Tom Burczynski:
I was intending to send this to you via private e-mail, but your profile doesn't include it.
I occasionally get requests from law enforcement agencies or individual law enforcement officers to advise them about a good shotgun slug. I tell them to check out the Quik-Shok slug.
As for being skeptical of your HydraShok design, I feel that at the time (when HydraShok first came out) while others were designing JHP handgun bullets, you applied actual engineering effort into HydraShok. With or without the post, the bullet performed well. In reviewing the FBI's test of modified and unmodified HydraShok bullets, I came away with the conclusion that the post aided slightly in two things: 1) slightly better accuracy and 2) better terminal performance after passing through automotive windshield glass. As for bare gelatin and heavily clothed gelatin, the modified HydraShoks appeared to demonstrate better overall performance. This is why I feel that the HydraShok post is a gimmick. The bullet design is sound, with or without the post, in my opinion. In current generation HydraShok bullets, the post is so small and slender that it leaves me with the impression that it's there for cosmetic purposes versus functionality. I don't want to leave you with the impression that I'm critcizing HydraShok in general, it's just that the post appears to be a gimmick to me. In most cases, HydraShok seems to perform as well both with or without the post.
As for Starfire, I just don't see an innovative design (fluted cavity) that genuinely contributes to improved expansion performance. Speer's Gold Dot bullet uses a similar process when the cavity is punched, and Gold Dot bullets exhibit similar ribs on the expanded petals. The function of the flutes is to produce weak spots in the lead core to facilitate expansion, similar to the serrations in a copper jacket. I see the Starfire's fluted cavity as something that simply distinguishes its appearance from other bullets. I'm not being critical of your Starfire design. I'm critical of the marketing hype that was used to promote these bullets when they first came out. In my opinion the significance of the fluted hollowpoint was overly exaggerated as a marketing ploy.
As for the Quik-Shok handgun bullet, I just don't see the value of using a handgun bullet that breaks into smaller segments as it penetrates. Why take a something like a 9mm or a .45 ACP handgun bullet and turn it into the equivalent of three .22/.32 caliber FMJ slugs? While I feel Quik-Shok is an ingenious, innovative and cost effective pre-fragmented design, the exaggerated marketing hype of the bullet's ability to repidly transfer energy and the resultant effects on blood pressure and nerve tissue is not supported by any valid medical research that I know of.
As for Quik-Shok .223 and .308 rifle bullets, I haven't really formed an opinion about them yet. Who knows? I might end up recommending them like I do Quik-Shok shotgun slugs.
Please don't take any of my opinions as an attempt to ignite a flame war. I value the opportunity to share my opinions with you. Hopefully you (and others) will view my comments as dispassionate objective opinions instead of a personal attack on you and your inventions.
As for your new EFMJ bullet design, as I said before, I honestly believe it looks like a winner, especially if it performs as described. Consistent, reliable bullet expansion through clothing, especially from ultra-compact carry guns, is sorely needed. Especially if the shooter doesn't have to pay a high price in recoil and muzzle flip while sacrificing penetration to obtain this kind of expansion performance.
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/s/ Shawn Dodson
Firearms Tactical Institute
http://www.firearmstactical.com