You are confused good sir if you think departments want to spend money on ammo which is looked at as “specialty ammo” for regular patrol units. Even if we are talking about personal household and property protection, there are still pros and cons to everything.
I am well aware that issued ammo is often subpar; even the manufacturers will market it as such, such as the many varieties of Hornady TAP that aren’t barrier blind. That doesn’t mean that BlitzKing should be considered a good option if given the opportunity and ability to swap it out in personal guns, given that heavier OTMs have similar penetration and barrier characteristics, but with superior external ballistics.
Can an argument be made that they’re a “good enough” option? Sure. If that’s all you got, and you have other priorities (and don’t we all), it’ll definitely do the job. But if you’re gonna be asking for advice to min-max, then, well, it’s a pretty shit choice, IMO.
I used to say this, about my old department’s administration: “It is very easy to make decisions… that YOU yourself will never have to live with.”
I was being lectured one time by a captain, and he was questioning something stupid which I can’t even recall, but it was weapon related. All I could think of while he was talking was the last time he had worked patrol, cops didn’t carry radios. With 35/40 years on the department he was so out of his depth that he could only prattle about policy, which of course was written by people who also had no idea what they were talking about.
He also created his own use of force table/ladder/ continuum which he was very proud of. The problem was it was excessively wordy, with most of it needing to be flushed down the toilet. It became a game for some people in which they would simply cut and paste the policy part, then slap whatever they wanted on the other side. The Sgts and brass would bless off on anything that contained the magic buzzwords they were so proud of.
One of our Captains, the one that I butted heads with the most, had a grand total of 2 years as a patrol officer. TWO YEARS. And I threw taht into the conversation every time I got the chance. He was a Blevit.
I run mk262 mod1 77gr but keep in mind, a lot of gooks got slayed with m193 ball…
You have no idea how happy it makes me to have someone else feel my pain. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, and yes, I feel bad for both of us.
Next thing we can bitch about it women who can’t pass quals on the first attempt, but study all shift long and miss calls so they can promote to detective or Sgt. Its not only women, just a reoccurring theme.
Affirm, no way around it.
Brother… I didn’t even know you COULD hit the concrete at the 7 yard line. I was a Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor for 18 years, and we used to fight over who was forced to qualify Admin. They were frightening.
And I got so many “unqualified supervisor” stories I wouldn’t know where to begin. So yes, I feel your pain. To depths of my soul LOL.
I think a lot of you are over thinking this. No home intruder/cat burglar/rioter/anarchist commie/space zombie is going to brush off a well placed shot of 55 grain hard ball. If you’re worried about barrier performance, I ask what barriers would you need to penetrate, what self defense scenario are you picturing exactly??
In the context of deteriorating morals in American Culture, and the rise in racist activity/rioting by hate groups like Black Lives Matter, I don’t think it’s unrealistic to want an auto glass penetrating round any longer.
For me the concern of long gun defense has expanded beyond the scope of home defense only scenarios. And for the first time, I’m considering options beyond the glorious Mk262 frag master. So mostly automobile material is the barrier consideration for me.
There have been lots of good recommendations. But I’m surprised 77gr SMK has been mentioned so much and yet 77gr TMK has not. It isn’t barrier blind, but if you’re not concerned with shooting into or out of cars, then it has extremely reliable fragmentation and does so well into mid-range.
The TMK fragments even better than the equivalent OTM. It would make an outstanding house load especially if a fellow is an overpenetration-phobic character.
Gotta love when admin finally manages to draw their gun and fires off a round directly into the ground three feet in front of them, or the one that tried to do a speed load using his pager instead of his magazine, and it goes on and on.
Bullets that do well against the auto glass test also do well against bones.
Think about sub optimal angles or an arm pointing a gun at you. Are there places in a home where an intruder might hide behind a counter, refrigerator, or exterior door. People tend to wear multiple layers of thick clothes in the winter in many places.
The option to pick a barrier blind load tends to improve your odds against a worst case scenario and isn’t that big of cost premium for a few go mags.
Windshield glass in funky, not just with the glass, but with the multiple angles often involved.
I prefer M193 55g FMJ. It’s accurate enough and will get the job done.
I can think of three occasions, in the Midwest, in which a violent suspect was quickly stopped with M193 55g FMJ fired from a 16" carbine. Those shootings all occurred inside of 30 yards. I can think of one occasion in which a violent suspect was quickly stopped with Federal 55g JSP fired from a 14.5" carbine. That shooting occurred inside a walk in closet.
I chronographed training and duty ammunition using an Armalite patrol carbine with 16" barrel for those that are interested.
Federal M193 55g FMJ - AV-3065 fps, ES/SD-49/19 fps
Remington 55g FMJ - AV-2847 fps, ES/SD-61/21 fps
Winchester 55g JSP - AV-2949 fps, ES/SD-46/17 fps
Federal 55g JSP - AV-2953 fps, ES/SD-86/42 fps
Yeah. All I know is hold slightly low if shooting in from the front of the vehicle. I never tried bonded into auto glass with 5.56 though.
If you get a chance to test bonded 5.56mm ammunition on car windshields, I would certainly be interested in your results, especially angle of impact on the outside of the windshield and angle of exit inside the vehicle.
Someone here has probably done this (LE guys I’d guess). I’ve only shot auto glass once years back, and I didn’t have bonded. Everything 5.56 sucked… even M855.
I can’t remember where I saw heard that you hold a little low for straight on car windshield shots… but it wasn’t some youtuber douchebag or anything. It was a legit source.