What Ever Happened To The "Black Rhino" Ammunition?

A

Ala Dan

Member in memoriam
Just wondering if anybody saved any of David
Keene's production ammo? As for me, I never
saw any on dealer's shelves; and I live in
central Alabama. :D

Part II of my question: Where is Mr. Keene
today; and what project is he working on?

I'm under the assumption that his Rhino and
Black Rhino ammunition was nothing more than
a jacketed hollowpoint design, traveling at
near maximum velocity. And he most likely
had some BB's suspended in liquid teflon; located in the core of the projectile? Too
bad the government stepped in, before he had
a chance to finish his research on this project!!! :)

Regards,
Ala Dan N.R.A. Life Member
 
If my memory serves me correctly, at the time that the so-called "Black Rhino" cartridge made such a splash, the ATF said they had no knowledge of its existence, as none had been submitted to them.

In short, the whole thing was a hoax dreamed up to inspire hysteria among the public.

------------------
Shoot straight & make big holes, regards, Richard at The Shottist's Center
 
It really wasn't a hoax- exactly- but sure was highpower hype. I think you're right about ATF, but the claims made were so far off the politically correct scale- not to mention outrageous- that I don't think too many folks took it seriously.

Some samples were sent to the NRA and when pressure testing was done it came up 2x max. Shortly after they dropped off the scope.
 
In Marshall and Sanow's second book on handgun stopping power, they do an excellent article on the story of this now-infamous round. It turns out that its touted armour-pentration design was pure hype, but the round could have been a successful fragmenting design if it had been produced. Apaprently, few rounds were ever actually made.
 
I saw some for sale once in a place in Huntsville, AL. It was only once however and I never saw them again. They were very expensive and sold in small packs like the Glasers. If I remember correctly they were something like a dollar a round.
 
I have six rounds of Rhino (not black rhino) in 9MM. They are constructed like a magsafe: hollow copper jacket with BB's and epoxy to fill the cavity. The cavity is really wide, and looks like they would cause feed problems in some guns. I never fired any of them, mainly because they are too hot, too much pressure.

--dan
 
I saw a report on the Rhino ammo somewhere--a LEO magazine if I remember correctly, but maybe not.

Anyhoo, if memory serves, Rhino shipped less than fifty rounds of 9mm ammo for evaluation.

The intial group fired was somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 inches in diameter. And the velocity of that first bunch varied by a couple of hundred feet-per-second.

Needless to say, the evaluators weren't very impressed.

LawDog

[This message has been edited by LawDog (edited June 14, 2000).]
 
Dr. Martin Fackler stated in article (Wound Ballistics Review, 3(1)) 1997 that the Rhino/Razor ammo was pulled from the market because it did not meet SAAMI pressure standards.

I pulled that off of the www.firearmstactical.com website.

Chuck
 
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