sighting in on Liberty Ammunition
a recent sale and conducted some velocity tests on my own. Scientifi c ballistics tests often utilize test
barrels under extremely controlled labora- tory conditions. Being a cop and not a sci- entist, my test barrels are actual fi rearms, and I just have a local range instead of a lab. Oh, and I don’t have a lab coat either.
Velocity
To confirm Liberty’s velocity claims, I loaded up a Walther PPQ M2 9mm pis- tol sporting a 5-inch barrel with one of the newest law-enforcement duty rounds made of traditional copper jacketed lead. It’s a hol- lowpoint with a polymer tip to aid in con- sistent expansion and is advertised and sold
as a police duty round. Firing fi ve rounds of this 135-grain 9mm through the screens of the chronograph revealed an average velocity of 1082 fps.
Liberty Ammunition’s Civil Defense line of monolithic copper, nickel-plated cartridges is available in .380 ACP, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, 10mm, .45 ACP, .45 Long Colt, and .223 Remington.
The 9mm Liberty round entered the gel and caused a spectacular hydrostatic shock wound channel that was 1 ½ inches wide and 3 inches long. Eight petals of the hollowpoint separated to form eight more wound channels and the solid core penetrated 10 inches into the gel. The bullet moves so fast that it ignites the gel, causing the dark appearance.
48 The Police Marksman Summer 2015
A second magazine containing fi ve rounds of Liberty’s Civil Defense 9mm 50-grain bul- lets resulted in an average velocity of 2265 fps. T e speed of the Civil Defense rounds is quite high and attributable to the bullet’s lighter weight. While the numeric readout on the chronograph is impressive, so is the recoil. T ere was noticeably less recoil with the Liberty 9mm cartridges. To compare the felt recoil as much as possible, rounds of the 135-grain lead rounds were alternated in a magazine with Liberty’s 50-grain rounds. Firing them off hand from a two-handed hold, the diff erence was obvious. T e Liberty bullets delivered much less felt recoil, mean- ing faster follow-up shots would be possible since the muzzle fl ip was less. T e lead bullet weights most commonly encountered in the 9mm Luger cartridge are 115, 124, and 147 grains. Liberty’s 50-grain projectile weighs less than half of the stan- dard 9mm’s lightest bullet. Again, cops are even more skeptical than the layman. T e 9mm vs. .45 ACP and heavy vs. light bullet arguments have gone on for decades. Car- rying 51 rounds of 9mm in magazines on your duty belt (a Glock 17 with 17-round magazines) at 124 grains each compared to Liberty’s 50-grain each bullets is a consider- able weight savings. T e same goes for .45 caliber bullets and just having offi cers hold a box of 20 rounds of Liberty in their palm compared to a similar box of lead bullets proves the diff erence. Pretty much anyone who claims to be rea- sonable understands that bullet placement is the all-important factor in stopping a threat as quickly as possible. With this in mind, there are still those who cannot get past how light the Liberty bullet is. Wound cavities, penetration, and bullet weight retention all come into play when discussing ballistics. T ere are those who desire a bullet’s ability to penetrate (whether it be walls, steel, glass, etc.) and there are those who desire a bullet’s ability to create hydrostatic shock and trans- fer all of its energy without exiting the target.
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