THE AWESOME GLASER SAFETY SLUG

A few weeks ago I made a loan to a friend. His 9mm was in the shop and I keep a few inexpensive but reliable revolvers on hand to lend to qualified individual so they will not be naked in a transitional time. After all everyone knows how to use a revolver. After the loan period was over, my friend remarked upon the loads in the cylinder of the Charter Arms revolver. He knew I was too aware to use round nose bullets but these were indeed roundnose bullets. I remarked that they were Glaser Safety Slugs. 'wow' was his only comment. Wow is an apt description of this special purpose load. Performance is more pertinent than history but some history is in order that we may understand how the Glaser works. The Glaser dates back to the 1960s. In those days hollow point bullets that actually worked as advertised were few and far between. The Keith lead hollowpoint worked just fine and is the ancestor of the modern lead hollowpoint that works so well in .38 Special, but it was a handloading proposition. Most JHP bullets offered a dream and little more. The first air hijackings had made the news and there was some concern even in those days that hijackings might reach epidemic proportions-which they did. The first air marshals were formed. There were any number of experiments tried including special plastic cylinders filled with ceramic bullets. But the head and shoulders above the rest leader was the Glaser Safety Slug. The Safety Slug is composed of a copper jacket filled with lead shot. The originals were fabricated from JHP bullets with the lead melted out but later the copper cups were purchased ready made. The copper cup is filled with light birdshot and then sealed with a bondo plug. Naturally, this was not conducive to accuracy but performance was what counted.

The light bullets (68 to 80 grains in .38 caliber) were driven at unheard of handgun velocity of 1500 to 1600 fps. The bullets break up on meeting concrete and other solid resistance. They will sometimes

penetrate car doors but if they meet the window regulator mechanics they break up. My personal test program indicates they will break up on vehicle sheet metal at a slight angle and they will not penetrate safety glass, simply losing the jacket in the glass and spraying the backstop with lead pellets. That is the first safety aspect of the load. The second safety aspect is in the effect on target. When the safety slug meets flesh it penetrates to a depth of six to seven inches. Rather than expanding like a hollowpoint the nose opens and the load of birdshot begins to be unleashed upon the target. Buckshot travels in pairs and birdshot travels in clumps inside the body. The effect seems to be a shredding of the organs. I have seen a number of Glaser Autopsy photographs and the scene looks like a lead snowstorm. Of course there are occasions when the Glaser does not perform as advertised, just as there are times when a conventional JHP bullet does not open and expand. But in my experience in testing the safety slug against various media it always plumps out to some degree and the frontal diameter of the bullet is increased to some extent or the other. When the Glaser works as designed the effect should be at least equal to a conventional JHP bullet. When the shot spreads and shreds organs as designed then blood loss should be significant and quick.

This point is lost on some shooters. The Glaser is an effective cartridge when it works as designed, true, but it is not necessarily tremendously more effective than a JHP round, it is not a magic bullet. Rather, the Glaser has a two fold mission. It is effective against flesh and blood and it is also a safety round that limits penetration and ricochet. The Glaser has been adopted by any number of corrections departments based upon its low ricochet aspects. When you are using conventional ball in a concrete jungle, why, it is ricochet city and the Glaser prevents this problem. When it hits a target the problem of over penetration is limited. A real problem with the original Glaser was accuracy. As Jack Lewis once reported 'the Glaser aint a Laser'.

It was not unusual for the Glaser to group five shots into eight inches or even more at 25 yards despite the best efforts of a trained shooter. . The problem seemed worse with big bore handguns, with some of the original 9mm loads among the most accurate. The Glaser was designed to be used inside the cabin of a passenger liner but aircraft are larger now and some of us wished for a more versatile loading. Another problem was the pressure curve in automatic pistols. Some handguns simply did not function correctly with a light bullet at high velocity. Bullet pull and the powder burning curve were contra indicated for good function. Since Glasers are practically hand made they are expensive and it is difficult to test the loads for reliability in automatic pistols. For this reason the author trusted Glaser Safety Slugs as a backup in the revolver only. Today the Glaser is manufactured by Cor Bon and many of the problems are solved. The problem of consistency has been addressed and while the loads simply cannot be as consistent as a lead core jacketed hollow point the bullets are much more consistent than in the past and often generate excellent accuracy for the mission profile. But the big news is an adjustment of the powder curve. As a result the Glaser is reliable in the majority of handguns. You still have the responsibility to try at least a couple of magazines in your handgun of choice but the modern Glaser is very reliable in the handguns I have tested. I would avoid the Glaser in any handgun that relies upon gas operation such as the gas retarded HK P7, but for in conventional automatic pistols the 9mm, .40 and .45 have proven reliable.

Another problem often reported was that the loads often strike much lower than the point of aim. With modern Glaser loads and the new powder charges, the bullets usually strike to the point of aim at ten yards or so. This is up to the shooter to verify. In .38 Special snubnose revolver the Glaser usually shoots a bit low but at ten yards but a two inch low strike can be accounted for. At conversational range it matters little. I have fired a few hundred of the new generation Glaser Safety Slugs in a number of calibers, and find each capable and well suited to the assigned goal. If you are facing felons behind cover on a regular basis, the Glaser is not for you. If you are a jogger and fear an attack by a pit bull, a .38 loaded with Glaser Safety Slugs will probably stop the attack and definitely not bounce off hard pavement if you miss. I keep my backup .38 loaded with Glaser Safety slugs, often the first two rounds up, and keep a Taurus .357 Magnum secreted in the home loaded with Glaser Safety Slugs in .357 Magnum caliber.

Recoil is relatively easy to control, another advantage of the Glaser. When you are using lightweight slugs at high velocity momentum for recoil is much less. Overall, I find the Glaser Safety Slug a good means of hedging your bets in personal defense. I have always respected the Glaser but with Cor Bon producing the round the integrity, reliability and practical aspects of the loading are much more attractive.

Accuracy

.38 Glaser safety slug, five round group, ten yards, double action, Smith and Wesson 442/ 4.5 inches

.357 Glaser safety slug, five round group, ten yards, single action, Taurus 605 1.25 inches

9mm Glaser safety slug, five round group, ten yards, Armalite AR 24 1.0 inch

.45 Glaser safety slug, five round group, ten yards, Colt Defender .45 2.0 inches

.45 Glaser safety slug, five round group, ten yards, Smith and Wesson SW1911 1.1 inch

The accompanying images show .45 caliber Glaser Safety Slugs recovered from water jugs. Not bad performance at all. I would not wish those sharp fragments to be shredding my organs!