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does anyone on the forum have any expierence with the Glaser Safety Slug .38 cal

tommyg wrote:does anyone on the forum have any expierence with the Glaser Safety Slug .38 cal

Shot some watermelons with them years ago.. Lot of fun.

Never used them for self defense loads.

Anygunanywhere

They were designed as a solution to a non-existent problem. The were made for Air Marshals back in the 70's and 80' to keep the fuselage from "Explosive Decompression". Once they realized this doesn't happen I believe they are using Speer Gold Dots. Don't quote me on that but definitely not Glasers. There is a reason for that......like AndyC said above they don't penetrate well enough for defensive use.

carried them for years until I read a simple statement on a gunforum:

"If they hit anything like a forearm, glass window, wristwatch, belt or buckle they expend most of their energy and have nothing left to stop an assailant."

Now they're collecting dust on my "Misc. Ammo" shelf.

Hope this helps.

Inadequate penetration is as bad as inadequate shot location.

My experience is a little different than other psoters so I will chime in to give some choice.

I used to carry Glasers in both 9mm and 40. I carried them in my off duty guns when I first joined SAPD in the late 80's through early 90's. I never had any complaints with them, but I also was lucky enough to never need them for real.

Before carrying them, I tested them for myself. I could not do a thorough test because of the cost but I did test them. My experience gave me faith in them, but was not scientific testing by any means. I set up some targets with some cover to try the penetration and a block of wet newspapers to test the penetration. First, i shot through a carpet, two thicknesses as it was draped over a rod in front of the box of paper. Then I shot through an old wallet I had (about ten years old). The wallet was hand tooled leather and fairly thick leather for a wallet. Then I shot a few rounds with no cover, just the box of paper.

In all cases, the rounds did what I thought they were supposed to. They went through the cover item (which I was using to simulate a wool coat and a leather jacket) leaving nice clean holes. Then they went at least six inches into the paper, expanding and tearing it up as they went. I figured that was good enough penetration.

One minor point, and I could be mistaken. I always have understood that the frangible ammo was not designed to prevent decompression, but to prevent ricochets. It is very good at that. I know it was first designed for the air marshals back then though, so decompression might have been a concern.

I woudl feel very comfortable carrying them for either duty or off duty purposes. The only reason I do not recommend them or carry them now is the cost. I flinch at the boxes of gold dot priced at $20/ for 25 rounds, and I simply cannot afford ammo priced at $25 for six rounds. Just too pricey for me.

I wouldn't trust them. I only use Hornady Critical Duty +P now.