Have plenty of 7.62x51 ball but need to stock up on some good defensive rounds.  What do you have confidence in?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Thank you!

Not the answer you want, but I'm pretty confident in ball .308 to center of mass.

terrible choice unless you get the thin walled stuff,ie mem/dag

OP 155 amax

I'm related to a few WW2 and Korean War vets.  My dad had several older friends that were WW2 vets.

The 7.62X51 ball ammo (FMJ military type ammo) is equivalent in velocity/bullet weight) to the military ammo used during WW2 and Korea.

A few years ago, one of my wife's uncles was talking to me after church one night.  We were out in front of the church on a cold wet and windy winter night and I guess Korea sort of came back to him.

He asked me if the M1 Garand was 30.06 and I told him it was.  He nodded and said that he thought it was, but he didn't remember for sure.  He said there were only two things he remembered about his M1.  "It was heavy and it killed good, it killed real good."  And then that far off look in his eyes faded and we went back to talking about the weather and the bus driver who'd cut the corner too close and dropped the rear tires into the ditch, blocking exit from the parking lot (the reason we were standing there talking instead of going home.)

FMJ may not expand.  But it's a big bullet traveling at a decent velocity.

I use soft points for deer hunting, mostly because it's a legal requirement.  I have no doubt, with the bullet placement I had from my M1A on the deer I killed, that FMJ would have dropped them, too.  Spine, neck, liver/lungs shots are a real drop right there and die hit.

Some of the Marines, the ones that still hunted after their Island Campaign ordeals, came home and bought 30.06 deer rifles, and carried them till they got so old they stopped hunting.  Again, they deer hunted (and some bear hunted as well) used soft point hunting ammo but their confidence in the round came from combat in the Pacific Islands with FMJ ammo and M1 Garands (not saying some of them might have, for a short time, carried M1 Carbines, but when they preferred the power/effects of the bigger/faster 30.06 bullets).

My .308 ammo (M1A and DPMS GII) is a combination of SA surplus (FMJ), S&B surplus (FMJ), and reloads (FMJ).

As they say, your mileage may vary, but FMJ 7.62X51 is good to go for me.

This is a complex question. For HOME DEFENSE? I would use one of the proven expanding loads like the 110gr or 155 grain Hornaday or something similar.

I use 165gr bonded SP. (Remington Ultra-Bonded) It was on sale... But I do not use a .308 / 7.62 for any defense. I prefer pistols and shotguns but I'm old school.

When using full power rifle caliber...bullet selection is less critical IMO. But I would choose a 150-165gr bonded SP or tipped load. Something that is 100% reliable and shoots well in your particular gun. There is "A-LIST" of recommended ammo somewhere...

I have seen all kinds of bullets shot into gelatin and the 155 AMAX is just simply devastating! The 178 HPBT is also impressive,it literally halved the block like someone hit it with a sword. I shot a doe with it this year and it turned her heart into liquid at 100 yards. I'll take either round...

There is a really good link that is a sticky at the top of the ammunition forum (HERE).  I've found it interesting to read when I'm considering changing defensive ammo.  

The following choices were 7.62 "top picks" from that article, but I'd encourage you to read the section on 7.62x51
Hornady 155 gr TAP (with AMAX bullet)
Federal 150 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
Winchester Supreme 150 gr Ballistic Silvertip
Loads using the 165 gr Sierra Game King

Doctor Gary Roberts: https://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/

Oops, just saw the post above with the same link.

GTG how, you shot anything with it?

So besides anecdotal evidence you have nothing except 50yo stories??

150gr Fusion MSR. 20 bucks a box, but effective.

Thanks everyone for the replies and great info.  There are obviously a lot of really good choices out there to be made, and now that I have a little extra time to experiment, I will buy a few boxes of the rounds you have recommended, (eight of which I have noted), and see how well they do in my rifle.

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply.  Much appreciated!  

You're right.  They shot no gelatin, they ran no computer programs to estimate potential damage to the target.

They used rifles and ammo to shoot and kill heavily armed and fanatic enemy soldiers intent on over running their positions and killing them.  Heavy clothes, skin, muscle, bone and organs is what they shot.  In all kinds of weather/temperature extremes while they're buddies died around them.

Yes, I do listen and pay attention to people who have been there and survived it.

Apparently you don't listen to accredited information when its presented to you.

Do you still use 50 yo tools, and not use computers??

Do you disregard the scientific method all the time or just on this board?

There are better bullets that have scientific and real world testing to back them up, stop clinging to anecdotal evidence.  

Just cause grandpappy used it does not make it the best.

read this

https://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/

And we can listen to other stories about guys taking 6 to 9 round (or more) bursts from M240s and MK48s and not dropping.

Are we talking about underfed and malnourished Japanese, Chinese, and North Korean Soldiers? Or better fit and fed jihadists? Or criminals on our own soil?

I bought a box of hornady 150 g American whitetail for deer hunting.  They are relatively inexpensive, shot multiple 2.5 inch 5 shot groups @ 200 yds.

Shot a deer running away at 10:00 115 yds and there was substantial damage.  I would have no problem using these for SD.

Picked up a couple more boxes (after deer season sale)

I hunted my ArmaLite AR-10 and loaded my own ammo. 165 Ballistic Tips were very impressive as I field dressed and butchered the deer. I shot with them.  30 cal hole on the way in approximate 70 cal on the way out.  This list above looks good to me.  I like the B/T due the plastic tip being more forgiving in semi-auto action "violence" with  the round being ripped from magazine/smashed through barrel extension and up the feed lips into chamber.  Also the plastic tip provides a physical mechanism to initiate bullet expansion. on impact

Cliff notes: Ball/FMJ developed more for penetration and Geneva Convention standards. Hunting bullets are designed to expand and make bigger holes to potentially destroy internal shit organisms need to stay alive.

I'll echo m1a4me and the guy asking about 50 year tools; what an asinine comment.

308 ball will do plenty of damage, more than you need

I am very confident in Gold Dot as a defensive round:
308 Win Speer Gold Dot LE 168 grain Gold Dot Soft Point GDSP

Hornady TAP and the newer Sierra Tipped Match King (not the older non-tipped) are consistently devastating in ballistic gelatin. I would use either for unarmored targets. Violent fragmentation beginning about 1-2" from the entry point.

Unlike standard FMJ and the older SMK that may or may not yaw early (critical to producing the violent fragmentation and nasty cavity from 2" - 10"), the TAP and TMK is much more consistent.

For barrier blind, LE308TT2 is good. I'd have no problem using Federal Fusion MSR 308 either.

The Fusion MSR is one hot load. Highest MV of any .308 through my 16" G2 Recon and 17S. IIRC, the 150gr MSR was ~200fps faster than 147gr M80.


Max

why did hornady discontinue the 110gr TAP?

has anyone seen federals AE 308win 130gr JHP? sure would like to see that used on gels and a yote or 2.  

another interesting and more affordable option is the ppu soft points. i had good accuracy results with the 150gr.

as for fmj, people cling to that like they do swords and 1911's. sure it works but there's better tools available.

My uncle has an anecdotal story about emptying his M1 Garand into a Japanese on Bougainville, not killing him, and having to stick him with a bayonet. What does that mean? It means on that day those 30-06 manstoppers didn't stop a fanatical heavily armed soldier intent on killing him. I'll take 30-06 AMAX over FMJ any day of the week.

I'm pretty sure any bullet in .308 will do the job.

such generic canned response. pretty sure a clogged artery will to but how fast?

+1

That's why I carry .45 hardball. It knocks people down. They all fall to hardball! Heard that from a Vietnam vet. He made it back alive. I trust him over any of this new fangled FBI study crap.

This. My connections with federal are very proud of how it's done both in accuracy testing and terminals. It's meant to replace 168gr fgmm with excellent barrier blind performance. Shoots within 0.1moa or so of fgmm in testing.

From my readings on the Ammo FAQ's etc, I think the AMAX is what I would stock up on.

If I had .308 ball I'd feel pretty confident, but AMAX (or the other good performing modern bullets) is better if you have a choice.  We do have a lot more choices in bullet designs now than they did 50 yrs ago, and aren't following the Geneva Conventions.

did you miss a smile??