10Apr06

Pistol Bullet Performance:

The last time we did a bullet performance test was during a course in PA early last year. At that time, friend and colleague, Mike Shovel from Cor- Bon brought out huge blocks of ballistic gelatin, and we shot them with a varie ty of commercially-available, high-performance pistol ammunition. We required

each bullet to first penetrate four layers of denim before entering the gelatin. At that time, we discovered that denim retarded and frustrated th e expansion of a number of conventional, hollow-point bullets. In bare gelat in, most expanded just fine, but the denim barrier presented a problem for all but a

few.

Last weekend, again in PA, Mike joined us once more for an Advanced Defensive Pistol Course, The gelatin tests continued:

Many commented last time that they wondered what effect a heavy, leather jacket would have on pistol-bullet performance and penetration. So, this t ime we required each bullet to penetrate a leather jacket AND four layers of de nim before entering the gelatin. Each student subjected his own, carry ammunition to the test. Here is what we found:

The combination of leather and denim frustrated most conventional, hollow-points. Most traversed the gelatin with badly-compromised expansion . Some did not expand at all. Even Cor-Bon's vaunted PowerBall (45ACP, out of my Detonics) did not do well in this test. I was surprised, as few rounds wil l out-expand PowerBall, but the layers of clothing, combined with the Detonic s' short barrel, conspired to thwart performance.

The one round that expanded consistently and completely, despite the leathe r and denim barrier, in all calibers, was Cor-Bon's DPX! DPX, in 40S &W, 45ACP, 357SIG, 38Super, and 45AutoRim, were all unimpressed by the leather and denim. Even 380Auto DPX, out of my little Kel-Tec, was immune. It expande d symmetrically and completely, penetrating nine inches of gelatin, after penetrating the clothing.

I am more persuaded than ever that DPX provides superior performance in the

widest spectrum of circumstances, consistently outperforming any other bulle t of which I am aware.

/John