Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Protection From The Zombie Apocalypse...Rippers

My favorite ammo store is getting some of these babies in stock next week. I'm thinking about buying a box for my S&W 380, and keeping one magazine loaded with these ugly looking brutes. Is this a good idea, or should I stick with 102 grain hollow points?



DWT and aridog (or anyone else), do you guys have an opinion on this? Have you experimented with these rounds?  My 380 is a secondary home defense weapon behind a shotgun. I hope like hell I never have to blast a zombie, but if I do I want the intruder to stay down.

19 comments:

  1. I don't know enough to speak authoritatively on the subject, but it looks as though it would stay where you put it. It also looks like it would also stop what you want to stop.

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    1. The concern is whether it will punch through certain materials. Any zombie kicking in my door will probably be wearing a dirty tshirt, not body armor. If he has a pal or two, I'd like for target one to stay down while I'm shifting to target two.

      I know I won't hesitate to shoot if my family is in danger. I don't know how I'll feel about it afterward.

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    2. I corrected a spelling error in the title to this post. It was glaring! It was like fingernails on a chalkboard!

      Now I will write the word "apocalypse" one hundred times on the blackboard (if they still make such things). ;)

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  2. I've seen no tests of these, but they look like a further development of Black Talon rounds, which were introduced about 20 (?) years ago to great wailing & gnashing of teeth on the part anti-constitutionalists.

    I'd really like to see how well they open, & then penetrate. With something that opens as wide as they look to do, a .380 might not have enough muzzle velocity to let them penetrate very far, which is a good or bad thing, depending on circumstances.

    In other words, if your zombie IS dressed heavily, and/or sufficiently drugged they might not penetrate enough to stop.

    But then, under that circumstance, neither would the Black Talons, or the Glasers I talked about elsewhere.

    Look for tests of the round, online, is what I would suggest.

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    1. I've looked around a little, but haven't found much. I'm planning on buying a box when they become available, and testing them against the other 6 types of ammo I've purchased. I'll use Aridog's suggestion of a 2x4 at 21 feet.

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  3. I have not tried them in either my .45 ACP pistols or my tinsy 9mm. Just looking at them, off hand, I'd be hesitant about how well they would reliably feed on the ramps of either my Kimber 1911 or my RNX-45...let alone my little S&W Shield. I tend to go for tried and proven sub-sonic standard velocity rounds with relatively heavy JHP bullet weights, for maximum energy dispersion on impact and least penetration of secondary things like walls or doors.

    Awkward moment here...uhm, er, is your .380 pistol modern and capable of +p+ rounds? I don't use them myself for defense purposes, but the 380 needs all the boost it can get. If so, that is what I'd use in in with heavy JHP bullets...say 90 grain or so. If you can't find +P stuff, try to find Corbon 90 grain 380 rounds...they are hot as +P in this caliber.

    As for the flanged number in the post, try a box...or try two boxes..make sure they all feed no mis-feeds, in your pistol. Shoot them in to a 2x4 from 21 feet (the Tueller Drill distance) and see how the penetration is with that type bullet.

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    1. Mine is a hammer-fired semi auto aridog. I don't think I can buy +P, let alone +P+ for it. I've been experimenting with ammo; I'll look for Corbon 90 grain. Thanks for the recommendation!

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    2. Sounds like a Sig or Walter PPK. If recent manufacture, it would probably handle +P rounds, even +P+ if they are made.

      Note that the 9 mm Kurz round (essentially the 9 mm "short" round versus the 9 mm parabellum) was the de rigueur round for European police for years, maybe even today (?). I presume modern made firearms are of alloys suitable for +P use...unlike some of the older models. Check out the actual specs for you pistol...they might surprise you.

      At one time in my life, that I won't detail, I carried and used a .22 caliber Hi-Standfard pistol. It was very effective used properly.

      In short, anything beats just throwing rocks ans sticks, eh :-))

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    3. Her is a +P 380 round. Note that the Corbon version achieves the same velocity and energy levels without the +P designation.

      Corbon make several "standard" rounds in various calibers that are heavy hitters...the jhp's for my .45's will actually hurt your hands after 20 rounds...but fired carefully , they are as accurate as match ammo...which I compare them to a box of last weekend.

      I tried some Corbons in a friend's Springfield XD-S in .45 ACP...and, oh hell no, that's a masochistic experience.

      As I have said, and DWT too, ....accuracy is what does it, the rest is smoke and explosions.

      Can you tell I am an Elmer Keith fan?

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    4. Damn..."9 mm Kurz" equals .380 caliber cartridge. a "short" version of the 9 mm luger & P-38 WWI and WWII round.

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  4. imgw:"http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/lewy14/megyn-kelly_zpsc8ad8a9c.gif"

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    1. Looks like a New Yorker playing again to me :)

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    2. New Yorker or not...she's in that category of can I take her home and play with her? Oh, wait....Judi lives here :)

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  5. One thing bothers me about the emphasis on caliber and stopping power, et al ad infinitum. That is simply that no bullet from however powerful a pistol will guarantee a "stop." Shot placement does that. My old divorce days roommate, a cop, worked a decoy detail where the would be robber, pulled a knife, then was confronted with a cop in drag holding a 44 magnum S&W...took off running, got shot and hit three times...and kept on running until bled out, right past my roommate who watched, from behind a tree, bewildered.

    A 380 pistol or even a .22 pistol for that matter, is plenty lethal if the shots are accurate placed in to vitals. Yet, I still hear tourist guys out west say they'd be able to stop a charging grizzly with a 44 magnum....well okay then, but do you realize that face on a grizzly moving at you at 30+ mph has a vital (stopping) spot that is barely the size of a silver dollar? (the brain stem through a mass of skull and tissue first) Good luck.

    In short, for self defense, accuracy is by far the most important thing you can practice. It is what might save a life. I was serious earlier about shooting at a 2x4 at 21 feet (or more...my old fart Tueller drill distance is more like 30 feet now) because that is about the width of the target you must hit to stop an attack. Hit it twice at least in quick succession in fact.

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    1. One of the features that sold me on this gun, after the concealability factor, was the built in laser site. It's great for practicing aim. If I'm in a situation where I have to shoot, I've been taught from a young age to shoot for center mass.

      As a fairly small woman, <5'4" and mumbledy-mumbledy lbs, I'm uncomfortable with the big caliber handguns. My hand is small and doesn't fit the grip, plus holding a long-barreled gun steady for more than a few rounds makes my arms wobbly.

      If I empty 6 rounds from a 380 at center mass into a zombie, from a distance of 15-20 feet, I'm thinking he'll go down and stay down. If not, I have a second magazine that I can access very quickly. This is another thing that I practice.

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    2. My daughter is 5'4" and 115 lbs of Yoga slim for now...but 41 yoa won't be forever. She learned to shoot this year (2013) and handles a 9 mm parabellum S&W fo two types very well...even likes my .45 M1911 best, but to big to carry....still she shoots as accurately with the .45 as anything, maybe even better (3 inch groups at 50 feet)..not quite 25 yards, but good enough.

      It is all in what you can get used to...and you are not really that weak as you assert...no nurse is, let alone in just the arm. You learned modern pistols with the baggage of your past...just as I had to do. It make a difference. My kid, Kimberly, had no baggage and just wanted a big bang and a big hole. Atta gurl.... :-)

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    3. BTW if I ever get back to Arkansas (my only friends there were cattle folks and have long gone, divorced, etc.) I will prove to you that you can learn to shoot a .45 ACP pistol. If you are ever in Detroit or Dearborn area, even for just a day or so, call me let me know (you have my phone number) and I'll take you to my range and prove it all to you.

      Bang Bang

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  6. Lady Red...good for you. Accuracy is the most important aspect of self defense.

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