sighting in on Liberty Ammunition
ammo. I advised him that I had a friend’s Jeep Wrangler windshield (he had it re- placed after a small rock cracked it) and that the GTR Sporting Club in Waukegan, Ill. would allow me to conduct a version of the FBI Protocol ballistics test. Liberty agreed and soon gelatin, car doors, drywall, and plywood were obtained for the test.
Shooting and Testing – Ballistic Gel
.380, .38, .357, .40 S&W, 9mm, .45 ACP, 10mm, .45 Colt, and .223 all penetrated the windshield cleanly. Even the .380 ACP Civil Defense round fi red from a tiny S&W Bodyguard went through the windshield.
With law enforcement and civilians witness- ing the various tests, we started with bare gelatin. T is would be a test of Liberty’s Civil Defense ammo, so we didn’t want to get into a major comparison of other maker’s rounds, as information on them is available elsewhere. A 9mm Civil Defense round was fi red into the center of a gelatin block from 10 feet away. It was fi red from a Walther PPQ with a 5-inch barrel. T e round entered the gel and then it did what it was designed to do after traveling just 1.5 inches into the block. T e copper hollowpoint opened up. T e hydro- static shock created a temporary wound cavity approximately 3 inches long and 1.5 inches wide. T e eight petals of the hollowpoint broke off and formed eight diff erent smaller wound channels, while the solid bullet core penetrated 10 inches before stopping. T e cavities left in the ballistic gel were very dark, almost dirty looking. Liberty stated that the 9mm projectile moves so fast that it actually ignites the gelatin, causing the blackened appearance. Everyone was impressed with the Civil Defense 9mm’s performance. T ere are those who call the petals that break off “gimmicks.” Looking at them inside the clear gel block made them look serious.
Two lead-based hollowpoint 9mm rounds
Liberty’s Civil Defense bullets are moving so fast, they punch through automobile windshield glass and their point of aim equals their point of impact.
50 The Police Marksman Summer 2015
were fi red into the gel at the same distance from the PPQ. T e fi rst was a 147-grain round and the second was the same 135- grain police duty round with a polymer tip designed to cause consistent expansion of the bullet. T e standard round penetrated 14.5 inches into the gel and expanded as designed. However, the wound channel was not very impressive, being not much bigger than the opened bullet itself. T e polymer tip duty
www.policemarksman.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76