Rifle home defence ammo POI shift vs range ammo

[Divernhunter]

Neither choice. IF and that is a big IF I were to use a rifle for home defense. I would zero it with the HD ammo and just shoot other ammo for plinking and either not worry about the shift of aim or adjust my aim to hit were I want. It is not hard to do.
Do not over think it. and at the range it matters more that you get very small groups over the impact of the bullets is not exactly in the bulls eye. Not a single hunting rifle I own hits the bulls eye at 100 yards. They all are 2.5-3" high--------but they shoot very small groups there.

[mshill]

Right. I don't even get that kind of deviation with my AR Pistol, off hand, at 25 yards with my RDS,a pretty bad astigmatism, and Tula vs my handloads.

[BigPimping]

Damn I just have a 12 gauge with 00Buck. What else is needed?

[CMBrowning]

I'm not into precision shooting. I'm into hitting vitals. At 5-25 yards, sure give me any ammo I can get my hands on. Though in my case I'm protecting 40 acres. I've stopped a lot of poaching and trespassers up here on and near by my property. Would never do it without knowing my gun will touch them where I want it to.

[rugershooter]

Damn I just have a 12 gauge with 00Buck. What else is needed?

Different strokes for different folks...

[TRICKSTER]

Have you ever shot an AR with vastly different ammo ~25yards? The POI shift I've observed has been in the ballpark of a foot or two. That's a massive difference especially when you take into consideration the height over bore.

If you are experiencing a 1' to 2' shift at 25 yards with various factory ammo, it is most likely that the ammo is not the primary problem.

[bootstrap]

OP, for a very close proximity situation, I'd be much less concerned about the accuracy of the ammo than I would reliability.

At short distances, relying on an optic can slow you down. Cover threats with the front sight post.

[CSACANNONEER]

Have you ever shot an AR with vastly different ammo ~25yards? The POI shift I've observed has been in the ballpark of a foot or two. That's a massive difference especially when you take into consideration the height over bore.

So, you're planning for a SD shooting inside your home where you're shooting +25 yards?

Yes, I've shot different ammo from ARs but have never experienced a 96 moa (that's over 1 1/2 DEGREES of angle!) difference at 25 yards. I think you have other issues unless, you're talking about comparing some specialty ammo with a MV of 500fps against some high velocity ammo.

Handguns aren't the same because the sights are essentially on the barrel, so they really are point and shoot. AR's are a little different.

LOL. The vast majority of handguns do NOT have both sights on the barrel but, most rifles, including ARs have both front and rear sights either on the barrel or connected to the barrel in a ridged fashion. Many, if not most, semi auto pistols have neither sight on the barrel or even mounted in a manner where the sights are connected in a ridged way to the barrel. The bottom line is many ARs have a front sight mounted to the barrel and a rear sight mounted to the receiver. Also, many handguns, including most revolvers, have a front sight mounted to the barrel and a rear sight mounted to the frame(receiver). I have several non revolver handguns that also have front sights mounted to the barrel and rear sights mounted to the frame/reciever just like AR15s were designed to have.

55gr vs 60gr+ have a major shift especially when you get to the heaviest bullets on the spectrum.

I'm starting to see the issue. You don't have a good understanding of ballistics. Bullet weight alone will not change the POI. In fact, one can easily make a bunch of loads using bullets of different weights that all have the same basic POI if the bullets have the same BC and loaded to the same MV. That's very basic physics. Yes, a 40 grain bullet and an 80 grain bullet can have identical flight paths.

The reason I bring this up is it's a real concern. What if a natural disaster hits or a massive earthquake and you need to get out of dodge. Not saying you'll need to shoot at anyone ~100+ yards away, but knowing your POI could be off so severely you'd miss by a foot is discerning. Think about the LA Riots and the BLM or Antifa riots. Would you want to be caught right in the middle of that with no way to zero your rifle? If you ever have to pick your AR, I assume SHTF and things are pretty volatile.

Huh? I can't think of a scenario where I would only have unknown ammunition to fire through my firearm. I also can't think of a scenario where I can legally discharge a firearm and would not be able to zero it, at any distance, with one shot. BTW, which one of my ARs are you assuming that I'd grab and why do you think I'd be so stupid as to not have it zeroed for the ammo I have for it?

I remember when I first put a sight on my shotgun. The height over bore is about half that of an ar, and when I took my first two shots at 25yards I couldn't see my hits until I looked at the bottom of the paper. I had to adjust my POI a full torso to get on.

Wow. you're comparing the trajectory of a slow moving shotgun slug with a bad BC to a supersonic .223 projectile with a decent BC and, on top of that, starting with an unzeroed shotgun. Did you, at least, bore sight your shotgun sights with your eye looking through the bore? Do you really think that your premise is correct? Did you take ALL or even half of the other factors into consideration before jumping to the conclusion that your results were due to the height of the sights over the bore? Also, what does this have to do with your AR shooting 96 moa different at 25 yards?

[colt11]

In addition to the ammo concern, my rifles are zeroed at a minimum of 100 yards (50 yards for rimfire). Recommend testing and labeling a quick close range zero guide, for example: Aim 3-inch low at 10-yards.

[Jimi Jah]

If 62 grain FMJ is good enough for NATO it's good enough for a local criminal.

Let it tumble...

[apbrian112]

You're overthinking it unless you live in a house with the worlds longest hallways.