Originally Posted by MacCool

No. Actually it depends very little on the ammo. It depends mostly on the ability of the shooter to consistently get rounds on target.

Many people like to obsess over their ammo choice, yet pay little attention to their training and practice. I would much rather put my life in the hands of a well-trained shooter shooting M193 than a casual weekend plinker shooting the most magical self-defense bullet on the market.

I see a lot of people on this forum with some really great hardware. They describe it well and lovingly post pictures of it here for all of us to drool over. I rarely see anyone here post their experience at their recent defensive carbine training course.

The hardware, ammo included is important. The ability to use that hardware effectively is infinitely more important. Before spending much mental effort on which ammo you're going to use in your defensive carbine, I think it's most wise to realistically evaluate your ability to shoot effectively in those scenarios that go beyond punching paper or plinking at tin cans. Go buy 5,000 rounds of .223 and shoot it over the next year. Take at least one defensive carbine course. THEN let's have the discussion about which ammo will kill a human best. Until then, save your money. You're going to be far more likely to just put a lot of expensive ammo past your attacker's 10-ring.