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Frangible ammo for self defense
Why cool packaging doesn't necessarily equal performance
If you've been around for a while you have probably come across "super tactical amazing ammo". The ammo usually features some low mass high velocity projectile that promises to kill bears in a single blow. Often times they spend more money on the packaging than they do on the round. For these reasons I was very skeptical when a viewer asked me to test the HPR Black Ops 62gr OTF in .223 Remington.
Ammo Features:
This particular round features a 62gr Open Tip Fraginble projectile. The bullet has a metal alloy core. It's design is supposed to enable it to fragment early in soft tissue in order to transfer maximum kinetic energy while minimizing the risk of over penetration. Frangible ammunition also holds the ability to disintegrate when it strikes hard surfaces.
Results
Bare Gel:
The bare gel test yielded some interesting results. The round performed as designed. We saw an almost perfect jacket core separation and fragmentation. The powder alloy core did a decent job of transfering energy early, although some of the powder continued into the gel out until the twelve inch mark. The farthest point of penetration was measured at twelve inches.
Car Door Results:
The round seems to have been hindered by the car door test. The metal "doors" kept the round from immediately fragmenting. The bullet broke into two main portions that traveled to the twelve inch mark. This disabled the rounds ability to transfer energy early. Car doors are usually constructed of thin metal (~20 gauge steel). I was hoping this would cause fragmentation in the round before it hit the block.
Wall Sim test:
Surprisingly the wall completely defeated this ammo. The round struck the gel sideways and failed to fragment. After spinning through the gel and yawing off course the bullet punched out of the side of the block around the nine inch mark. Damage to the gel was minimal.
Conclusion:
Overall this ammunition could be used in specialized settings. This test also reinforces the idea that expensive packaging doesn't equate to high performance. The round performed well against bare gel, but did not seem to handle the barriers properly. Frangible ammunition is designed to break apart upon contact with hard targets. Unfortunately the barriers we often find in firefights, such as car doors and dry wall, do not seem hard enough to cause the disintegration of the bullets that we had hoped. As a result of this failure, the ammunition disintegrated in random and unreliable patterns. This issue may be inherit to all types of frangible ammunition, but we would need more testing to confirm that speculation.
If you've been around for a while you have probably come across "super tactical amazing ammo". The ammo usually features some low mass high velocity projectile that promises to kill bears in a single blow. Often times they spend more money on the packaging than they do on the round. For these reasons I was very skeptical when a viewer asked me to test the HPR Black Ops 62gr OTF in .223 Remington.
Ammo Features:
This particular round features a 62gr Open Tip Fraginble projectile. The bullet has a metal alloy core. It's design is supposed to enable it to fragment early in soft tissue in order to transfer maximum kinetic energy while minimizing the risk of over penetration. Frangible ammunition also holds the ability to disintegrate when it strikes hard surfaces.
Results
Bare Gel:
The bare gel test yielded some interesting results. The round performed as designed. We saw an almost perfect jacket core separation and fragmentation. The powder alloy core did a decent job of transfering energy early, although some of the powder continued into the gel out until the twelve inch mark. The farthest point of penetration was measured at twelve inches.
Car Door Results:
The round seems to have been hindered by the car door test. The metal "doors" kept the round from immediately fragmenting. The bullet broke into two main portions that traveled to the twelve inch mark. This disabled the rounds ability to transfer energy early. Car doors are usually constructed of thin metal (~20 gauge steel). I was hoping this would cause fragmentation in the round before it hit the block.
Wall Sim test:
Surprisingly the wall completely defeated this ammo. The round struck the gel sideways and failed to fragment. After spinning through the gel and yawing off course the bullet punched out of the side of the block around the nine inch mark. Damage to the gel was minimal.
Conclusion:
Overall this ammunition could be used in specialized settings. This test also reinforces the idea that expensive packaging doesn't equate to high performance. The round performed well against bare gel, but did not seem to handle the barriers properly. Frangible ammunition is designed to break apart upon contact with hard targets. Unfortunately the barriers we often find in firefights, such as car doors and dry wall, do not seem hard enough to cause the disintegration of the bullets that we had hoped. As a result of this failure, the ammunition disintegrated in random and unreliable patterns. This issue may be inherit to all types of frangible ammunition, but we would need more testing to confirm that speculation.
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