Folks carrying Glaser prefragmented ammo (lots of tiny shot pellets compressed in a gilding jacket with a plastic plug) should be aware of its propensity to disintegrate when encountering barriers that standard JHP ammo would penetrate.thorkyl wrote:I carry what my local LEO's carry.
Glazer or Federal Personal Defense JHP
My attorney recommends the Glazer's or the Federal PD
I had occasion to investigate a shooting where the LEO good guy fired at a bad guy who tried to run him down.
The two Glaser rounds that hit the windshield pockmarked the glass, but didn't penetrate at all.
The round that hit the side door panel as the vehicle passed the officer made about a 1 inch diameter hole in the exterior sheet metal. It didn't penetrate the inside panel of the door.
A second almost simultaneous round hit the side window on the same door. The window shattered and the driver was struck on the right side of the face by dozens of tiny projectiles which made him look like he had the measles, but didn't cause any significant injury and didn't impair his ability to keep driving.
A final round fired at the rear of the fleeing vehicle made about a 1 inch hole in the outer sheet metal skin of the trunk, but didn't penetrate the inner skin.
After seeing that performance first hand, I personally crossed Glaser off the list of ammo I would consider carrying.
The rounds in this incident were the original gilded metal jacket filled with #12 birdshot suspended in liquid teflon with a plastic cap. Design changes have been made over the years to increase the size of the shot to #6 and go to a precompressed shot core instead of the Teflon suspension.
A much larger load of #6 shot from a shotgun is certainly dangerous, but not what I would choose for a critical defense situation due to substandard penetration. I can't find any physics that would support the proposition that a small fraction of that load would work any better.
I'll stick to plain old repeatedly proven in LEO street shootings JHP ammo. I'll leave the fancy "should work according to the lab tests" stuff to the folks who enjoy stacking up risky variables just to see how they might influence the outcome of a critical incident where they've got one chance to get it right.
Also, unless my lawyer was an accredited wound ballistician, I wouldn't seek or follow his advice on defensive ammo any more than I would ask and follow my bricklayer's opinions on trauma surgery.