Glaser Safety Slugs: Shot and Thought

[Scarecrow411]

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/6854/equipmentla8.th.jpg (http://img410.imageshack.us/my.php?image=equipmentla8.jpg)

The infamous Glaser Safety Slug. Anytime something says "Unequaled Stopping Power" right on the packaging I become upset. Stopping powah and "best round" debates can get heated, and this last one about the effectivness of Glaser Safety Slugs prompted to me put my money where my mouth is.

For those unaware, Corbons Glaser Safety Slug is a round marketed as minimizing over penetration, recoil and richochets while maximizing stopping power. The catridge contains lead shot capped witha polymer ball. On impact that ball seperates and the lead shot fragments. "Glaser Blue penetrates five to seven inches in International Ballistic Wound Association protocol testing..." The FBI tests for rounds that penetrate 12 inches in this style of testing. I don't know anything of this nonsense - I am neither physician nor engineer. I still had my doubts that this gimmick round would even penetrate a ribcage. In my imagination I saw a shallow, messy wound - but nothing that would cause anything near the trama necessary to immediately stop someone intent on doing you harm.

My argument was that the ribcage would present a huge obstacle for the lead shot to over come. With this in mind we grabbed some wood, a pumpkin, and some drywall and set to work. My cohorts had some other tests in mind as well.

Some notes: This isn't even remotely scientific and proves very little as to the effecticvness of Glaser Safety Slugs. I didn't work the camera. Test gun was a Glock 17, the distance was 21 feet. Are wood "ribs" were target sticks turned thick-wise and stacked.

Test 1: Denim, wood ribs, more denim, pumpkin, water bottle, more pumpkin, drywall.

Pumpkin Entry/Exit Wound

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/1117/t1entryun1.th.jpg (http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=t1entryun1.jpg) http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/9228/t1exitfg2.th.jpg (http://img359.imageshack.us/my.php?image=t1exitfg2.jpg)

Test 1 video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUIP4XfU2bE)

Test 2: Denim, wood ribs, more denim, some pumpkin, water bottle, more pumpkin, drywall.

Pumpkin Entry/Exit Wound

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2707/t2entryfu8.th.jpg (http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=t2entryfu8.jpg)http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1601/t2exitpw7.th.jpg (http://img408.imageshack.us/my.php?image=t2exitpw7.jpg)

Test 2 Video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yus4ihcFbYM)

Sheet 1 Entrance/Exit Wounds (Test 1 and 2)

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8756/test12wallentryit6.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test12wallentryit6.jpg) http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8312/test12wallexitkq1.th.jpg (http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test12wallexitkq1.jpg)

I made sure we got pictures of the "ribs," but low and behold both shots were solid and punched right through the wood. These were not glancing shots, the entry holes were clean, the exit holes showed just a minor increase in radius. The two layers of denim appeared to have no impact on the round.

In both cases the bullet was able to puncture all layers and continue through the dry wall on the other side. What about if we just shot it at drywall?

Test 3: Drywall, drywall, some distance (14'), some drywall, and a stunt turkey drywall.

So here we have a test replicating two uninsulated walls spaced some distance apart. Somewhere around sheet 5 I noticed my trusty camera man had a pen in his vest:

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/579/test3wall1entryye7.th.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test3wall1entryye7.jpg)http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/8206/test3wall1exityf9.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test3wall1exityf9.jpg)http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/658/test3wall2entrynn5.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test3wall2entrynn5.jpg)http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/6647/test3wall2exittu1.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test3wall2exittu1.jpg)http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2988/test3wall3entryth6.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test3wall3entryth6.jpg)http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/4118/test3wall3exitet2.th.jpg (http://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test3wall3exitet2.jpg)http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/9902/test3wall4entryyb0.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test3wall4entryyb0.jpg)http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/5627/test3wall4exitjz3.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test3wall4exitjz3.jpg)

Test 3 Video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beuzvSMPfgU)

Test 4: Simu-Wall, Pumpkin, 14', Simu-wall

Wall 1 Entry/Exit Wounds:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9417/test4wall1entrywf9.th.jpg (http://img146.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test4wall1entrywf9.jpg)http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/7458/test4wall1exitkq1.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test4wall1exitkq1.jpg)

Sheet 2 Entry/Exit Wounds:

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/1479/test4wall2entryvn9.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test4wall2entryvn9.jpg)http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6248/test4wall2exityy6.th.jpg (http://img146.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test4wall2exityy6.jpg)

Pumpkin Entry/Exit Wounds
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5016/test4entrylv5.th.jpg (http://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test4entrylv5.jpg)http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3404/test4exitfs3.th.jpg (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=test4exitfs3.jpg)

The far wall showed no penetration, but did have some light pocking from individual pellets handling it.

Test 4 video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPKsJFaS57k)

Summation:

If pumpkins attack go to Glaser. It acts like a normal bullet right up until it hits something other then a wall and then goes into action. This means if you miss your target you're just as fucked as if you hit it. If you hit your target, anything that penetrates probably won't cause damage. I was genuinely surprised at how well the round worked with our simulated "ribs." I'll stick to Ranger SXT, but won't feel so bad selling this stuff now.

Additional Links:
Box 'o Truth test w/ Glasers. (http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot23_4.htm)
Corbon's Glaser Website (http://www.dakotaammo.net/products/glaser/glaser.htm)

Here's a bonus shot of what I could've shot if I didn't have a real job:

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/6615/bonusjn9.th.jpg (http://img502.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bonusjn9.jpg)

One day I will rock with full auto SBRs sporting silencers and other cool shit, but for this month at least I'll pay my bills.

[Fang]

Great writeup! Everyone has some sort of strong opinion about Glaser rounds, but this is the first time I've actually seen them tested. I'll stick with Golden Sabers, but it's nice to finally get solid data on these rounds.

[highmeh]

This is a great review. I've considered picking up Glaser Safety Slugs on a few occasions for my XD, but i think i'll stick with Gold Dots.

[bunnielab]

I have gotten a bug about making varmint rounds for my .357mag rifle. I wounder how feasible it would be to pull some Glasers and reload them up to rifle standards.

No matter the result, it would be almost too expensive to really test.

[Scarecrow411]

Yeah, the rounds do weigh in at $2+ per cartridge, but they do make for just all of the "mainstay" cartridges. It was only after I finished off the six pack that I thought about rechambering a round a few dozen times to see if any setback occurred.

If you really wanted to find out they do make .357Mag load. I've been thinking about picking up a .357 Lever Gun because of the availability of ammo.

[bunnielab]

If you really wanted to find out they do make .357Mag load. I've been thinking about picking up a .357 Lever Gun because of the availability of ammo.

I have seen .357 rifle load date that will push a 125g bullet to around 2100fps. I believe that might turn a Glaser slug into some sort of disintegration ray. So long as you are trying to disintegrate something ground-hog sized.

Do they list a bullet weight on the package?

Also, despite having only shot mine once, I feel confident in saying that if you have a good place to shoot "stuff" a .357 levergun might be the most fun you can have for the money. It remains to be seen if shooting paper stays fun but being able to really blast the hell out of stuff pretty cheaply is tons of fun. Except for HD platters, they laugh off .357 FMJ rounds.

[Scarecrow411]

Data is right on their site:

357 MAG 80 GR. 1600 FPS/455 FTLBS

This is from a 4" barrel. What sort of increase in velocity does one normally see out of a lever gun?

[bunnielab]

Data is right on their site:

357 MAG 80 GR. 1600 FPS/455 FTLBS

This is from a 4" barrel. What sort of increase in velocity does one normally see out of a lever gun?

I think that most of the increase comes from being able to load alot hotter when making rifle only rounds. The barrel length alone seems to only add a few 100fps. But I cant find any load data in my books for an 80g bullet so this is looking more like a "what if....?" idea anyway.

[Tetraptous]

Yeah, the rounds do weigh in at $2+ per cartridge, but they do make for just all of the "mainstay" cartridges. It was only after I finished off the six pack that I thought about rechambering a round a few dozen times to see if any setback occurred.

If you really wanted to find out they do make .357Mag load. I've been thinking about picking up a .357 Lever Gun because of the availability of ammo.

I guess my issue with Safety Slugs is that at the cost, I couldn't feasible shoot enough of them to be sure they'd be reliable in my gun. By and large, they seem to be the only "alternative" defense ammo that works worth a damn, but I'm not Scrooge McDuck here and not willing to bet my life on something I've only run 20 rounds of through. Gold dots remain king.

[infrared35]

Mag-Safes are another option when it comes to frangible defense loads. They boast better penetration than Glasers (they are stuffed with larger pellets), but they have more of a JHP profile compared to Glaser's ball profile, which may make a difference in feeding depending on your firearm. I've fired Glasers (blue and silver) and several flavors of Mag-Safes (even down to .25 ACP) into wet packs and they've all performed reliably. But a wet pack is not much of a test.

[Al Thompson]

Check your reloading data before you load for that lever action .357. You may find that a max rifle load actually uses less powder. :) Lever guns are not as "tight" as revolvers and cannot handle additional pressure as well.

What makes a big (!!) difference is the barrel length. I was catching 4-600 (checked on an Ohler 35P) FPS more than out of my revolver. The "winner" was 180 grain .44 Mag (factory) loads out of my Marlin (20 inch barrel) at 2300 FPS. :eek: :cool: