Even remembering, that this is the press who doesn't understand relative risks.....unix_jedi shares his thoughts on air marshals complaining that their "bullets pack too much punch."
No, even so, this is just utterly stupid. I can but hope that the "Marshals" who wrote this are the new ones that were hired/transferred in while the standards were lowered. That's scary, but less so than the alternative conclusions.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
We're the Only Ones Non-Frangible Enough
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3 comments:
David,
I found this article facinating.
For my bedroom gun I've got a ruger GP100 loaded with glaser safety ammo precisely because I was concerned about the potential of a stray shot penetrating into an ajoining bedroom.
As I'm sure you know the air marshals used to use the glaser rounds for years. Why the moved to hollowpoints is not clear from the article.
Frankly my guess would be cost. The glaser rounds are VERY expensive $2 a round. If I were to bet some pencil neck bean counter decided to change ammo because it would save X amount vs the glasers.
Info:
http://mysite.elixirlabs.com/index.php?uid=12665&page=1979
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaser_Safety_Slug
Purchase:
http://mysite.elixirlabs.com/index.php?uid=12665&page=1979
Might be a couple of reasons for the switch away from Glasers.
I've heard from folks who shoot them that they tend to shoot differently than 'regular' loads (different point of impact). They're also known to not perform as well as you'd like if the opponent is wearing a leather jacket or similar 'street armor'.
Mythbusters tested the Hollywood theory of explosive decompression. Bullets won't do it. Bullets right into and through the windows won't do it. A small shaped charge won't do it. Being Mythbusters they kept trying until they worked up to a big enough charge to blow open the side of the plane. Still didn't get Buster, the crash test dummy sucked out but he did get squished between rows of seats torn free by the blast of air rushing out. For those who haven't seen it, they got the use of a scrap plane, sealed it, and pressurized it to simulate the maximum pressure differential you could get in flight.
Note: from here at work the net-nanny won't let me see the article being discussed so I can only guess at the issues it addresses. But the Mythbusters episode is friggin neat!
David: Thanks for the link!
Glasers? Nice idea. Hell, great idea. Completely unusable, IMO.
At $10/6, there is *no way practical* you can test/practice and shoot enough to know the gun and the ammo.
Heck, _personally_, I'm not comfortable until I've put 500 rounds through a pistol.
Even if the Glazers were affordable:
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot4.htm
"Glazer Blue Tip 9mm.
I shot it out of my Beretta and it went through 6 boards of drywall and dented the 7th."
So, that's through both sides of an airliner fuselage - and probably most stuff in between.
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