Yet another crop of supposedly high-tech, über-deadly bullets is appearing on the market, claiming to offer revolutionary results (usually at extraordinarily high prices). They include:
- The 'Multiple Impact Bullet', claiming to open out into a multi-projectile buzz-saw after firing, to ensure a hit (stupidly, ridiculously over-the-top marketing video here);
- The 'G2 Research R.I.P.' round, with a technically baffling description that appears to be all smoke and mirrors and very little intelligible science (marketing video here);
- Yet another ultra-light-weight, ultra-high-velocity round, 'Liberty Civil Defense' ammunition, that produces visually spectacular effects in target material. (See their YouTube channel for lots of videos, if you want to.)
As far as I'm concerned, Shakespeare's famous quotation about being "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" describes them all perfectly. I don't need to test them or see anyone else's tests of them. We've been here before in oh, so many different incarnations . . . Remember the hype about the so-called 'blended metal technology' used by RBCD Performance Plus ammunition? That was a charade from beginning to end, and was ruthlessly (and brilliantly) exposed some time ago. AR15.com has an excellent primer exposing most of the exotic ammo brands that have popped up, making extravagant claims, and then subsided into obscurity after being debunked. Go read it for yourself. I'm willing to bet that the products named above will prove no more substantial in their assertions.
The reason is very simple. All the major ammunition firms - Federal, Hornady, Speer, Winchester and the like - and, for that matter, the best smaller firms - Barnes, Black Hills, Buffalo Bore, Corbon, etc. - spend millions of dollars every year between them on ammunition research, development and testing. Their products are used by professionals such as law enforcement personnel, game rangers, etc., as well as private citizens who hunt, defend themselves and train with it. They sell literally billions of rounds every year. With that sort of market dominance, and that kind of revenue at stake, do you really think they aren't constantly looking for any technological edge they can get? If any one of them comes up with a world-beating product, it'll have a clear run at the market while everyone else races to catch up. Any one of the top companies in the field would give their left . . . well, you know what I mean . . . to be able to do that. The reason they can't is that all their competitors are trying to do the same. They're all improving their offerings incrementally, all the time, and 'keeping up with the Joneses' in the process.
These small, come-out-of-nowhere companies arrive with a big splash, putting out videos with dramatic footage and (usually) hard rock or heavy metal soundtracks portraying their allegedly 'world-beating' products . . . yet every one of them fades away after a while, leaving nothing behind. Why? Because it's nothing but hype from beginning to end. They're trying to sell snake oil. The fundamentals of good ammo performance are well-known - there's nothing secret or esoteric about them. All the major manufacturers adhere to those fundamentals in order to produce good ammunition. It's used by all major law enforcement agencies and top military outfits. What makes you think some upstart company that's come out of nowhere can suddenly overturn all that established science, technology and engineering, and do substantially better?
If products like these were so great, you can bet your boots that police forces, Special Forces units and others who bet their lives on their bullets every day would be beating a path to their manufacturers' doors. Indeed, many of these over-hyped products are alleged (by their makers) to be in service with such forces . . . but when it comes to actually identifying them and verifying their claims, they tend to clam up. They plead the excuse of 'non-disclosure agreements' or 'confidentiality clauses'. Uh-huh. If you believe that, there's a bridge in Brooklyn, NYC I'd like to sell you. Cash only, please, and in small bills.
Don't believe the hype. Find out what the major law enforcement agencies are betting their lives on every day, and use that ammunition to defend your own life. You won't find anything much better than that. Believe it.
Peter
Indeed Peter! Well said!
ReplyDeleteYou want me to use the ammo that LEO's are using? In my locale, the LEO's are Barney Fife's minions.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'll go there.
They better not come to my home either.
It won't matter to me when it's over anyway.
I've done just fine with ball for more than forty years.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this Peter. I've seen people posting about the stupid R.I.P. bullets all weekend long.
ReplyDeleteBut even more than that, I had never heard of the multiple impact bullet and just went to their site. I really love the semi-lethal stunner option!
Carteach0, who is in your blogroll, just did a test on the Liberty rounds,and liked what he saw, especially when he did a test fired into meat.
ReplyDeleteHe will be doing the same test with some regular self-defense rounds a little later to compare.
Sorry, didn't put the link in correctly or include my name
ReplyDeleteCarteach0 "Meaty test"
I agree with your comment about the best ammo coming from the major manufacturers, but I don't think it's wise to simply choose whatever the local LEO group is using and assume they know what they are doing. Most LEO procurement is done through a large bureaucracy and often on a cost basis, not on the basis of keeping the officers armed with the best ammunition. There have been lots of cases where LEOs found their ammunition to be insufficient to meet the threat when they were forced to use it. The FBI Miami shootout is a well-known case, and prompted the FBI to re-evaluate what they were using, but that's not something that is done by local PDs on a routine basis. I'd suggest doing some research on what is the best performing round for your weapon from a variety of testing sources. Don't take any single source as gospel, whether it be a gelatin test or the testament of your local PD.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous at 5:59 PM: Agreed - that's why I said 'Find out what the major law enforcement agencies (plural) are using'. If you see what the top Federal, State and city agencies are using, you'll generally find that a given round (e.g. Winchester Ranger, or Federal HST, or whatever) is widely used across a large number of agencies. That's a good recommendation, right there. If a round is only occasionally represented, that might be grounds to avoid it in favor of a more popular round.
ReplyDeleteMany yrs as a paramedic, first gun shot fatality i saw was one 22lr in the right place and I saw a lot after that. The trauma of gun shot wounds has been studied to death (pun) and it is ether big slow or small fast that does the most damage. I will not be wasting my money on this one
ReplyDelete