpose built to perform well out of SBRs.

ETA:  not that the mk318 is necessarily an expanding round... the "open tip" is just a byproduct of the "manufacturing process"

M193 is inconsistent, and not something to which I would trust my life in a 16" bbl, much less an SBR.

These topics are amply covered in the FAQ and in the "Best choices..." thread tacked at the top of the forum.