You know, it is disappointing to see so much misunderstanding
regarding facts that have been well understood for a decade now.
ShootistPRS, there are a couple of issues with the video you reference. First of all, you have to understand the mechanism where rifles penetrate less than handguns. WHEN this happens, it is because the rifle bullet has broken up due to the higher velocity. The smaller, irregular fragments of the rifle bullet lose energy very quickly.
The test you link to basically recreates the now 10-yr old "
Box O' Truth" setup - which the author of that site rarely uses any more and for good reason. If a bullet has to yaw and fragment to offer reduced penetration, setting pine boards or drywall spaced just inches a part is going to overstate how many layers the bullet will penetrate because at 3000 or so fps, the round will pass through multiple layers even before it fragments. As you can see,
spacing the drywall more realistically, produces different results with handgun, shotgun, and rifle ammo.
Second, the shooter is using a short barrelled rifle (less velocity = more penetration in this case; because the velocity is used to break the rifle bullet apart - which is what causes the reduced penetration).
Third, the shooter is using a 55gr hollowpoint Hornady Superperformance round with a full jacket. That would appear to be a
55gr GMX - which is an all copper round DESIGNED to provide superior barrier penetration by not breaking up and retaining its weight.
And yet, despite this, it ended up penetrating half a wall more than 9mm or 12ga. Although as a useful measurement, that is still kind of pointless since it doesn't tell us much about the potential for lethal injury if we miss our target entirely or the potential for overpenetration if we hit our target.
A key thing to remember when evaluating .223 for lower penetration is that bullet selection is very important. While even FMJ 55gr M193 ammo can show reduced penetration and less likelihood of injuring bystanders,
about 25% of the time, it doesn't yaw - and when it doesn't yaw, it doesn't break up or penetrate less.
ShootistPRS said:
The 223/5.56 is not ideal for use in most home defense situations where homes are in close proximity or there are friendlies in other rooms.
Not ideal? I'd be interested in hearing what you think is ideal then. A .223 is a low-recoil round with a high-probability of stopping a target that even a novice can use accurately and a miss (assuming proper ammo selection) is less likely to offer lethal injury to someone in another room of a typical modern house than either 9mm JHP or buckshot.
Now, having said all that - the number one way to reduce the risk of overpenetration is "DON'T MISS" - simple advice; but complicated to put into practice in a life or death situation. At the end of the day, you are usually better off with a firearm where you know and understand your limitations than the most highly recommended Internet bangstick that you are unfamiliar with or can't use well.
All other things being equal - a long gun goes a long way in making sure you make good hits at household distances, and it usually offers increased effectiveness on target when it does hit as well. The whole point of a handgun is to sacrifice power and accuracy for convenience and easy access. It drives me nuts when I see people who won't make use of the convenience or easy access of a handgun; but then refuse to consider a long gun for HD.
The 1300 fps #8 shot was stopped inside the second wall. (penetrated 1.5)
The 1400 fps #8 shot penetrated both walls but did not penetrate the paper beyond the walls.
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=336409