.223 Or 7.62x39: Which Would You Pick For HD?

+1 for bullet choices.

If I could get Hornady 7.62x39 that's what I'd use but some frangible or 5.56 Hornady or even 5.45 Hornady would suffice for me since that's my main caliber.
 
Barnes makes a 108gr frangible bullet in.310 diameter for 7.62x39 in their MPC line.

I have read that varmint bullets used on humans at close range are devastating. Might be worth considering for your situation.
 
On a human target, place the shot from a low point between the adversary’s eyes to a high point in the center of his forehead. A higher shot may deflect off his skull and a lower shot may miss the switch and simply run up enormous dental and plastic surgery bills.
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Someone has apparently never heard of a brain stem. If you want to hit the instant off button it's in that brain stem which is pretty much straight behind the mouth. People can be shot through the upper brain and live through it. Nothing or nobody survives being shot in the brain stem which rests at the base of the skull at the top of the spine. It controls out autonomic functions like breathing etc.. That's why anyone who really wants to off themselves sticks a shotgun in their mouth instead of to the temple. That's an ugly illustration, I know, but it's an accurate one. Nothing says "dead right now" like a bullet through the brain stem. No khat fueled loonie keeps on cooking after that. I think most of us have heard the story about Phineas Gage, who had a 3.5 foot steel bar blown completely through his head by dynamite. He lived for 12 years after the event. Just hitting the brain even with a dynamite powered 13 pound steel rod is no sure guarantee of being killed
 
The only thing i dislike about frangibles is the fact that not all of your tweaker home invaders are hopped up freaks that are built like a prairie dog. You get a 300 pound scumbag wearing biker clothing and a layer of fat that would have made rosanne barr scream for mercy, and you may not ever reach vitals. You'll vaporize large areas of tissue, But your opportunity to blow out his heart, rip his lungs out, or chop his spine in half will not be there. I don't see the frangibles as a cartridge that you can fire a single or even double tap, and be reasonably certain that the encounter will be over.

Another thing about frangibles that I am very much concerned about.

When you blow a softball sized mass of a person's torso contents into an aerosol cloud, that's kind of worrisome. You're going to have blood and body fluids everywhere, even in the air you breathe, that are likely laden with Hepatitis C virus, HIV, syphillis, herpes, and other foul stuff that you don't want to make contact with. If you're wounded, you will possibly contract a lethal disease. Just cleaning it up is a scary proposition.

Don't underestimate the presence of these diseases among drug users. Hep C is as common as the cold, and blood contact is very risky.
 
neither, if you happen to shoot an un suppressed rifle in your home you will get serious hearing damage. a .223 is about 160db

i will also advise against varmint rounds for HD, they usually do not penetrate deep enough.
 
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In a self dedense scenario, the noise factor is really going to be less of an issue. Any gun fired indoors is loud enough to cause hearing damage. Ive been inside a room where a .357 wad discharged from a snub and I can still hear years later. Of course you practice with hearing protection, but in the heat of the moment are you going to get your earplugs out???:rolleyes:
 
Better deaf than dead. BTW I keep a set of headphones right next to my HD weapon. If I have a chance I'm putting them on. They are electronic so I'll actually hear better with them on.
 
Neither

Both will penetrate way too much drywall in a typical US home. Aim is too important as well. I always say shotgun for home defense with no. 4 buckshot. I know from personal experience that just the sound of an 870 racking up will stop two intoxicated burglars prying your apartment door open with a crowbar.

These days I prefer double barrel. I load one with lighter shot, and the other with buckshot.

If you think about it, a semi-auto with 0 buck, is as close to a 9mm sub machine gun as you can get less than 400.
 
I wonder how many people who strongly advocate a shotgun for home defense have actually test fired the things at home defense ranges? My 3,000 square feet home presents absolutely no distances longer than 25 feet from wall to wall. For a person in my home to legally shoot at an intruder, there would be, most likely, never more than 15 feet from muzzle to chest. Distances like that usually gave me clusters no bigger than a baseball. I don't see any advantage whatsoever for a "scattergun" in my home. I really doubt that it would offer any advantage in any of the other dozen places I've lived in.
 
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