Rubber bullets

Full Metal Jacket · July 11, 2005, 06:22 PM

Some questions about them:

1. Because they don't weigh much, doesn't that boost velocity considerably?

2. Do they break skin?

3. If they do break skin, how deep do they penetrate?

4. Will they tend to jam in modern guns using modern magazines?

just wondering.

texas07 · July 11, 2005, 06:37 PM

I dont think that so called "Rubber bullets" are made for most guns as just another type of loading. Rubber bullets are usually either fired from special delivery platforms (fancy rubber bullet guns), special attachments to existing guns, or from shotguns ( a shotshell is a lot more versatile than a brass case, and a pump shot gun feeds so much more reliably). There may be exceptions to this, but I'm pretty sure theres not too many police agencies running around with 9mm glocks loaded with rubber bullets...

Nimitz87 · July 11, 2005, 06:45 PM

FMJ if your talking about shotshells they have been known to penertrate...

if im not mistaken a few deaths have resulted. (girl in boston during the world series)

so they can penertrate im sure....and im sure they are FLYING out of that barrel...

i dont have ballastics though...

Chad

Limeyfellow · July 11, 2005, 07:42 PM

They can cause some pretty bad wounds, like they did when they were used on the antiwar protesters in Atlanta a couple of years back when they were shooting them in the head and the back. Generally like wooden bullets they tend to be aimed at the ground and fired and richocet upwards into the legs.

They are normally fired with a special rifle though and generally only useful to the police in an antiriot, squashing protests type role. They became quite infamous in the UK from their use in Northern Ireland.

brickeyee · July 11, 2005, 08:08 PM

"girl in boston during the world series"

She was killed by a peperball gun I thought.

63Belair · July 11, 2005, 11:15 PM

yeah, it was a pepper paintball, fired from (if i remember correctly) a tippman 98 paintball gun.

Netzapper · July 12, 2005, 12:07 AM

Somebody makes OC paintballs? Wow.

tlm225 · July 12, 2005, 08:28 AM

I'm not sure that this is what you're asking about but a little over 15 years ago I got some rubber and plastic bullets in a gun trade. They were for a .38 special and had plastic cases that used a large pistol primer (no powder) as the propellant. Thinking of indoor practice I taped a target onto a cardboard box and backup the length of the hallway (about 12') and cranked off four or five shots. When I checked the target I found that the rubber bullets had passed throungh the cardboard and partially penetrated a hollow core door

!! Definitely not a substitute for simunitions.

Greybeard · July 12, 2005, 08:58 AM

Being the operator of an indoor handgun range here, I received an unsolicited "sample pack" of few years back. The man suggested keeping pistols loaded with at least the first round one of his rubber bullets. They caused every semi I tried to malfunction after the first shot ... Enough said.

brickeyee · July 12, 2005, 10:10 AM

A 'less lethal' bullet is unlikely to get any relief legally. You fired a deadly weapon at someone, irrespective of what it was loaded with.
Either you had a right to use deadly force, or you did not.
If you have the right to use deadly force there is no reason to handicap yourself.

MartinR · July 13, 2005, 06:57 AM

From a self defense standpoint I think rubber bullets are a bad idea for the reasons previously mentioned.

From a target-practice standpoint, I wax bullets in revolvers - but neither one works well in a semi-auto.

Dave R · July 14, 2005, 12:16 AM

If you are talking about the rubber bullets used as "practice ammo", they are not designed to be used with powder. Primer only. They still move fast enough to penetrate a blanlet backstop (occasionally), which probably means they could break skin.

I don't user rubber bullets, but I do use the plastic training bullets from Speer, for .380acp, 9mm and .45acp. They work very well for their intended purpose. I can practice draw/present/fire drills in my garage.

claybuster01 · October 20, 2005, 10:35 PM

I found some of the speer practice rounds in my dads old gun stuff that he has sorta given to me. Took them into the garage and taped up a target to a box and shot off 6 rounds... went to go check... almost went through the garage door it made a nice circle dent... so i went to the outdoor store and bought 50 more (because i just had to have more of these things) and a pack of large pistol magnum primers and fired them off tonight... had 7 fail to fires b/c the plastic rim bent and the full force of the pin didnt happen, i guess... there still a great product though because its like a range in your garage and i cant argue with that even if there a tad bit brittle.

John28226 · October 24, 2005, 05:07 PM

For many years I have used Speer plastic ammo for garage training - practice trigger control and sight picture. They are very good for revolver use and, if you pack a cardboard box with rags, you can recover the "bullet" and use it over and over again. For the .45 ACP version, you need to enlarge the primer flash hole in a brass casing (as per the instructions if anyone actually reads instructions) or the primer will back out and jam the cylinder. After using them for years, I just now discovered a way to improve the loading of the primer into the plastic shell case - I simply replaced the # 2 shell plate in my Lee Auto Prime with a #1 shell plate and inserted the primers with the Lee. Left the rest of the AutoPrime as I keep it (I only reload .45 ACP). Worked great and fast too. No more cocked primers trying to force them in by hand and table top. Much more enjoyable practice and less down time.
John

chrisandclauida2 · October 25, 2005, 01:16 AM

i have fired many different rounds of rubber rounds. i never fired any out of a rifle or hand gun.i think that would be useless. i used a shot gun or 37 mm.most bean bag rubber ball or rubber missile are of little effect if heavy clothing is worn. all can kill if fired close enough in the right spot. that is why it is called less lethal not non lethal. my favorite is knee knockers[miltible batan round].it is a 37 mm round with a roughly 2 by 2 inch rubber projectile stacked with 4 or so depending on the manifacture and weapon.they are made to be skipped but are heavy . i have shot someone center mass and they did go down. it was about 20 yards and any close it could be fatal. not from penetration but blunt force trama to the organs. my favorite rubber weapon would be the stinger grenade. if is a rubber grenade about slightly bigger than a softball. it is full of abour 3/4 inch rubber balls. it will get your attention if in its operational area. i would love to roll pne into the living room with a burgler in there. i am laughing my ass off with the visual. it wouldnt kill him but would probably cause some unintended fecal release.that and break some windows and maybe tv.i wouldnt waste your time or money on handgun rounds or rifle rounds of this sort. wodden rullets will kill and i have seen some in shotgun news recently/ifyou want some of these stick with shotgun or get a surplus 37mm. you can own them without special stamps or such. get some hulls and load your own. i would love to see a 37 mm round loaded with rubber shot. it would seriously hurt an intruder. not to mention that looking down a 3 inch barell weapon would have an impact. i would say that the people i have shot thast the 37 mm and stinger rounds are the mose effective. the shot shells are all tolerable. meaning that while they hurt they can be withstood. if you happen to hit some male in the testicles they would go down but bean bags rubber ball rounds hurt and if several people are shooting them at one person they will usually stop but it isnt gauranteed.

106RR · October 27, 2005, 03:08 AM

The rubber bullets used in Northern Ireland were metal coated with rubber. They are very painful. At one time they were used to prevent observation by civilians. If someone was trying to watch the cops through a window, they would fire one right through the glass. It sent shards of broken glass right into the face of the witness.
The ones used in Israel are a similar type but are fired from special launchers on M 16s. The US riot control versions are somewhat more humane I think.

SJRTX · November 5, 2005, 04:53 AM

As someone already posted, if your justified in shooting, rubber bullets arent going to make any difference. Shooting someone in defense of your life doesnt mean your always going to be preventing an attack. Someone might have gotten the jump on you at the right time and place, and you are presently being stabbed repetitively. At this point, would you be glad you've got rubber bullets in your gun? The only place they have is for LE and riot control. They have no place in a defensive carry weapon.

July 12, 2005, 08:28 AM	#8
tlm225 Senior Member Join Date: December 21, 2004 Location: Arkansas Posts: 962	I'm not sure that this is what you're asking about but a little over 15 years ago I got some rubber and plastic bullets in a gun trade. They were for a .38 special and had plastic cases that used a large pistol primer (no powder) as the propellant. Thinking of indoor practice I taped a target onto a cardboard box and backup the length of the hallway (about 12') and cranked off four or five shots. When I checked the target I found that the rubber bullets had passed throungh the cardboard and partially penetrated a hollow core door !! Definitely not a substitute for simunitions. __________________ All that is neccessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

July 12, 2005, 08:58 AM	#9
Greybeard Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2002 Location: Denton County Texas Posts: 686	Being the operator of an indoor handgun range here, I received an unsolicited "sample pack" of few years back. The man suggested keeping pistols loaded with at least the first round one of his rubber bullets. They caused every semi I tried to malfunction after the first shot ... Enough said. __________________ www.dentoncountysports.com A Private Palace for Pistol Proficiency

July 14, 2005, 12:16 AM	#12
Dave R Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2000 Location: Idaho Posts: 6,073	If you are talking about the rubber bullets used as "practice ammo", they are not designed to be used with powder. Primer only. They still move fast enough to penetrate a blanlet backstop (occasionally), which probably means they could break skin. I don't user rubber bullets, but I do use the plastic training bullets from Speer, for .380acp, 9mm and .45acp. They work very well for their intended purpose. I can practice draw/present/fire drills in my garage. __________________ I am Pro-Rights (on gun issues).

October 24, 2005, 05:07 PM	#14
John28226 Senior Member Join Date: May 28, 2005 Location: North Carolina Posts: 292	Speer Plastic Practice Ammo For many years I have used Speer plastic ammo for garage training - practice trigger control and sight picture. They are very good for revolver use and, if you pack a cardboard box with rags, you can recover the "bullet" and use it over and over again. For the .45 ACP version, you need to enlarge the primer flash hole in a brass casing (as per the instructions if anyone actually reads instructions) or the primer will back out and jam the cylinder. After using them for years, I just now discovered a way to improve the loading of the primer into the plastic shell case - I simply replaced the # 2 shell plate in my Lee Auto Prime with a #1 shell plate and inserted the primers with the Lee. Left the rest of the AutoPrime as I keep it (I only reload .45 ACP). Worked great and fast too. No more cocked primers trying to force them in by hand and table top. Much more enjoyable practice and less down time. John

July 11, 2005, 06:22 PM	#1
Full Metal Jacket Senior Member Join Date: December 8, 2004 Posts: 260	Rubber bullets Some questions about them: 1. Because they don't weigh much, doesn't that boost velocity considerably? 2. Do they break skin? 3. If they do break skin, how deep do they penetrate? 4. Will they tend to jam in modern guns using modern magazines? just wondering.

July 11, 2005, 06:37 PM	#2
texas07 Member Join Date: April 13, 2005 Posts: 43	I dont think that so called "Rubber bullets" are made for most guns as just another type of loading. Rubber bullets are usually either fired from special delivery platforms (fancy rubber bullet guns), special attachments to existing guns, or from shotguns ( a shotshell is a lot more versatile than a brass case, and a pump shot gun feeds so much more reliably). There may be exceptions to this, but I'm pretty sure theres not too many police agencies running around with 9mm glocks loaded with rubber bullets...

July 11, 2005, 07:42 PM	#4
Limeyfellow Senior Member Join Date: May 31, 2005 Posts: 1,380	They can cause some pretty bad wounds, like they did when they were used on the antiwar protesters in Atlanta a couple of years back when they were shooting them in the head and the back. Generally like wooden bullets they tend to be aimed at the ground and fired and richocet upwards into the legs. They are normally fired with a special rifle though and generally only useful to the police in an antiriot, squashing protests type role. They became quite infamous in the UK from their use in Northern Ireland.

July 11, 2005, 08:08 PM	#5
brickeyee Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2004 Posts: 3,351	"girl in boston during the world series" She was killed by a peperball gun I thought.

July 11, 2005, 11:15 PM	#6
63Belair Member Join Date: May 25, 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 70	yeah, it was a pepper paintball, fired from (if i remember correctly) a tippman 98 paintball gun.

July 12, 2005, 12:07 AM	#7
Netzapper Senior Member Join Date: April 1, 2005 Location: Gilpin county, CO Posts: 261	Somebody makes OC paintballs? Wow.

July 12, 2005, 10:10 AM	#10
brickeyee Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2004 Posts: 3,351	A 'less lethal' bullet is unlikely to get any relief legally. You fired a deadly weapon at someone, irrespective of what it was loaded with. Either you had a right to use deadly force, or you did not. If you have the right to use deadly force there is no reason to handicap yourself.

July 13, 2005, 06:57 AM	#11
MartinR Senior Member Join Date: March 31, 2005 Location: Winston-Salem, NC Posts: 134	From a self defense standpoint I think rubber bullets are a bad idea for the reasons previously mentioned. From a target-practice standpoint, I wax bullets in revolvers - but neither one works well in a semi-auto.

October 20, 2005, 10:35 PM	#13
claybuster01 Member Join Date: June 28, 2005 Posts: 18	I found some of the speer practice rounds in my dads old gun stuff that he has sorta given to me. Took them into the garage and taped up a target to a box and shot off 6 rounds... went to go check... almost went through the garage door it made a nice circle dent... so i went to the outdoor store and bought 50 more (because i just had to have more of these things) and a pack of large pistol magnum primers and fired them off tonight... had 7 fail to fires b/c the plastic rim bent and the full force of the pin didnt happen, i guess... there still a great product though because its like a range in your garage and i cant argue with that even if there a tad bit brittle.

October 25, 2005, 01:16 AM	#15
chrisandclauida2 Senior Member Join Date: September 21, 2005 Posts: 312	i have fired many different rounds of rubber rounds. i never fired any out of a rifle or hand gun.i think that would be useless. i used a shot gun or 37 mm.most bean bag rubber ball or rubber missile are of little effect if heavy clothing is worn. all can kill if fired close enough in the right spot. that is why it is called less lethal not non lethal. my favorite is knee knockers[miltible batan round].it is a 37 mm round with a roughly 2 by 2 inch rubber projectile stacked with 4 or so depending on the manifacture and weapon.they are made to be skipped but are heavy . i have shot someone center mass and they did go down. it was about 20 yards and any close it could be fatal. not from penetration but blunt force trama to the organs. my favorite rubber weapon would be the stinger grenade. if is a rubber grenade about slightly bigger than a softball. it is full of abour 3/4 inch rubber balls. it will get your attention if in its operational area. i would love to roll pne into the living room with a burgler in there. i am laughing my ass off with the visual. it wouldnt kill him but would probably cause some unintended fecal release.that and break some windows and maybe tv.i wouldnt waste your time or money on handgun rounds or rifle rounds of this sort. wodden rullets will kill and i have seen some in shotgun news recently/ifyou want some of these stick with shotgun or get a surplus 37mm. you can own them without special stamps or such. get some hulls and load your own. i would love to see a 37 mm round loaded with rubber shot. it would seriously hurt an intruder. not to mention that looking down a 3 inch barell weapon would have an impact. i would say that the people i have shot thast the 37 mm and stinger rounds are the mose effective. the shot shells are all tolerable. meaning that while they hurt they can be withstood. if you happen to hit some male in the testicles they would go down but bean bags rubber ball rounds hurt and if several people are shooting them at one person they will usually stop but it isnt gauranteed.

October 27, 2005, 03:08 AM	#16
106RR Senior Member Join Date: July 10, 2002 Posts: 234	The rubber bullets used in Northern Ireland were metal coated with rubber. They are very painful. At one time they were used to prevent observation by civilians. If someone was trying to watch the cops through a window, they would fire one right through the glass. It sent shards of broken glass right into the face of the witness. The ones used in Israel are a similar type but are fired from special launchers on M 16s. The US riot control versions are somewhat more humane I think.

November 5, 2005, 04:53 AM	#17
SJRTX Junior Member Join Date: October 7, 2005 Location: NW Houston Posts: 11	As someone already posted, if your justified in shooting, rubber bullets arent going to make any difference. Shooting someone in defense of your life doesnt mean your always going to be preventing an attack. Someone might have gotten the jump on you at the right time and place, and you are presently being stabbed repetitively. At this point, would you be glad you've got rubber bullets in your gun? The only place they have is for LE and riot control. They have no place in a defensive carry weapon.