At 3 bucks a throw, these shotgun shells are not exactly what I would consider cheap, but if you look at what they can do (squeamish stomach warning), I have to wonder if they might be an interesting solution to the standard home-defense problem of stopping the home-invading goblin without perforating your house, and the house next door…
The D Dupleks company is based out of Latvia, of all places, and exclusively manufactures steel-and-polymer shotgun slugs for mid- to big-game hunting:
In 1983, the first steel slug in a polyethylene encasing was created. The slug body was precisely lathe-machined, to obtain a shape that does not change during the flight path. To guide the slug through a barrel safely, its body was pressed into a soft polymer casing. A polymer wad was added in the rear part of the slug; its task was to receive propellant gas pressure and start the lateral slug movement, as well as to serve as a stabilizer during the flight. Such shotgun slugs, shot from 100 m distance, provided an accuracy that was close to rifle bullets.
The high accuracy and flight path stability of those slugs, along with successful long-time hunting experiences, served as a basis for the first pilot design of expanding slugs. In 1996, the first new expanding slug series appeared. During several years, various designs of expanding slugs were developed; they differed in slug weight, diameter, shape, and penetration capability, thus covering the entire range of game animal hunting.
D Dupleks has 20 years of experience in steel slug production, and its products are highly regarded in the hunting community. Also nowadays, every next D Dupleks slug design is developed considering the latest science and technology achievements, to achieve even higher accuracy and effectiveness.
Documentation on the rounds is somewhat limited, and I do confess to some qualms at the idea of a polymer round, and a steel round in a home-defense scenario, but it might be something interesting for good guys at the Box O’ Truth to play with. And, yeah, I know buckshot is already a good criminal-stopper, though it does still have perforation problems; and I know birdshot does not perforate nearly as bad, but birdshot should only be used for birds. A steel-core round is going to have a bit of inertia behind it, but when its nose mushrooms out to 1.5 inches, I have to wonder how quickly that would stop it.
That does look interesting.
Given the design of my house, I could see the benefit. Also would be great for apartments.
Thanks, I’ll keep these in mind.
I was thinking of apartment applications my own self, given our current hive-like habitation. Anything that can effectively stop the criminal, but not perforate Fluffy next door is a win in my book.