Out to about 65 yards, my Black Hills 68gr heavy match HP 223 rounds should be a more-than acceptable defense round. It’s very accurate in my 16" BCM upper, but apparently it does not fragment past this range.
The BH 75gr HMHP fragments out to about 115 yards, but this round is harder to find right now (not impossible, just harder) and it goes for about $0.90 per round.
I haven’t seen the vaunted Hornady 75gr NATO 5.56 round in years, and the last time I did see any, it was over $1.25 per round.
Barrier blind ammo is equally hard for me to get at any kind of affordable price.
I have always been leery of XM193 (or XM anything) as the military rejected it for a reason, but I can get some XM193 for a great price, and I’m tempted. I also see it fragments out to 140 or 150 yards - better than twice what the 68gr does, better even than the 75gr (at least in 223). I assume it fails on penetration, but is XM193 (or M193 for that matter) a better choice if employed within its fragmentation range but outside the heacy OTM fragmentation range (assuming no barrier penetration is needed), or keep using the XM193 for training and stick with the 68gr and 75gr for defensive use, even if employed outside their preferred ranges?
Thanks Doc. I did not realize that that bit about XM ammo, but it doesn’t make me less concerned with using it in my rifle. If I’m just looking to punch holes in paper or take a class, I’d stck with AE223 or PMC - it’s only a little bit more expensive, but if the XM was a viable alternative to, perhaps even a little better than, the newer heavy OTM’s (at least at the longer ranges), I’d buy it and keep some in reserve.
I had read that piece about the failure of the M193 round. I chalked it up to the fact that every round has failed at some point. I know the XM193 is not preferred, but I want something effective beyond the range of my 68gr load. I figured if I ever needed to employ my rifle out to 100 or more yards, the 68gr would be little more than a long-range .22. Not sure if this is a good analogy.
The fourth paragraph in the link discusses long range shooting…
The 68 and 69 gr OTM are going to work better than M193 at almost all ranges, including out to 200 or so.
Keep in mind that beyond 300, NO 5.56 mm projectile is doing much in the way of radical upset–most are just punching a hole. At long range, it is all about accuracy and projectile placement, not bullet upset.