TexasCHLforum.com

So, I bought some today for personal protection. It was REALLY expensive but the guys at the gun store really raved about it. Has anyone here used it or think it is or is not worth the money?

pcgizzmo wrote:So, I bought some today for personal protection. It was REALLY expensive but the guys at the gun store really raved about it. Has anyone here used it or think it is or is not worth the money?

The general view it is not worth the money. Stick with Hollow point, as does the FBI and virtually all LEO departments.

According to The Box-O-Truth they aren't worth buying. They make impressive displays when they hit something, but they don't penetrate far enough to meet FBI standards.

I have shot pork roast with RBCD, Magsafe and Corbon DPX. The Corbon DPX opened beautifully and penetrated about 17 inches with a small hole all the way. The Magsafe had fragments that penetrated about 5 inches with a hole about 2-3 inches wide at the mouth. The RBCD had fragments that penetrated about 6-7 inches with a hole at the mouth of about 5 inches. These were 9mm.

Whether you think its worth it or not depends on your situation and your views of stopping power theories.

Like all frangible rounds it will not penetrate as deeply as any hollow point in the same caliber, but it will produce a hole pretty wide in diameter but not much deeper that 5-8 inches. So if you are worried about over penetration, it won't. It also won't ricochet off hard surfaces very well since it will likely fragment rather than ricochet.

And if you believe in the energy dump theory of stopping power, it will dump more energy into the bad guy than hollow points in the same caliber.

I haven't seen it tested but tend to believe that a small light bullet traveling at high velocity like RCBD will be less likely to cause damage after going through sheet rock or dry wall than a heavier bullet like a hollow point (seems to me the dry wall is likely to slow it down a lot more than the dry wall would slow down a hollow point). Finally it does not have the range that a heavier hollow point has.

In my home defense pistol, I keep one RBCD in the chamber and one or two as the top rounds in the magazine. The rest of the magazine has Corbon DPX. I figure if the wide shallow wound of the RBCD doesn't stop someone then I need more penetration.

RBCD as are all frangibles I am aware of are expensive. But so is Corbon DPX. To me both are worth it.

Just my views. A lot of people don't like frangible rounds for any purpose. You have to make your own decisions.