OT Glaser Safety Slugs

[TedH]

Anyone carry them in your defense guns? I never tried them before, but I just picked up some for my 45s. They say these are 145 gr. at a velocity of 1350 fps. Seems like they would be just the thing for home protection where penetrating an interior or exterior wall could be bad news.

[Ysabel Kid]

I have some for the same reason, but never have tested them to see if they perform as advertized. IIRC, the ones I picked up were actually for the .45 Colt, so no worries about feeding problems.

[TedH]

These have a Hardball profile, so I would think the Glock would feed them fine. At $14.00 per 6 rounds I won't be doing an extended reliability test with them! I too would like to see some sort of performance comparison with my other carry ammo, Hornady 230 gr. XTP +P.

[Ysabel Kid]

Years ago I read an article on loading the .38 Special with two .36-caliber round balls used in blackpowder cap & ball revolvers. You size the balls through the cylinder of the .38. I can't remember the charge, but it was relatively mild. At 7 yards it printed the pair of projectiles about an inch or so apart. A perfect load for home defense where over-penetration would be a concern.

Only problem is that it is a homeload, and I could see an over-zealous anti-gun prosecutor trying to go after someone, saying they couldn't wait to use their "home loads" on someone.

Then again, with all the "castle laws" on the books, this might be worth revisiting... Good thing about this load was it wasn't hard on the wallet, so testing it out thoroughly didn't cost you an arm and a leg!

[Hobie]

I actually managed to hit a groundhog with one of those for the .357 Mag. Dead groundhog and right now. I felt very fortunate to actually hit the groundhog because those things did not shoot to the sights in my old Security Six. Aside from the experience of buying 2 packs of 6-rounds each and enduring my then wife's temper tantrum that was about all I got out of it. I don't think I have the second pack any more but can't remember if I shot them or gave them away.

[Charles]

The reviews on the Glaser are not very positive. Very little penetration on humans making a nasty surface wound, but a good chance the bad guy might not be disabled.

[Idahoser]

Back when I first started worrying about what to carry and all that, I liked the maximizing safety idea. Lately I've decided to go with the 'all handguns are underpowered' crowd, and not worry so much about anything but getting the job done. Too many question marks with those things. I remember reading about them, "the only caliber that overpenetrated a human torso was the .44 Magnum". That's a lot of energy transfer to the target, but I don't see it being worth the risk that it won't do the job. Use what works, don't reinvent the wheel.

[Cruise]

The reviews on the Glaser are not very positive. Very little penetration on humans making a nasty surface wound, but a good chance the bad guy might not be disabled.

Think winter coming up. Think heavy clothing. Think hardball.

[TedH]

I'm still loaded with 230 gr. +P Hornady XTP's. Looks like I'll stick with those. I just had never heard any reviews about the Glasers.

[Rusty]

I'm not sure they would be all that good for home defence. When I shot some back in the late 70's I remember a brilliant 4' fireball in broad daylight. That was from a 4" .357. YMMV

[jeepnik]

Not on the street. For a while I kept them in my home defense handgun, but now that the kids are gone, and it's just me and the wife, I'm not too concerned about where everyone is, especially at night. On the plus side, when they were new, I tried a .38 spl round on a jack rabbit. If the hare was any indication, they would really make a nasty soft tissue wound with massive blood loss. Still have some floating around, think I'll take a few next time we go busting jacks.

[MrMurphy]

They do work but apparently not against anyone in heavy clothing (leather jacket, winter coat, etc).


Used against a typical t-shirt clad individual, there's been several good shoots with them over the years.

That said for the cost, I'd rather use Federal HST, Winchester Ranger SXT or any other good JHP load.

[Kansas Ed]

My wife keeps them in her Walther .32 PP, but since she absconded with my Colt Mustang, she's packing Hydroshocks now...And yes, I'm still a littlie irritated over losing my Colt to her CCH...

Ed

[Paladin]

The reviews on the Glaser are not very positive. Very little penetration on humans making a nasty surface wound, but a good chance the bad guy might not be disabled.

Think winter coming up. Think heavy clothing. Think hardball.[/quote

True statement, I have seen a subject shot in the chest right over the heart with Winchester Silver Tips out of a 4in .357 Mag at 15 yds and not penetrate, after going through a down vest, enough to kill.
I have carried glazers for a long time but there is almost no penetration. I have used them on animals and the wounds are impressive on entry. I carry them mainly in smaller calibers when I fell I can almost get contact wounds before I use them. (The best way for the target to find out you have a gun is when it goes off)

[Idahoser]

I'd have a hard time citing the references at this point, but I conglomerated the wisdom I found at the time and decided that I would 'mix' them with good HPs when I did carry them. Say, one Glaser in the chamber, and the mag would be stacked with
HP
HP
Glaser
HP
HP
Glaser

and so on.

[JohndeFresno]

I did a few tests way back when, but testing was limited due to equally limited finances.

I do believe that a well placed frontal shot will stop a nude man or an aggressor watermelon. I personally witnessed its devastation on the melon. Beyond that, I would opt for solid lead or copper or a combination of both.

[rjohns94]

All I can say is that In the mid 80's, I worked at a gun store where I carried Glaser Safety rounds in my sidearm. Three guys came in to rob the store with three of us armed store workers. I was the guy out front on the register. None of the three guys that walked in were vertical when the smoke cleared. They made a bad choice. I fired 6 shots that day. It was early fall, they had light jackets on, where they hid the mossberg 500 pistol grip shotgun, and two cheap semi's bought in that very same store weeks before, until they got through the door shouting. Double tap to three targets from behind the counter, ended the threat. Performance was very satisfactory on that day, in that situation.

[firefuzz]

When the Glaser's first came out they were advertised as a pre-fragmented round primarily for use in courthouses, hospitals, aircraft and such so as to minimize the possiblity of a ricochet off a hard surface in the event of a miss and to minimize over-penetration. For that purpose they work very well. Pentration test have shown that they don't work well against heavy clothing, walls or autos....which is exactly what they were designed to do. They were originally nicknamed, before any actual shooting cases were examined, the surgeon's nightmare.

From my own personal testing, someone in shirtsleeves or a windbreaker is NOT going to enjoy being shot with them. 4-4.5" of penetration thru the sturnum is going to reak havoc with a perp's cardiovascular system. The first two rounds in my 5-shot .357 snub are Glaser's, the other three are Remington 125gr JHP's.

Rob

[JohndeFresno]

...The first two rounds in my 5-shot .357 snub are Glaser's, the other three are Remington 125gr JHP's.
Rob

Now, THAT should work!

[Jason_W]

Anyone carry them in your defense guns? I never tried them before, but I just picked up some for my 45s. They say these are 145 gr. at a velocity of 1350 fps. Seems like they would be just the thing for home protection where penetrating an interior or exterior wall could be bad news.

Hey, you've got the gel mix

[TedH]

Hey, you've got the gel mix

Yeah, if I can ever get the time to mix some up and have room for it in the fridge! I haven't forgot about ya.

[Cruise]

This site was posted over on the 1911 board and it seems to be a pretty complete comparison of various service and self defense loads to compare with the Glaser rounds.

http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19887

[olyinaz]

The hallway to our bedroom runs past my kids rooms so I stoke the home defense gun in that area of my house with them. It's all about safety and not necessarily the best killing tool in this case for me (they will reportedly not make it through a house wall). I wouldn't use them in any other situation.

Choose wisely.

Oly

[TedH]

I forgot to mention, the ones I bought are the Silver Safety Slugs. They are supposed to give a little better penetration than the blue ones. I decided to stagger them, two Glasers, XTP, Glaser, XTP, and so on.

[adirondakjack]

One like on the right:


inverted 125 grain .45 HB wadcutter


shot into water jugs at 1150 fps, recovered at .820" diameter, the major piece weighed over 100 grains, and the three of em over 115 grains. Ended up in the second jug, which is not a whole lot, but, two or three of them in the torso is gonna be a very bad situation.....