P. Plainsman
Member
Overpenetration is not acceptable when you live in a suburb. Your neighbors are entitled to live unmolested. This is one reason why I load .38+Ps, not .357s, in my bedside 4" GP100.
I have been thinking about taking a stronger step, and swapping in Glaser Safety Slugs (in .38+P) for some or all of my "standard six" when I load the cylinder for home defense.
The question is: which flavor of frangible ammo is the best choice for my purposes -- Blue or Silver Glasers?
See, I ordered a dozen .38 +P Glasers from Sturgis the other day. (http://mysite.elixirlabs.com/index.php?uid=12665&page=1980) ($$$ -- ouch!) I waffled back and forth when placing my order, and ultimately decided to go with Silvers over the Blues. Kind of a split-the-difference-choice. I figured they'd give me most of the benefits of the Blues, with a little more penetration in case the assailant has a heavy winter coat or some such.
Well, they arrived today, and they look like high quality equipment. But I was reading the package. It cautions that this is "high energy" ammo loaded to top power (all Cor-Bon stuff is). OK. Presumably the Blues say that too. And then there's some info about how the Glaser has this huge kinetic energy dump because of all the little shot pellets.
And then, something to the effect of: "We offer BLUE Safety Slugs for maximum overpenetration protection. SILVER Safety slugs for extra penetration power."
Hmmm. Not sure what a clever DA might make of that language if he took a dislike to me in the wake of a self-defense shooting in which I had used the Silvers.
Look, all Glasers are basically a specialized, expensive, high-grade ammunition. So it seems to me, if you want the benefit of the pro-safety atmospherics ("I didn't load my gun with these special, expensive, hi-tech rounds because they're like mini-shotgun shells. I had heard they are the safest ammo, the least likely to keep traveling and hurt somebody other than the bad guy.") -- which really is my reason for being interested in the Safety Slugs -- then you should stick with the Blue Glasers and not try to get cute. The Silvers could be misconstrued by an anti-gun prosecutor or jury and made out to look "worse" than workaday FMJ or JHP ammo.
If you aren't interested in atmospherics, and just want serious, functional defensive ammo that maximizes your handgun, and conclude that the Silver Safety Slug is the best balanced for your purpose, that's obviously a different matter.
I suspect I'll place another order (sigh -- $$$) and do it right this time, get the Blues.
All of the above is miles away from being hard advice, legal or otherwise. What do y'all think of my speculations?
Edited to add: Mods, maybe this belongs in the Handguns: General forum. But I would be particularly interested to hear what my fellow defensive wheelgun users (paging Jim March!) think of the issue I've raised.
I have been thinking about taking a stronger step, and swapping in Glaser Safety Slugs (in .38+P) for some or all of my "standard six" when I load the cylinder for home defense.
The question is: which flavor of frangible ammo is the best choice for my purposes -- Blue or Silver Glasers?
See, I ordered a dozen .38 +P Glasers from Sturgis the other day. (http://mysite.elixirlabs.com/index.php?uid=12665&page=1980) ($$$ -- ouch!) I waffled back and forth when placing my order, and ultimately decided to go with Silvers over the Blues. Kind of a split-the-difference-choice. I figured they'd give me most of the benefits of the Blues, with a little more penetration in case the assailant has a heavy winter coat or some such.
Well, they arrived today, and they look like high quality equipment. But I was reading the package. It cautions that this is "high energy" ammo loaded to top power (all Cor-Bon stuff is). OK. Presumably the Blues say that too. And then there's some info about how the Glaser has this huge kinetic energy dump because of all the little shot pellets.
And then, something to the effect of: "We offer BLUE Safety Slugs for maximum overpenetration protection. SILVER Safety slugs for extra penetration power."
Hmmm. Not sure what a clever DA might make of that language if he took a dislike to me in the wake of a self-defense shooting in which I had used the Silvers.
Look, all Glasers are basically a specialized, expensive, high-grade ammunition. So it seems to me, if you want the benefit of the pro-safety atmospherics ("I didn't load my gun with these special, expensive, hi-tech rounds because they're like mini-shotgun shells. I had heard they are the safest ammo, the least likely to keep traveling and hurt somebody other than the bad guy.") -- which really is my reason for being interested in the Safety Slugs -- then you should stick with the Blue Glasers and not try to get cute. The Silvers could be misconstrued by an anti-gun prosecutor or jury and made out to look "worse" than workaday FMJ or JHP ammo.
If you aren't interested in atmospherics, and just want serious, functional defensive ammo that maximizes your handgun, and conclude that the Silver Safety Slug is the best balanced for your purpose, that's obviously a different matter.
I suspect I'll place another order (sigh -- $$$) and do it right this time, get the Blues.
All of the above is miles away from being hard advice, legal or otherwise. What do y'all think of my speculations?
Edited to add: Mods, maybe this belongs in the Handguns: General forum. But I would be particularly interested to hear what my fellow defensive wheelgun users (paging Jim March!) think of the issue I've raised.
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