Wanted: Most Fragmenting .223 ammo for HD!

[Sneaky]

Wanted Most Fragmenting .223 ammo for HD!

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Having just bought a Bushmaster AR for home defense I am
investigating what .223 ammo with a 1 in 9 rifle twist will fragment the most! I have narrowed my search to these three .223 ammo choices:

(1) Federal 55gr. TRU with a Nosler Ballistic Tip
(2) Winchester 55gr. Ballistic Silver Tip
(3) HornadyTap-55gr.

Out of the three fore-mentioned .223 ammo choices which one fragments the most??
If you know of any .223-55gr. ammo's that fragment-
kindly let me know!

I am not using any ball ammo!

Thank-You for your replies!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[sgb]

Best Choices for Self Defense Ammo

[RKM]

Hornady TAP is one of the best, proven fragmenting OTM rounds. I'd use the 75gr instead. 1:9 twist can't be argued here for two reasons. 1:9 in my experience stabilized 75gr just fine to at least 100 yards. And I highly doubt any hallway in your house is more than 100 yards. Not that the 55gr TAP is a bad choice, but 75gr is preferred. Either way you choose, it'll work.

There is also Mk318 which is my second choice to TAP. Mk318 has good barrier penetration, so it may not be the preferred choice for home defense, but is also a great fragmenting round.

[Sneaky]

Hornady TAP is one of the best, proven fragmenting OTM rounds. I'd use the 75gr instead. 1:9 twist can't be argued here for two reasons. 1:9 in my experience stabilized 75gr just fine to at least 100 yards. And I highly doubt any hallway in your house is more than 100 yards. Not that the 55gr TAP is a bad choice, but 75gr is preferred. Either way you choose, it'll work.

There is also Mk318 which is my second choice to TAP. Mk318 has good barrier penetration, so it may not be the preferred choice for home defense, but is also a great fragmenting round.

Would the 75gr. Tap fragment as well as the 55gr.Tap?
Thank-you for the information!

[sgb]

The 55gr TAP is the same loading as the V-max varmint load, just with a nickel plated case.

[RKM]

Would the 75gr. Tap fragment as well as the 55gr.Tap?
Thank-you for the information!

At self defense ranges, yes. Out of a 16", I think it fragments somewhere out to 150-200 yards, reliably. But despite that, inside your home it still has plenty of velocity to fragment. I have a 1:9 16" barrel loaded with 75gr TAP.

[QKShooter]

Best Choices for Self Defense Ammo

As per your link. Just thinking that it's really not all that important for any strictly home defense round to be perfectly stabilized.

"If Barrier penetration is NOT an important factor AND your rifle can't stabilize the heavy 70+ grain bullets:"

[gasmitty]

Have you considered frangible? At across-the-living-room distances, it's got to be deadly.

[Fisher10]

ZOMBIE MAX!!! .223 Remington 55 gr Z-MAX Ammo Test - YouTube
This should be an accurate depiction of what the 55gr Hornady Tap would do at 100 yards.

You want fragmentation?

[CDW4ME]

I've shot handloaded Nosler 55 gr. Ballistic Tips and Hornady 55 gr. SP into water filled gallon jugs with equivalent results: bullet fragmented in the 1st jug, multiple impacts on front of 2nd jug, fragments recovered in 2nd jug.

In contrast, the Nosler Partition 60 and Barnes TSX 55 both penetrated to the back of the 4th jug, leaving a dent, and expanded to .40 - .45

[Bazinga]

How about none of the above? The TRU and Silver tip are made to penetrate....

[petecamp]

In my opinion you're asking the wrong question. You should ask (for home defense): Which round will penetrate to FBI standards and expand to create the largest permanent wound cavity? Obviously the 40 grain varmit loads fragment the most of any round. But they are terrible on anything larger than a starving coyote. It simply isn't about fragmentation. There is a good link posted above. Whatever works for LE (non-barrier penetration) will work fine for you. And unless you have a 200 yard long hall in your home, most any of the loads listed will perform adequately.

[davetron]

the black hills MK 262 Mod 1 77 gr out of a 16 inch barrel is supposed to be extremely effective on "soft tissue". It's my understanding that's what the special ops units developed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It supposedly yaws at slower velocities than the 62 grain variant and also fragments violently. It's basically the military version of the Hornady tap 77 grain.

[SFury]

For home defense don't go with fragmenting bullets. Go with some type of hollow point round, or expanding lead nose round. Partitioned rounds tend to not break apart at close ranges unless bone is hit. They are effectively just going to pass through your target with a small wound channel.

I've seen this personally with the Winchester Ballistic Silver Tips while deer hunting.

If you hit bone at close ranges, amazing damage. You fail to hit bone, almost no damage. The difference is dramatic, and potentially life altering in a SD scenario. Just my .02 with experience with partitioned rounds and taking game.

Edit:
I use a deer hunting rifle in the 7mm08 caliber which is substantially larger than the .223 caliber. This means I'm more likely to hit bone with a larger projectile size than the standard .223s will.