Frangible Ammo- Is It Worth It?


I like the idea. I carry MagSafe in both my 9mm and 45.

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I think it's a waste of money and illegal in Hawaii. Check your local laws before ordering this ammo. My current ammo choice still does it's job, I'll stick with my Speer Gold Dots.



gf
 
Personally, I don't think the benefits of frangibles outweigh their downfalls. They just don't give you the penetration that I would feel comfortable staking my life on. If you're worried about missing and having a shot pass through the walls, practice more.

The only thing I'd use a frangible for is at a shooting range with a thin backstop. Regarding personal defense, frangibles fall short in stopping power.
 
I was unable to find anything on this in a brief search on the internet, but I remember reading somewhere that if you used a gun in a self defense scenario, you should have x amount of ammo of the same lot # to be used by Police for ballistics testing after the fact. I think it may have been Masaad Ayoob that said this (and excuse the rusty memory.) I know most frangible ammo is sold in lots of 6 - and tends to be quite pricey. Just another factor to bear in mind.
 
I was unable to find anything on this in a brief search on the internet, but I remember reading somewhere that if you used a gun in a self defense scenario, you should have x amount of ammo of the same lot # to be used by Police for ballistics testing after the fact. I think it may have been Masaad Ayoob that said this (and excuse the rusty memory.) I know most frangible ammo is sold in lots of 6 - and tends to be quite pricey. Just another factor to bear in mind.

I can't understand the reasoning behind this. It seems cost prohibitive, and in my mind, goes against the "burden of proof" requirement of the prosecutor.
 
I'm not impressed with frangible ammo. I have some in 357 sig and it wouldn't feed reliably in my Glock 33 or my Kel-Tec P11 357 sig. It may have been the rounds though. I have some old PMC Green ammo. The newer designs look better but I'll stay with what I know will do the job. Here are some for sale and in stock to give you an idea of the price. Link Removed
 
frangible ammo usage

Frangible ammo is kinda gimmicky.
It has a very limited practical application. Especially when used in handguns.

I could justify it's use by air marshals, I guess.
 
IMHO, frag ammo lacks bullet weight and does not acheive enough penetration to stop an agressor
I would like to see some real world shooting data where frag ammo was used......
 
I like to shoot at least 50 or more trouble free rounds through an autoloader with any given load before I'm comfortable with that load in that pistol.
I don't use "frangible" ammo in pistols.

If I lived in an appartment, condo, or duplex I would consider frangible ammo in a revlover. For example, the MagSafe 38 +P+ MAX fired in a .357; this load can penetrate 11'' of jellatin. I would still fire a cylinder of it to make sure the primers weren't too hard ect...

I carried the MagSafe non+p Defender in my J frame Smith 442 for a long time, but recently I've switched back to regular hollow points. I just wasn't sure the MagSafe would provide adequate penetration against a large felon (who could be wearing a leather jacket). It penetrates 9'' in bare ballistic jellatin, according to the book Street Stoppers, but the photo shows the majority of the load is done in 6'' with small only pieces making it to the 9'' mark.
 
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I'm glad to find this thread. I just had a miserable experience at the range with some BVAC frangible ammo; 3 FTEs out of just under 100 rounds in my Walther P99.

Granted, with the BVAC stuff, I was dealing with reloaded brass as well as the frangible bullet and reduced power load, but a malfunction of any kind with that Walther is something I'd never experienced before and from what I've read is almost unheard of.

I'd guess that the reduced powder load prevented effective ejection, or that the once-fired brass caused excessive expansion - or both. Still, end result is my confidence in frangible loads in a self-defense weapon is practically nil.

I've still got about 300 rounds of the stuff. I'll try running it through my Beretta the next time I go out and keep it around for training, but it is not going into a carry weapon and I will not buy another batch.

Buyer beware.
 
I have the first two rounds of Glassers in any home defense pistols. As they are all .357 mag, .357 Sig, .45acp, .40 and ya one 9mm, I feel that in Southern Calif. where heavy coats are not needed and the longest shot in my home area would be less than 20 feet. Well, there will be penetration a plenty. Now outside the home, they are hollow points and the last one always a solid. Just the way I think.
 
All evidence to date suggests that they are not effective in real world use.

There are certain environments such as in prisons, etc where they might have a niche.

-Doc
 
NO...not worth cost for benefits....unless for home defense in an apartment complex....but then i think #7 or #8 birdshot and a shot gun would be a whole lot better choice

** 15 bucks for 6 rounds means 250 bucks to make sure it cycles in ur auto loader (100 round minimum b4 i rely on it)...which most frangibles have issues with on variety of firearms...
so other than a very few specific cases....like on airplanes tho not really needed since a bullet hole won't depressurize a plane....and even a frangible is going to cause enough damage that something would need to be repaired....don't see planes flying around with bullet holes in them:)

** in all honesty a shotshell round or snake round would make more sense and cost way less for most of the "special situations" since most of them would want the bad guy to live to question about if he had any partners...
 
I have a lot of 5.56x45 frangible ammo. Penetrates both pumpkins and watermelons real nice at 100yds. Seems to break up on the way out.
 

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