From: Nick Steadman, [EMAIL PROTECTED] The only justification for using a JSP bullet instead of an FMJ is to induce expansion, and therefore - unless the JSPs being used do not expand (in which case why not use ball?) UK police cannot be in compliance with the Hague Accords. Generally speaking, in mainland Europe, police try to adhere to the Accords, but there is still a lively market in 9mm police ammunition that looks like ball but expands all the same (eg the Sako KPO, Lapua CEPP-Super etc). Peacetime counter-terrorist ops by the UK military do not fall foul of the Accords, and legally expanding ammunition would be permissible for them, though I do not believe it is widely used in pistol calibres. Nick Steadman -- It's all to avoid the police being tarred with the "dum dum" image. Like Guy says, the only effect is ballistically neutered ammunition. I did play around with some 9mm JSP loads some years ago and none of them seemed that likely to expand although it wasn't a serious project. One gun dealer I knew in the US tested the Hirtenberger 100gr JSP in depth and came to the conclusion it was basically useless in terms of expansion or even significant deformation. I know I gave up on the testing simply because I couldn't get them to feed. I went to considerable effort to get some Geco JSP and it wouldn't feed in my Beretta (how many other loads can you think of that won't feed in a 92FS?) The Hirtenberger also fed poorly because of the funny bullet shape (the slide would go forward, strip off a round, then a few moments later the slide would clang shut because the bullet hung up momentarily on the feed ramp). The only thing about the Winchester load I liked was that the muzzle flash was so blinding I thought it might be useful for film work. I'm just trying to find the accuracy figures in my log book but I remember it was really pitiful, the bullet was just too short. And this was out of a Walther P88, not exactly an inaccurate pistol. The actual ogive of the Winchester load is copied from the Silvertip, but it has an exposed lead tip in place of the hollowpoint and the bullet is much shorter as the lead is more to the front and only weighs 95gr. Winchester discontinued this load ages ago but the Met were still using it for ages afterwards. Winchester stopped making it because it didn't expand! The point is that it doesn't really matter whether JSP expands or not, it's just so bad for a laundry list of other reasons that I cannot understand why the police use it. Some forces use RG FMJ or other FMJ loads which seems sensible to me. (Under the circumstances). I know there have been some other loads that have come out in recent years but they are so expensive I can't see the police here using them. Geco BAT, the Lapua CEPP and so on. Pistols nowadays are made to accomodate JHPs, not JSPs. Steve. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
