# Home Defense - Frangible Bullets are they a good idea?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 16, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980 "2012-03-16T17:03:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/1 "2012-03-16T17:03:02Z")
Frangible Bullets supposedly won’t penetrate drywall. If you shoot at the bad guy and miss then maybe grandma in the other room won’t get hit.
At least that’s the claim. Any opinions whether they are any good? Think this would stop a bad guy or just piss him off?
> [@](#):
>
> The bullet design can produce large shallow wounds in flesh while failing to pass through structural barriers thicker than drywall or sheet metal.[4][5] These qualities make it less likely to strike unintended targets, such as people in another room during an indoor shooting. Also, when it strikes a hard surface from which a solid bullet would glance off, it fragments into tiny, light pieces and creates much less ricochet danger.
> **[Glaser Safety Slug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaser_Safety_Slug)**
>
> Glaser Safety Slug is a frangible bullet made by Cor-Bon/Glaser, a subsidiary of Dakota Ammo, an American ammunition company formerly based in Sturgis, South Dakota. The Glaser Safety Slug was developed by Jack Canon in 1975, the same year the company was founded by Armin Glaser.
> The original round was a hand-made hollow-point bullet filled with No. 12 birdshot (0.05 in (1.3 mm)) with a flat polymer cap. To improve ballistic performance, a polymer-tipped round ball was introduced in 1987, and...
> [@](#):
>
> A frangible bullet is one that is designed to disintegrate into tiny particles upon impact to minimize their penetration for reasons of range safety, to limit environmental impact, or to limit the danger behind the intended target. Examples are the Glaser Safety Slug and the breaching round.
>
> Frangible bullets will disintegrate upon contact with a surface harder than the bullet itself. Frangible bullets are often used by shooters engaging in close quarter combat training to avoid ricochets; targets are placed on steel backing plates that serve to completely fragment the bullet. Frangible bullets are typically made of non-toxic metals, and are frequently used on “green” ranges and outdoor ranges where lead abatement is a concern.
> **[Frangibility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frangibility)**
>
> A material is said to be frangible if through deformation it tends to break up into fragments, rather than deforming elastically and retaining its cohesion as a single object. Common crackers are examples of frangible materials, while fresh bread, which deforms plastically, is not frangible.
> A structure is frangible if it breaks, distorts, or yields on impact so as to present a minimum hazard. A frangible structure is usually designed to be of minimum mass.
> A frangible light pole base is design...
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/2 "2012-03-17T00:13:49Z")
I checked and they sell a box of six Safety Slug bullets for around $10.
I’m thinking about putting two safety slugs in the clip to fire first. Then if that doesn’t stop the bad guy, the other rounds will be hollow points.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/3 "2012-03-17T00:35:22Z")
I have Glasers loaded in the .44 by my desk. I’d run a box through the gun to see how they feed before I’d rely on them for self-defense.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/4 "2012-03-17T00:43:12Z")
I have an easier philosopy.
_ **Don’t Miss** _
Don’t shoot unless you’re sure of the target and have a clean shot. Don’t fuck around and pop off an entire clip in the general direction of your target hoping to hit it and nothing else. Don’t “shoot to wound”, don’t be playing stupid assed war games with “supressing fire” or “firing for effect” hoping to scare them off or make them give up.
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/5 "2012-03-17T00:43:57Z")
expect to be skewered by the ninnies who think using those things makes you a vicious butcher.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/6 "2012-03-17T00:56:48Z")
Bullets have been known to pass through a body and then through a wall. I’m not sure if one bullet has ever killed two people on opposite sides of a wall but it could happen.
That’s why they trying to develop bullets that won’t go through a person and keep going.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/7 "2012-03-17T14:04:19Z")
> [@Chimera](#):
>
> I have an easier philosopy.
>
> _ **Don’t Miss** _
>
> Don’t shoot unless you’re sure of the target and have a clean shot. Don’t fuck around and pop off an entire clip in the general direction of your target hoping to hit it and nothing else. Don’t “shoot to wound”, don’t be playing stupid assed war games with “supressing fire” or “firing for effect” hoping to scare them off or make them give up.
This is without a doubt one of the **stupidest** things I’ve read on this board lately.
Watch an episode of _Top Shots_ sometime. Trained professionals, with known weapons, in braod daylight, firing at known targets at a preset distance in a non-survival setting…miss the target on occasion.
I just checked the loaded weapons around here. They are a mix of hollow-points and Glasers, but never both in the same weapon.
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### Author:  [@Snite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snite)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/8 "2012-03-17T16:44:05Z")
The largest drawback is that the wound caused can be too shallow. If you strike center-mass the assailant is more than likely gonna bleed to death, but during those 5-10 minutes he’s still capable of messing you up. If you’re primary concern is to not hit Lil’ Suzy, then yes, they’re the way to go, but be prepared to shoot your assailant, then shoot him again and again.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/9 "2012-03-17T17:42:28Z")
Consider a shotgun. But then you have to deal with the mess. 😃
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### Author:  [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/10 "2012-03-17T18:20:46Z")
I have a .22 magnum. I don’t think they make Glaser rounds for that size.
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### Author:  [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/11 "2012-03-17T18:41:46Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> I have Glasers loaded in the .44 by my desk. I’d run a box through the gun to see how they feed before I’d rely on them for self-defense.
This. Very much this.
My Glock 20 didn’t like them and it would’ve sucked to find that out in an emergency.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/12 "2012-03-17T21:54:41Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> This is without a doubt one of the **stupidest** things I’ve read on this board lately.
I’m sorry you feel this way, but I feel that when people get too comfortable in the idea that their ammunition is only going to injure the bad guy and won’t go through walls or injure anyone else, they tend to get careless and start throwing more of it about.
Sure, you can miss under the most ideal conditions. But if you start with the mindset of being sure of your target, only shooting when you have a clear shot, of being sure of what is beyond your target and being intent on actually hitting your target, you’re a lot less likely to “spray and pray” in your own damned house.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/13 "2012-03-17T22:49:19Z")
For some real information;
Found [this thread](http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=336409) on them from 2009-present,
This has a bit on [Glasers](http://www.chuckhawks.com/ammo_by_anonymous.htm)
And [this thread](http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-207022.html) here.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/14 "2012-03-17T23:43:51Z")
Great links Chimera. I’ve got some reading to do. Thanks!
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/15 "2012-03-18T03:03:42Z")
No matter what you buy **take it to the range** before you commit to a particular round.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/16 "2012-03-18T03:44:16Z")
That was one of the common things mentioned in all the various articles and threads on frangible rounds. That it’s rather difficult to get sufficiently acquainted with rounds that costs $3-4 each.
But yeah, shoot a few rounds through your defensive weapon before you ever rely on them. The common complaints about the Glasers was that they misfed on a lot of semi-autos and/or that they lacked sufficient energy to cycle the gun, meaning your semi-auto with a 15 shot clip could easily become a one shot weapon at crunch time.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/17 "2012-03-18T05:23:35Z")
I’m glad my defensive weapon is a 38 Revolver. Jam proof and dependable with any ammo. I’d still want to try the Glasers at the range first.
Before I do anything, I need to ask a gunsmith if my short barrel S&W J-Frame is safe with Glasers. I don’t want that shot blowing back on me from the S&W’s 2 1/2 barrel. I’ve heard shotguns will do that if the barrel is chopped too short (yes I know its illegal to chop a shotgun. I’m using a hypothetical example.).
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### Author:  [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/18 "2012-03-19T17:08:11Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> Consider a shotgun. But then you have to deal with the mess. 😃
At the distances you would experience in home defense shotguns don’t have much spread and will go through walls like crazy.
There is a reason, many agencies have moved to .223 rifles their small fast moving projectile will tend to break up and can be safer than even pistols.
A few years back I was involuntarily involved as a 3rd party with a situation where I acquired a stalker and was receiving numerous death threats, had my tires slashed multiple times etc…
Due to this I paid for a significant amount of training at some of the better LE schools in the country, this does not make me an expert but I have at least received formal training.
All of the instructors I had agreed that pistols are not magic talismans that strike the bad guy down with a single shot.
They are long distance drills, don’t reduce their effectiveness with “safety slugs”, make a plan on where you defense point is and make sure what is beyond your target is not other innocents.
If you ever do need to actually use your firearm, and the pure presence of that firearm doesn’t stop the attack the adrenaline will have dragged you so far down into your “monkey brain” that you won’t have time or the ability to think about it.
So the best is to make a plan, and practice, and make sure you do your best to not hurt your neighbors or family.
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### Author:  [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2012, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-defense-frangible-bullets-are-they-a-good-idea/615980/19 "2012-03-24T10:47:46Z")
for what it’s worth, I have a 9mm Springfield XD pistol, and ww2 relic m1 carbine (.30 cal). I ordered hollow points for both. Since in my state you can’t have any clips \> 10 rounds, I figured 1 full clip of each on the range would be a good test. Both guns were used, both looked to be in great shape, the previous owners took good care of them. The hollow brands were Federal Premium & DPX respectively. The pistol firing was perfect, the carbine had 1 incomplete cycling, which resolved after pulling back the bolt and releasing (I suspect it was an underloaded predecessor round). After the tests, I went back to FMJ in both, and both worked perfectly. I keep both in the home loaded with the hollows, and the FMJs in the spare clips.