What the heck, might as well address the others.
#2. They said it was a Bushmaster because that is what the police reported the gun as being. They had it in their possession so they know what brand it was.
#3. Hollow point .223 is rather common. I have it loaded up in several magazines now.
#4. If you’ve ever shot a cinder block, you would know that the bullet penetrates and disintegrates. It doesn’t bounce around. Especially a hollow point which is made to expand and break apart.
#5 & #6 I take it you haven’t shot an AR even though you said you did in #6. They actually aren’t that loud. An AR10 that shoots a 7.62 is loud but an AR15 only shoots a .223, not a large round. Regarding #6, it is rather silly to describe if someone used the term ‘pop’ versus ‘bang’ but acoustics have a lot in play. How much will a room muffle. A concrete room with carpet on the floor and possibly drywall will absorb a lot of sound.
I just got on Brownells website. I found the Hornady hollow points, but not in stock. I’ve never seen any others. Any hollow points I’ve ever shot in 5.56 I had to reload my own.
Both my ARs are loud. They are louder than my bolt action .308. I sure as heck wouldn’t want to be in the same enclosed room with them going off.
Regarding a ricochet, I’ve shot 5.56 hardball ammo against concrete walls at 100 yds and had the bullets bounce back within 20 yds of me.
If you shoot an AR in a house wihout hearing protection you will absolutely and permanantly damage your hearing. There are multiple law enforcement training studies to back this up.
Just adding something to your statement. Anyone who has ever heard a firefight at a distance knows that the shot sound like pops, and it doesn’t take much of a distance to reduce them to pops, even a .30 caliber weapon sounds that way. Only when you are in the midst of a firefight does the noise reach horrendous levels. A few walls can reduce the sound of a small caliber weapon(such as a .223)to popping sounds.