About Frangible Ammunition
Hey all, we here at True Shot Academy wanted to talk about frangible ammunition. This type of ammunition is a useful training aid which has been popular with a wide variety of shooters. Today we are going to give an overview of frangible ammunition while discussing a variety of traits unique to this type of ammunition. Without further ado, let’s get into it.
What is Frangible Ammunition?
Frangible ammunition is different from traditional ammunition due to the fact that projectiles fragment and essentially disintegrate when they impact something hard. Rather than being composed of lead, frangible projectiles typically consist of a mixture of powdered metals. Common powdered metals utilized for frangible projectiles include tin, copper, zinc, or tungsten. Typically, frangible ammunition will have lighter grain weights than their traditional counterparts. For example, frangible 9mm Luger ammunition can feature a 94 grain projectile while typical 9mm Luger loads feature 115 grain projectiles. Frangible ammunition can be found in a variety of popular rifle and pistol calibers, particularly those commonly associated with duty use.
Lead-Free Ammunition
Due to the projectiles being comprised of powdered metals, frangible ammunition qualifies as lead-free ammunition. While this may not matter for everyday range usage, there are some areas and regions which bar the use of leaded ammunition. This is particularly important to hunters in states such as California which have a lead ammunition hunting ban.
How Do Frangible Bullets Work?
The disintegrating capability of frangible ammunition is owed to the brittle nature of the projectiles. Frangible ammunition is designed to reach brittle failure when the projectile impacts a hard target. The brittle projectiles paired with the standard velocities of these rounds lead to them fragmenting and disintegrating upon impact.
Shooting Gallery Origins
Back in the 20th century, shooting galleries present in amusement park settings and still utilized live rimfire ammunition. When shooting lead ammunition at metal targets at close range, the risk of ricochets and spalling is increased. This phenomenon would even occur with the small .22 Short ammunition utilized in these shooting galleries. This led to the development of frangible .22 Short loadings from companies such as Remington and Winchester.
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How Much Does Frangible Ammunition Cost?
Generally, some of the specialty frangible rounds are more expensive than their traditional counterparts. This increase in cost can be chalked up to the nonstandard manufacturing process and materials associated with frangible ammunition.
Is Frangible Ammunition Safe to Shoot?
Frangible ammunition is absolutely safe to shoot in your gun. While this type of ammunition is safe to shoot, one should be aware that a frangible projectile can potentially break apart inside of a firearm. The brittle nature of the projectiles and differences in tolerances can lead to premature disintegration. This is not a widespread issue with frangible ammunition by any means. If this were a common occurrence, nobody would use frangible ammunition. It is safe enough for armed professionals in military and law enforcement to use, so it is good enough for the rest of us.
Is Frangible Ammunition Reliable?
Generally, frangible ammunition only differs from traditional ammunition when it comes to projectiles and grain weights. Unless one is dealing with an exotic or specialty loading, frangible ammunition and traditional ammunition will utilize the same styles of primers, cases, and powder loadings. Some firearms may have issues cycling lighter grain ammunition, but for the most part if your firearm can run regular ammunition, it should be able to run frangible ammunition. Variances in projectiles, magazines, and feed lip tolerances in firearms, there may be some complications with feeding frangible ammunition. This fact however, is true for most types of traditional ammunition as well. Essentially, if you have a common, duty-style firearm such as a Glock 19 or a Sig Sauer P226, you should have no issue running frangible 9mm Luger ammunition.
Are Frangible Bullets Lethal?
Like all ammunition, frangible ammunition is certainly lethal. With the exception of the frangible bullet, there is little difference between frangible ammunition and traditional ammunition. The potential lethality of the round is not negated simply due to its frangible nature. While this type of ammunition is known for being optimal for shooting steel targets up close and disintegrating upon impact, it can also be utilized for defensive or duty use.
Frangible Ammunition for Self Defense
As previously established, frangible ammunition is definitely lethal, like any ammunition. The tendency for these types of rounds to not over penetrate lowers the risk of collateral damage and harm. Due to this fact, there are frangible hollow point loadings on the market. As with every loading one intends on carrying defensively and potentially staking their life on, one should verify that it functions reliably in their firearm of choice. Due to the tendency of frangible ammunition to disintegrate and their low penetration factor, there are some concerns about them penetrating enough to be as effective as traditional defensive loadings. Optimally, a hollow point load will expand on impact after penetrating far enough to defeat layers of clothing and reach achieve sufficient penetration on target. Essentially, while hollow point ammunition exists in frangible form, it is not going to replace traditional defensive loadings.
Military and Law Enforcement Use
Frangible ammunition has been used by military and law enforcement personnel for both training purposes and duty use. As far as training goes, these types of entities choose frangible ammunition to essentially eliminate the risk of ricochets and allow for the shooting of close-range metal targets. This is particularly useful when these entities utilize 360˚ ranges for training exercises. While ricochets and penetration-based dangers are clearly addressed by the use of frangible ammunition, the loadings will also limit the user’s exposure to lead as the rounds are lead-free.
For duty usage in environments where overpenetration and collateral damage can be catastrophic, frangible ammunition is a benefit. In urban environments, the risk of collateral damage to friendlies and innocents is decreased due to frangible ammunition’s tendency to not ricochet or over penetrate. These traits are also beneficial in hazmat environments such as nuclear plants or oil platforms or aboard vessels such as aircraft or ships.
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Why Use Frangible Ammunition?
There are many reasons to use frangible ammunition. As previously discussed, this type of ammunition is an effective training aid and allows a shooter to engage steel targets at close ranges. Steel targets provide the shooter with instantaneous auditory feedback when they hit the target, making them a popular choice among shooters of all types. Being able to utilize these training tools at closer ranges with frangible ammunition allow end users to truly get the most out of their practice sessions. The lead-free aspect of ammunition of this type means that the end user’s exposure to lead is reduced. At the end of the day, ammunition is ammunition, and anything which helps you get more efficient with your firearm is worth it.
Conclusion
All in all, frangible ammunition is a useful and viable type of ammunition to stock up on. We here at True Shot offer frangible ammunition in addition to the wide variety of other types of ammunition we carry. Whether you’re shooting traditional ammunition or frangible ammunition, we are here for you. As always, happy shooting.
Need bulk ammo? At True Shot Ammo, we have a wide variety of handgun ammo and rifle ammo available to purchase. Please visit our website trueshotammo.com, call us at (888) 736-6587, or you can email us at sales@trueshotammo.com for more ammo options.
