loading up my 9mm with glaser blue safety slugs

"poor penetration is the idea. it's designed to only go in so far and then break up."

So you want to, in essence, create a nasty flesh wound in someone who is trying to harm you?

I don't see the benefit. Never have, and never will.


"it also is designed to go as deep as internal organs and then spread."

Something that these rounds have proven to be VERY iffy at being able to do.
 
thanks for the responses guys! having seen (and agree with) many of you post on many topics on this forum, i respect your opinion. i will definitely reconsider my choice in ammo. i was also unaware that hydrashok was considered to be old technology. which options should i consider? i'm trying to get the best knockdown power possible out of a 9mm round.
 
loose_holster_dan said:
...i'm trying to get the best knockdown power possible out of a 9mm round.
Click to expand...
And there really is no such thing as "knockdown power." The physiology of stopping an attacker has been outlined in posts 18 and 19.

Any of the quality commercial self defense rounds using modern design JHP bullets should give good performance. You do want to make sure that any you plan to use function reliably in your gun.
 
The assorted "safety slugs" in theory are a great idea, but as with so many great ideas it worked better in the lab than in the field. If you are worried about over penetration and feel you must use these rounds, by all means load your first round with a safety slug and the rest of your ammo with standard loads.
 
i'm trying to get the best knockdown power possible out of a 9mm round
Click to expand...

You can get that by selling it and getting a .45:D

Sorry, no one said it yet - I had to;)

A big consideration with ammo is also whether or not your gun "likes" it. One of my interchangeable EDCs will feed and fire Hornady Critical Defense (my personal favorite) all day and night, but tends to choke on Winchester DPX or any other deep-pitted JHP. The other eats everything.

Provided that it feeds reliably for you a deep pitted JHP might help with those worries about over penetration.
 
I like the bat Mike, good answer. Many a time its been stated carry what the local LE carries in there duty weapons. No arguments in court as to ammo choice if you are involved in a SD shooting. Just 1 less headache and obstacle to overcome in court. Let the flames begin
 
it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to have a mix that included Glasers. One Glaser in the chamber followed by the first two HP in the mag, then another Glaser, etc. I have seen that sort of thing recommended in the past.

Anymore, I've moved on to the "all handguns are underpowered" viewpoint. I won't intentionally hobble my tools to limit some theoretical overpenentration scenario. I'll just try real hard not to shoot anybody unless I REALLY mean it.
 
They cost a LOT of money,

How much practice will you get in with them?

Not some other bullet but the glaser blue safety slugs?

I'm gonna stick with something I can afford to shoot a lot.
 
loose_holster_dan I will be on your side on this one. I don't happen to like the Glaser anymore, but it was my choice in the early 1980's. By the 1990's the late Joe Zambone had MagSafe available and I went that way. Joe was a great guy, we both had a love of motorcycles, and you will find many of the big time gun writers like his stuff if that means anything. I believe that Massad Ayoob posts here occasionally and he has copies of x-rays from pre-fragmented shootings. The wounds looked impressive to me.

Yes, the FBI wants 14" of penetration. That is because of the possibility of cross body shots going through the upper arm then still having to enter the chest cavity. In a self defense situation you will not be making that shot or you will have to explain it. Same thing for shooting into cars. Doubtful that a threat will be behind a barrier. Again, if you are shooting through car windows be able to explain yourself. If the officer mentioned had been properly trained on Glaser he would have known that Glasers are made to fall apart when hitting a solid barrier, glass and sheetrock especially, and he should be aiming for the door under the glass for better penetration. It is a self defense ammo, not a law enforcement ammo. Law enforcement intentionally goes into harms way, while we try to stay away from harm.

You will find that your self defense shots will probably be face on at close range. If they aren't, you probably don't need to pull the trigger. The four times that I have come close to shooting, this has always been the situation.

The Glaser will create a permanent crush cavity the size of its temporary stretch cavity. Yes, it will be from the surface of the skin in, but there isn't any place on the front part of my torso that I could have a canteloupe size cavity pulped to hamburger and still be doing very well. I would rather create that cavity in someones lung than shoot something that will create a 1/2 inch hole 14" long through someones lung. I don't even know if I am 14" deep, it may go all the way through.

These day I like RBCD now and have had good results even after shooting through sheet steel. Better intermediate barrier penetration yet it still performs explosively. A former foreign special forces trainer I know was going to a country where he was only going to be allowed a .380 and his ammo choice, had he gone, was RBCD. Check YouTube for a bunch of videos on RBCD.

Ultimately it is an individual choice. You carry with what makes you feel safe. I do.
 
Top 9x19mm carry-defense rounds, IMO....

As posted, frangibles like CorBon's Glaser Safety Slug(blue format) & other factory made frangibles have some uses but mostly as a BUG(back-up) or 2nd gun load. In a real critical incident, you'd be more likely to draw a back up & fire directly at a subject aiming for the head or center mass(chest-torso).
In most cases, a direct hit at CQB(close quarters) should stop the threat with a .380acp or .38spl +P size frangible.

Good carry loads in 9mm aka; 9x19mm to me include; the Remington Golden Saber bonded JHP 124gr +P, the Speer Gold Dot 124gr JHP +P, the Ranger T 127gr +P+ JHP, the Corbon DPX, the Corbon PowRball.
For sales see; www.SGammo.com www.cabelas.com www.natchezss.com www.shopcorbon.com .
 
That is because of the possibility of cross body shots going through the upper arm then still having to enter the chest cavity. In a self defense situation you will not be making that shot or you will have to explain it.
Click to expand...
Have you ever stood in a firing postion and looked at yourself in the mirror, or shot at a target depicting someone in Weaver firing stance? The adversary's gun and hands are blocking most everything below the eyes, and the forearms and upper arms are blocking the majority of the chest. You will not have a clear shot at CM unless you shoot below the breast bone/sternum.

That means a cross-body shot and/or a shot through forearm or upper arm. That is the reason for the FBI penetration standard.

A frangible round has a very poor chance of succeeding in this real-world scenario...which is why nobody uses or recommends them.

The real purpose of these rounds is to separate a fool from his money. At $3-4 per round, they are quite effective at that.

Here's the kicker:
If you shoot a revolver, you may be reasonably certain that the round will at least fire, although it's effectiveness is still in doubt.

If you shoot a semi-auto, consider this. Most thinking men recommend 200 trouble-free rounds of your chosen round before trusting it for carry. That number of Glaser/MagSafe would be $600-800.

If it were a 100% one shot-stop, vampire and zombie-killer, absolutely guaranteed to drop a raging bull elephant in it's tracks, it might be worth buying and carrying.

Considering the fact that it costs 3-4 (or more) times what premium SD rounds cost, and offers no quantifiable advantage, and is arguably seriously deficient.... well, that makes the choice a simple one.
 
Last edited:
Orionengnr nails it.

I frequently encounter people who for some reason assume that, in a shooting situation, they're going to be shooting at the skin equivalent of a B-27 target, someone standing stock still in front of you, completely upright and totally open.

Ain't going to happen.
 
I frequently encounter people who for some reason assume that, in a shooting situation, they're going to be shooting at the skin equivalent of a B-27 target, someone standing stock still in front of you, completely upright and totally open.
Click to expand...

And, to expand on that a bit, the entire reason that you own and maybe carry a "defensive" weapon is that life is unpredictable, and you may eventually be called upon to safe your own life by using a weapon.

yet, at this point, you are choosing to use a cartridge in your weapon that will be unpredictably ineffective in many situations? If you put a glaser round into a leg or hip, it is not necessarily going to break the bone. It may skip off of a scapula. it may not function properly at all, since you have never fired it through your semiautomatic, but did run the 12 rounds you own through the action over and over to check functioning.

There are two reasons I wouldn't put a glaser into a gun unless it was the absolute last resort. First, legal issues. Second, I want to be as certain as possible that I'm going to get a bullet into the vitals that will cause major damage in a rapidly moving situation. I am going to try to defeat the forces of chaos by relying on the most tested and true technology, solid projectiles in a kinetic energy procectile weapon.
 
This May Be Just A Story

MagSafe and Glasser, I have read, were developed for Air Marshals. For use in airliners. I'm not swearing to this in any way.

I have tested both brands in my personal revolvers. Neither was accurate out to 45 feet.
As for penetration, look at the next group of thugs on the evening news and I'm sure you'll see at least a couple 200/250 pounders. How much muscle and fat will the bullet need to travel thru to hit a vital organ?
A flesh wound a few inches deep will hurt. Will it stop?
Compare #8 birdshot to slugs, which would you use on a black bear?
 
No, thank you.
Glaser/Magsafe, etc., are notoriously poor penetrators.

Put bluntly, they are a "gimmick" round.
If I were giong to be attacked by ears of corn or dead gophers, they's be just the thing.

I'll stick with a quality JHP.

Do some searching, it may open your eyes.
Click to expand...

#2

I can't disagree with that, but the shock factor could. And it does play a roll here.

Question: has any of you that commented been shot buy one? NOOO!!!!
 
In 9mm Corbon DPX will work fine. I found like another person glaser to be very inaccurate. Plus you will go broke testing to see if relieable in you semi auto.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top