FMJ effectiveness for home defense

depends, vihtavuori powders seems to be available, made in Finland. They are a higher end powder, but not crazy expensive. the more common powder are hit or miss, depends where you shop. the place I generally go to is a 2hr drive. little shop in a small town, but he always has stuff. his shelves were full except for 1 or 2 powders. Some of the stores closer to me are sold out, or shelves half empty. The more useful powders are gone, and the less common ones are available.
 
Shadow9mm said:
As far as 16 vs 20in barrel velocity debate, In this specific circumstance I don't think it makes a difference. As home defense is the question and ranges will be close, if we were talking 200yds plus I would agree. Also even out of a 16" is still moving pretty fast.
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Yep. The change from a 20-inch barrel to a 16-inch barrel drops the muzzle velocity a couple of hundred feet per second (say 50 to 90 meters/second). That reduces the distance at which M193 reliably fragments from (IIRC) around 200 meters to around 160 meters. It's been years since I ran the numbers on that but the bottom line is that M193 will tumble and fragment at typical home defense ranges, even out of a 16-inch carbine.
 
.223 fmj isn’t the best choice, but if it is your only choice, it will do.
The most concise way to put it, is to say that they make an unpredictable mess at ranges that most civilized people would consider to be an appropriate distance to claim self defense.
 
Our outdoor range --- here in Maryland --- has banned the use of the M855 - 62 grain - armor piercing Green Tip on it's range; due to the chance of ricochets and rendering of steel targets and frames.
 
Hiralaam, Glad you are here and shared your experience buy a gun and ammo. Depending on what state you live in over here the experience can be completely different.
When I buy a gun it takes about 15-20 minutes and that includes the background check. Ammo has gotten hard to find but I have a store that gets some in and sells it at a fair price. I don't know if you are restricted on how much ammo you can have on hand but here we can stack it pretty deep and that is how some of the folks get through ammo shortages. Hope to hear more from you. Take care and have a Merry Christmas.
 
FMJ ammo in general will penetrate more than Hollow or Soft point ammo. I would suggest you buy 223 soft point hunting ammo and use that in the AR after testing for reliability which is even more important. I would suggest the lower penetration and bigger caliber size of the 45 is superior for home protection. When push comes to shove you use what you have and be selective with your shots.
 
Erno86 said:
Our outdoor range --- here in Maryland --- has banned the use of the M855 - 62 grain - armor piercing Green Tip on it's range; due to the chance of ricochets and rendering of steel targets and frames.
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Their range, their rules. But M855 is not an "armor piercing" round. It does have a small, steel penetrator button at the tip, but that was designed to ensure penetration of a standard GI "steel pot" helmet at 600 meters -- when the impact occurs at precisely 90 degrees. M855 does not penetrate armor.
 
Shot placement is key, but under stress, how many of us have nerves of steel, can channel Charlie Askins or Jim Cirillo ? Also I think we're too hungup on this
"Zapped by lightning" notion. I agree self defense training should be based on a worse case scenario-"a 6'6" giant on PCP" as one martial arts instructor put it.
But the idea that an assailant is going to laugh off a wound from an " inadequate" caliber....?
 
Welcome to the forum and best wishes for a great holiday season.
Practically speaking I would not overthink this. I do not count on single shots putting down an aggressor. My self defense arm carries eight rounds. Mine and your AR, I suspect, is not particular about what you feed it, plus I thought you said you had multi round magazines. Shot placement is much more important than the bullets you are shooting. So, if you have a magazine with a few rounds in it, be careful where you put the first round....if it goes through a bony sternum and the spine, overpenetration will be a lesser concern...although still present. And then plan on a second round to COM if in a defensive setting.
No matter what you shoot in any configuration, shot placement is paramount right after seeing the front sight.
 
Hiralaam wrote:
FMJ effectiveness for home defense
Hello all,

I know this question has been asked, debated and answered a thousand times. But perhaps not in this context.
I'm from Belgium and after jumping through many hoops, filing more than enough paperwork and waiting many months I finally got my first AR.

Now hollow points are illegal here no matter what, and I knew this. However when I went to pick up ammo at one of the largest gun stores in the country, which I'm sure you all would find laughably puny, all they had was 3 different brands of 55gr FMJ. Nothing else. Whilst I'm sure its obviously better than nothing, I just can't help wonder if that's actually enough. Many of the posts I see on this topic compare how effective better rounds are and why you should use them, but is 55gr FMJ really able to do the job? I could reload for some heavier bullets, but that's about it.

Same for pistol rounds. I've got a 1911 in .45 of course and a double stack 9mm. Having to stick purely to FMJ, could this reliably stop someone in their tracks? Not that I'd grab a pistol over my AR in the middle of the night, but I'd like to carry one on my property.
Oh and on that note, .45 vs 9mm? LOL.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
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I would have no qualms relying on .45ACP hardball (230gr FMJ with round nose) for self/home defense. I use it in my short-bbl handguns in .45ACP and its record is about the best of the military FMJ cartridges our of service automatics.

I would be less sanguine with 9mm FMJ and instead rely on the .45ACP, given the choice.

If you can find FMJ-TC or FMJ-FN, that would be the best FMJ. TC= Truncated cone, FN=Flat Nose.

Something like this:

.45ACP
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Handgun/Win-1911/X45T
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Handgun/Super-X/WC452
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=340 (185gr)
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=395 (hardcast lead, but no HP)
https://www.underwoodammo.com/colle...in-hard-cast-flat-nose?variant=18785707622457 (hardcast lead)


9mm
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Handgun/Active-Duty-/WIN9MHSC
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Handgun/Super-X/WC91
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Handgun/Super-X/WC92
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Handgun/USA/USA9MM1
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Handgun/USA-Ready-/RED9
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Handgun/Super-X/WC93

As far as 5.56mm, 55gr with a cannelure is likely the best bet if soft or hollow points not allowed.
 
Hiralaam, is ballistic tip ammo legal in Belgium? If so, look into that. Less problem with over penetration, and devastating results in soft tissue.
 
I have always considered it a luxury to have JHP available. Its not like I am doing any handwringing over having to use FMJ. If JHP is not available, I aint mad.

Its just not that important to me.. really its not.
 
Paul Harrell is a YouTube type guy and has a unique and informative kind of shade tree ballistics channel. He has done some videos on this topic. Google it up and watch him shoot some pork shoulders and what not.
 
It takes the military roughly 250,000 rounds expended to kill one enemy combatant.
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Not exactly. Don't confuse number of rounds expended with number of rounds needed. Big difference there.

The problem is perception more than anything else. Hollow points and soft point expanding bullets do a slightly better, more effective job of incapacitating people than FMJ bullets, when the bullet does not strike a vital spot.

Because of that people act like (and some actually believe) that FMJ will not work. This is untrue. FMJ does work. It has, and it will, provided YOU put the bullet where it needs to go.
 
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