ohiosam
12-21-2008, 09:52 PM
The "safe" slug myth: shotgun slugs are required in some areas, but why?
The shotgun slug is less safe and more dangerous in the field than a 150 grain .30-06 bullet or a 50-caliber muzzleloading projectile. Does that statement sound improbable? Conventional wisdom would say so.
I've just finished digesting a 67-page technical report commissioned by the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee that blows a hole in conventional wisdom and the increasing establishment of shotgun-slug-only zones by state's game agencies.
What prompted the study? A lawsuit involving a hunting accident in which a woman sitting in a car was struck by a stray rifle bullet coupled with increasing sportsmen's opposition to the expansion of shotgun slug and muzzleloading-only zones on the decision of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
When the professional staff of the Game Commission questioned other states with about their slug policies, they found no state had any definitive safety data to support the decision to restrict zones to shotgun slugs. Quoting from the report, "They found in the shotgun-only states, this appears to be an issue driven by emotion and politics rather than sound scientific data."
The Army Weighs In
The research firm, Mountaintop Technologies, conducted the resulting outside-contracted study. Its prime subcontractor was the US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at the Picatinny Arsenal.
The Picatinny research team used the concept of Surface Danger Zones to compare the relative risk performance of three projectiles: a 150-grain SP fired from a .30-06 with a muzzle velocity of 2,910 fps, a 385-grain, 12-gauge, 50-caliber sabot load with a hollowpoint, semi-spitzer projectile at 1,900 fps and, for the muzzleloaders, a 348-grain, 50-caliber CVA Powerbelt projectile at 1,595 fps.
The March 2007 study looked at the maximum range a projectile would reach at various firing angles of elevation plus the distance the projectile would ricochet after impacting the ground. The data is intriguing.
At a maximum firing angle of elevation of 35-degrees, the rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader projectiles travel 13,926', 10,378', and 9,197' respectfully. Because of the angle of descent, there are no ricochets.
At a firing angle of 10-degrees, the rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader projectiles travel 10,004', 7,163' and 6,247' respectfully plus additional ricochet distances of 702', 949' and 913' respectfully.
Ah, but the big surprise comes at 0-degrees of elevation which would be more or less a typical shot at a deer on level terrain. Here the rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader projectiles travel 1,408', 840', and 686' respectfully plus ricochet distances of 3,427', 4,365', and 3,812' respectfully. Now the total distances traveled by the projectiles are 4,835' for the rifle, 5,205' for the shotgun and 4,498' for the muzzleloader.
"The smaller cross sectional area of the .30-caliber projectile and its shape contributes to a higher loss of energy on impact and, after ricochet, the 30-caliber projectile tends to tumble in flight with a high drag. Test data confirm that the 50-caliber projectile's larger cross sectional area and its shape contribute to less energy loss on shallow angles of impact and, after ricochet, the projectile exhibits less drag which results in a greater total distance traveled.
"It is recommended the Pennsylvania Game Commission address the public perception a shotgun with modern high-velocity ammunition is less risky than centerfire rifles in all circumstances ... Frangible, or reduced ricochet, projectiles for hunting firearms should be investigated as an alternative to the mandatory use of shotguns or muzzleloaders."
Far Reaching
I think the effect of this study may be far reaching and it's why I have covered it in such detail. State game agencies tend to talk to one another and, indeed, tend to copy each other's regulations. It will be interesting to see what impact this study may have on present or future slug-only zones and on shotgun slug design itself.
The answer may be in making the shotgun slug more frangible. Slug design is increasingly taking on the structure and composition of a jacketed bullet. Looking at the design of the new xp3 Winchester, the Hornady SST, and Federal Fusion slugs, it's clear we are already there. They're built like jacketed bullets, and they upset and expand like jacketed bullets. They're the finest rifled shotgun slugs we've ever had plus muzzle velocities keep increasing with every passing year.
I'm sure the major ammunition companies are studying this groundbreaking report from Pennsylvania with keen interest. Knowing them as I do, they will have a solution to slug ricochet problem within months so stay tuned.
COPYRIGHT 2007 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
The shotgun slug is less safe and more dangerous in the field than a 150 grain .30-06 bullet or a 50-caliber muzzleloading projectile. Does that statement sound improbable? Conventional wisdom would say so.
I've just finished digesting a 67-page technical report commissioned by the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee that blows a hole in conventional wisdom and the increasing establishment of shotgun-slug-only zones by state's game agencies.
What prompted the study? A lawsuit involving a hunting accident in which a woman sitting in a car was struck by a stray rifle bullet coupled with increasing sportsmen's opposition to the expansion of shotgun slug and muzzleloading-only zones on the decision of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
When the professional staff of the Game Commission questioned other states with about their slug policies, they found no state had any definitive safety data to support the decision to restrict zones to shotgun slugs. Quoting from the report, "They found in the shotgun-only states, this appears to be an issue driven by emotion and politics rather than sound scientific data."
The Army Weighs In
The research firm, Mountaintop Technologies, conducted the resulting outside-contracted study. Its prime subcontractor was the US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at the Picatinny Arsenal.
The Picatinny research team used the concept of Surface Danger Zones to compare the relative risk performance of three projectiles: a 150-grain SP fired from a .30-06 with a muzzle velocity of 2,910 fps, a 385-grain, 12-gauge, 50-caliber sabot load with a hollowpoint, semi-spitzer projectile at 1,900 fps and, for the muzzleloaders, a 348-grain, 50-caliber CVA Powerbelt projectile at 1,595 fps.
The March 2007 study looked at the maximum range a projectile would reach at various firing angles of elevation plus the distance the projectile would ricochet after impacting the ground. The data is intriguing.
At a maximum firing angle of elevation of 35-degrees, the rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader projectiles travel 13,926', 10,378', and 9,197' respectfully. Because of the angle of descent, there are no ricochets.
At a firing angle of 10-degrees, the rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader projectiles travel 10,004', 7,163' and 6,247' respectfully plus additional ricochet distances of 702', 949' and 913' respectfully.
Ah, but the big surprise comes at 0-degrees of elevation which would be more or less a typical shot at a deer on level terrain. Here the rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader projectiles travel 1,408', 840', and 686' respectfully plus ricochet distances of 3,427', 4,365', and 3,812' respectfully. Now the total distances traveled by the projectiles are 4,835' for the rifle, 5,205' for the shotgun and 4,498' for the muzzleloader.
"The smaller cross sectional area of the .30-caliber projectile and its shape contributes to a higher loss of energy on impact and, after ricochet, the 30-caliber projectile tends to tumble in flight with a high drag. Test data confirm that the 50-caliber projectile's larger cross sectional area and its shape contribute to less energy loss on shallow angles of impact and, after ricochet, the projectile exhibits less drag which results in a greater total distance traveled.
"It is recommended the Pennsylvania Game Commission address the public perception a shotgun with modern high-velocity ammunition is less risky than centerfire rifles in all circumstances ... Frangible, or reduced ricochet, projectiles for hunting firearms should be investigated as an alternative to the mandatory use of shotguns or muzzleloaders."
Far Reaching
I think the effect of this study may be far reaching and it's why I have covered it in such detail. State game agencies tend to talk to one another and, indeed, tend to copy each other's regulations. It will be interesting to see what impact this study may have on present or future slug-only zones and on shotgun slug design itself.
The answer may be in making the shotgun slug more frangible. Slug design is increasingly taking on the structure and composition of a jacketed bullet. Looking at the design of the new xp3 Winchester, the Hornady SST, and Federal Fusion slugs, it's clear we are already there. They're built like jacketed bullets, and they upset and expand like jacketed bullets. They're the finest rifled shotgun slugs we've ever had plus muzzle velocities keep increasing with every passing year.
I'm sure the major ammunition companies are studying this groundbreaking report from Pennsylvania with keen interest. Knowing them as I do, they will have a solution to slug ricochet problem within months so stay tuned.
COPYRIGHT 2007 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning