Defensive Rifle Calibers

Most rifle calibers have come from the military.  If they weren’t directly used by the military at one point, they have their roots as a military cartridge.  We will talk about some of the common calibers for self defense.

The most common in the world is the 5.56 NATO or .223 Remington.  The round was designed as the .223 Remington and then modified just a hair to become the 5.56 NATO.  You can safely shoot both in a 5.56 gun, but should be careful shooting a 5.56 NATO round in a .223 Remington gun.   I’ll just leave it at that.  The reason why is a good topic for a Doctorial Thesis. 

The 5.56 was designed for the M16/M4 back in the 60s.  It’s still a great caliber and will do almost anything.  For self defense and M4 style rifle is really great.  It has an adjustable stock to fit any shooter, is lightweight, hardly has any recoil, is highly accurate, can be found cheaply, ammo is relatively cheap, and can be used for anything.  I am a big fan of this caliber, with the right ammo it is a great defensive round.  Add to that, you can buy lots of different rifles that have a 30 round magazine capacity.  If you are thinking about your first rifle, or first defensive rifle, buy an M4 style rifle by any of the big name manufacturers (there are like 15 of them) and you can’t go wrong.  Once you buy one, get some training, and have fun. 

The good and bad of the .556 is it’s small size.  The good part of that is that it’s lightweight, has little recoil, and is cheap.  The down side is that it’s a little tiny lightweight bullet.  A bigger bullet will do better but at a cost of recoil, weight, and price.  There are some great new calibers coming on the market that need more R and D to find out if they can replace the 5.56.  Some of the ones I have my eye on are the 6.5 SPC, and .300 BLK. 

Going up from a 5.56 is generally the .308 Winchester or 7.62 NATO.  In this case it’s the same cartridge.  The .308 has proven itself in combat since Korea.  It’s much bigger and harder hitting then the 5.56.  The rifle is much bigger and heavier then a 5.56 rifle, the ammo is heavier, and it kicks harder.  I’m weight and kick adverse, so I stick to the 5.56, but there are a lot of great rifles out there for self defense that fire a 7.62 round.  The old M14 or called an M1A for civilian use has been updated and are very nice to shoot.  You can also get an M4 on steroids that will shoot the 7.62 NATO.

The last one to really consider is a 7.62×39, or 7.62 AK.  It was designed to fire in an AK-47 style weapon and makes a great self defense round.  It is a little bigger then a 5.56 but smaller then a 7.62 NATO.  I like it because you can get an AK style rifle to fire it.  Not only is owning a piece of history fun, but the rifle is a good design that has proven itself throughout the world for over half a century.  It’s called an AK-47 because the Russian military adopted the design in 1947.  You really can abuse the rifle with dirt and mud and it will still operate.  I use one as my car gun right now.  I’ve been shooting a cheap one in competition (got mine for $400) and been beating guys with $2,000 M4 style rifles.  It’s still a good gun and caliber.  You can find the rifles and ammo super cheap and it’s a lot of fun to have around.

Making a choice between these three calibers is given and take.  Everything has good and bad. With any of them you want a bullet designed for self defense to defend yourself.  Lots of people just want to use what the military uses, but even they are rethinking what to use.  Ammo used by NATO, Russia, and America is all designed to fight WWIII.  The ammo is supposed to hurt someone when hit, so that another soldier stops to help the first one that was hit.  You want ammo that will stop someone from hurting you.  Here are some things to think about:

Find something you like, get some training, and shoot it a lot.  If you have any questions shoot me an email or leave a comment.

Stay Safe,

Ben