Best 9mm defensive (offensive?) round: Glaser?

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Sambonator

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What's your opinions on the best load in 9mm for home defense? Is it the Glaser Safety Slug? My local shop sold me Cor-Bon's, saying it is the best...but about 10 yrs ago, a different shop sold me Glaser Safety slugs. Are they even still around (Glaser)? I don't hear too much about them any more...
 
Bill Jeans, formerly the Ops Manager of Gunsite, now the sole proprietor of his own consulting firm has this to offer on terminal ballistics.

1. Only hits count.
2. Fluids out, air in.
3. Bigger bullets make bigger holes.



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Bruce Stanton
CDR, USN-Ret.
Sgt., Kings Co. Sheriff - Ret.
 
Greetings, sir. There is no "silver" or "magic" bullet. Placement is everything. However, some loads are better than others.
In 9mm, I favor the faster rounds over the heavier, slower rounds. In frontal shootings without intermediate targets (including arms)
the Glaser is said to perform well. However, the Cor*Bon 115 gr +P JHP is said to be around 91% effective, according to Marshall & Sanow if that's of importance to you. In shooting varmints, I have found that the faster, expanding bullets are more effective.
While it's not recommended, and certainly not by me, I cleanly killed 3 Texas whitetail deer with a 9mm using a handloaded near-equivalent of the Cor*Bon 115 gr load.
I think that in the really frangible stuff, I'd prefer Triton's 115 gr QuikShok, a fast bullet designed to penetrate approx 1.5" before breaking into three roughly equal pieces and penetrating in an ever-widening cone shaped area with 3 wound tracks. I think, but could be wrong, that the Glaser Silver penetrates a max of 6 - 8" while this does about 10 to 10.5". Hope this is of use.
My bedside pistol (HK P7) is loaded with QuikShok. best.
 
I agree with everything said above. I'd like to add that the Glaser Safety Slug has very little recoil energy. They don't always properly rack the slide back hard enough to chamber the next round. I had some in my bedside Beretta 92 for about a year. I'd never really tested them as they're so damn expensive (about $3.00 a round at the time). One day I decided I ought to (DUH!) and low and behold, I only had a one shot gun. It's scarry when I look back at it. I now prefer the magsafe rounds for my home gun (and yes, I tested them plenty) as over-penatration is just as much a concern for me at home as stopping power. I prefer the above mentioned Cor-Bon 115gr+P for my carry gun. Good Luck.
 
I like Glaser and have used the 'blue' version for a long time. A few years ago I began the shift to MagSafe which is another pre-fragmented load. They are specialized loads and are great for a CHL holder to carry or even an off duty LEO. They do not have sufficient penetration for uniformed LE use and are not recommended for such use unless the low penetration is desired.
 
There is no best bullet. Different situations call for different bullets. An offensive handgun round? Sorry, I know the SOCOM gun was designed to be offensive, but I still say if you're going on the offensive the last thing you want is a handgun. Right now I'm using Triton QuikShoks. The CQD from them looks promising to. I also at times use Georgia Arms, Black Hills, Pro Load, and Federal. They're all good. If you do your job, they'll do their job. But then even hardball will do it's job if you do yours.
 
I just tested the MagSafe .45ACP 96gr Defender (1700+ fps) cartridge in the following manner: After calibrating a 6x6x16-inch block of ordnance gelatin, I cut off a small block that was approximately 4-inches long. I placed the smaller block approximately 10-inches in front of the larger block, and then placed a rack of pork back ribs against the front of the second block. This test set-up was designed to duplicate the conditions a bullet would encounter if it hit an arm that was obstructing the bullet's path to the chest. All pellets that exited the first block and penetrated the ribs and second block (simulating the human upper torso) were measured and recovered. The MagSafe bullet was tested three times in this manner. All results were consistent. For comparison purposes, a Federal .45 ACP 230gr HydraShok was also tested in the exact same manner. Can you guess which bullet produced more "wound trauma" to the simulated "upper torso?" Details of this test, along with photographs, will be avilable soon.

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/s/ Shawn Dodson
Firearms Tactical Institute
http://www.firearmstactical.com
 
Sambonator - A +P or +P+ version of 115 or 124 grain weight will fit most needs of someone who carries a 9mm. Rounds like the Glaser or MagSafe are more a specialty round. The MagSafe offers great energy transfer and disruption in gelatin but depth of penetration is less than a conventional weighing hollow point. That can be a problem when cross torso shots come into play or sheetmetal and glass are involved.

What would I carry if I were you? Either the Quik-Shok 115 gr or the new 135 gr load. Both offer the same depth of penetration as a conventional hollow point of the same weight but with a greater area of disruption within the target. In addition, if the shot is misplaced, a conventional hollow point may miss all vital organs. A Quik-Shok, with a circle of dispersion of 3 inches, can help to compensate for bad aiming or "the shakes".
 
I used to like the Glaser Safety Slug (ten years ago), and actually shot at least 15 of them consecutively to ensure feed reliability in my H&K P7M8. (I know, that's not enough, but at about $5 a cartridge, it was too expensive to do more.) Upon learning about the shallow penetration of this round, however, and considering the possibility of quartering shots or the need to penetrate intermediate targets (arms) in order to reach vital tissues, I think it's a poor general choice. Better to use a bullet which is accurate, has high velocity, intermediate weight (124gr), and holds together without fragmenting, and penetrates "deep enough" (how deep is that? 8"? 16"?) yet won't severely overpenetrate. All you can do is look at ballistic data (per Martin Fackler MD) or "One Shot Stop" data (Evan Marshall and others) and make the best compromise choice you can. I think the Remington Golden Saber 124gr +P is the best combination of the above factors, in 9mm, that is available from a major manufacturer, assuming it shoots accurately and with good precision in your particular weapon.

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"Potius sero quam nunquam."
 
For "home defense", if you are looking for an extremely low-pen round, the Glaser Blue might do. For a little deeper penetration, Glaser Silver, and for deeper penetration yet, Magsafe.

Personally, I believe these will only work if you are facing the stereotypical "back against the wall" scenario, against a perp wearing a t-shirt. Jeff Mullins of Mullins Ammo has been working on a composite bullet for some time now that should offer low-pen in tissue, but penetrate obstacles. Until such a round is developed, I highly advise sticking with hollowpoints that have a record of expanding- as long as they work in your gun. It doesn't matter if they give you an instant stop, if the bullets won't reliably cycle in your arm!
 
I will second the Quik-Shok rounds...
I did some testing out in the Utah desert of these rounds... in .40 and .45 they were absolutly devistating.

For my HK, I feed it those Tritons, with Cor-Bons coming in second place. I know small furry critters are not a good example of its effect on a Bad Guy - but dang... it was convincing of the design's and loads potential. Even in .22LR it was much much more effective that a standard hollow point. (But those were not Triton loads)

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Every man Dies.
Not Every Man Truely Lives...
FREEDOM!

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
 
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