I am about to get a a  Brownells Ar 15 for target/fun Shooting and for  home defense.   I  have started to Research  about  decent home defense loads as well.

The only drawback about that Topic is that in my country of origin (Austria)  it is hard to get decent  home defense ammo. In fact most of the stuff recommend by  the guys from the states,  like the open match tip bullets, or fully made Copper hp  bullets are hard to get if at all. The guy at my local gunstore said that he might be able  to order some of them but He cannot  guarantee  anything.

I   can get very easily  FMJ type bullets for target fun Shooting  and for my self defense needs I might   need to stick  to Hunting rounds.

I could get JSP and JHP  rounds from Winchester, Federal, and some European makers like S&B, PPU and Fioochi in the 40 to mid 60 grain range.

Is one type of ammo   preferable over another or would any decent JSP or JPH rounds fill my needs for a short range home defense load?

Would be grateful Hearing some opinions.

Thanks for thelp in Advance.

Barrel length?

I guess a quality 55gr FMJ should serve you well as general purpose ammo. Being shot multiple times with it will hurt.. a lot.
That’s what I keep on hand.

There is

. 10 Inch and a . 16 model available.  I am going for the .16 model.

The Chopping Block on YouTube has a huge collection of ammo testing.. both 5.56 and 223.
mostly out of a 10.3 barrel to simulate shots out of longer barrel at further distance, but you’ll find a lot of good info there.

In general, bonded bullet hunting rounds like the Federal Fusion series will serve well as defensive rounds.  I like Gold Dots for hunting deer-sized game and they perform very well. Fusions are very similar in performance. Avoid hunting rounds for ‘varmints” as they will have too much expansion too early to penetrate well.

If you have a hard time getting certain things, just about any round designed for hunting will likely also work well for shooting humans, since the design parameters for both overlap a lot. Self defense rounds and deer hunting rounds are both about killing creatures that weigh around 150 to 300 pounds, after all.

Try to look for anything with a bonded softpoint bullet. Speer Gold Dots are great, if you can get those.

This is a bit off topic, but just in case nobody has mentioned this, get a flashlight on the rifle. It's very important to know exactly what you're pointing your gun at before you make the decision to shoot. There are plenty of flashlights and mounts designed to be attached to AR15s. But even if you can't get anything like that, a flashlight from the hardware store duct taped to the rifle is better than not having a flashlight on it at all. Even if it isn't ergonomic, flimsy, and looks stupid, I think being able to identify exactly what you're looking at before deciding to shoot is really important.

Welcome!

https://www.ar15.com/ammo-oracle/

55g or 62g Federal Tactical Bonded

75g Speer Gold Dot

Both work well

62gr Fusion, Fusion MSR, and Gold dots. They are all the same projectile.

Great bullet for hunting and defense.

Mostly agree,
But I guess clothings and barriers are the major difference in the human vs animal scenario.. that’s why general consensus is that varmint rounds expand too early.
Anyway even a varmint round may work.

As stated above, if you can lay your hands on the 75gr Speer Gold Dot you really can’t go wrong.

With nickel casings and a superb bonded bullet, it’s hard to beat as it’s actually cheaper than many other “hunting” rounds on the market.

Thanks a lot for the replies.

@Varmint rounds I have already  though  varmint rounds might be the best choice. the ballistics of the 40 grain v max loads Sound impressive and  they may work very well but there is still  some room to fail.

I am better off using some 55 grain rounds are ven some heavier loads. I am going to check if I can get some of the recommended 75 grain  loads.

Tacked thread: http://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/index.htm