[runjake]

> the AR-15 is impractical gun for both home defense (Too long to for hallways. Too powerful for drywall.)

1. Actually, the .223/5.56mm round has less penetration in residential[1] that most handgun rounds due to its tumbling characteristics.

2. I'd say the AR-15 is impractical for home defense due to its stigma of being an evil black rifle, and that it seems like "overkill" to uneducated people. That's a shame, due to point #1, that it has less drywall/wood penetration than most handgun rounds.

The AR-15 is a pretty useful and relatively economical system, due to its modularity. That said, I agree with a lot of your other opinions regarding elements of the gun/tacticool culture.

[1.] In the drywall/stick-built US, anyway.

[linkregister]

I started to look for sources to refute claim #1, but found several firearms manufacturers' websites that affirmed it. I was pretty shocked.

I would still encourage use of a shotgun loaded with buckshot for home defense, since that same search engine query returned many results of state and federal cases where houses football fields away were penetrated by stray .223 rounds. Buckshot won't have the range to maim or kill compared to the NATO 5.56 round.

[defen]

> I would still encourage use of a shotgun loaded with buckshot for home defense

I don't really have a dog in this fight, but one thing I've heard from "gun enthusiast" family members is that this is fine if you're imagining an "ideal scenario" of being barricaded in your room waiting for the cops to show up, but it's worth considering what can go wrong - compared to a shotgun, an AR is much easier to operate with one arm (if you just woke up and one is asleep, or you were involved in a struggle that disabled one, or whatever); much less recoil (could be an issue if smaller family members need to use it); faster rate of fire and more rounds available before reloading (in case you miss or there are multiple attackers).

[runjake]

This isn't to confirm or refute your information, but rather some points:

- Houses that were penetrated by stray .223 rounds from football fields (aka multiple hundreds of meters) away probably weren't rounds shot through drywall. Maybe from outdoors, or through a window, who knows.

- .223 rounds that encounter no obstacles in flight have a flat trajectory of about 200 meters (2 football fields). .223 rounds that penetrate any substance of sufficient density have their flight path altered.

- In my limited experience with buckshot (none with residential materials), it's probably going to have a relatively flat trajectory, even through drywall. Something to especially consider if you have other people in your home.

[mapt]

My impression from what I'd read is that nearly anything that's got enough impact energy to penetrate clothing, soft flesh (denim & ballistic gel) and the hard bits of thorax, is going to get through perpendicular drywall very easily.

Here's the lightest round in common use, 22LR, holing 8 layers of drywall sequentially. This is 1/12th as much muzzle energy as .223:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ME3IEYoQXc

Here's pricy specialty frangible rounds designed not to go through walls... still going through walls in a test:

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/09/daniel-zimmerman/sh...

[hatsunearu]

>Here's the lightest round in common use, 22LR, holing 8 layers of drywall sequentially. This is 1/12th as much muzzle energy as .223:

22LR doesn't tumble.

>Here's pricy specialty frangible rounds designed not to go through walls... still going through walls in a test:

Frangible rounds are usually used so it doesn't ricochet and hurt someone. It just becomes dust when it hits something hard that would normally bounce a bullet.

[mapt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0qgQoej5zE

Here's a 223 round going through 10 layers of drywall, a pine 2x4, and six inches of ballistic gelatin afterwards. While tumbling, I'm sure.

[Thriptic]

Mind explaining what you mean by tumbling characteristics?

[hga]

When a long spitzer (pointed) bullet like those used for .223/5.56 NATO rounds changes media, they start doing a 180, that is, tumble, so that the denser rear is in the direction of travel.

[runjake]

When a 5.56mm round strikes a solid object, it tumbles (aka "yaws", or rapidly changes orientation).

Contrary to popular legend, it does not tumble in flight.