Bruce R. reloads his ammunition. One day, he was testing a new batch of ammo when there was an accident.
He loaded the ammo into his Smith & Wesson Model 629 to test it out.
When he pulled the trigger there was an explosion and the gun smacked Bruce in the forehead leaving a big gash.
Turns out, Bruce had vastly over-pressured the ammo he reloaded.
The round blew out the top cylinder of the revolver. In addition, it blew out both adjoining chambers, and the revolver was destroyed.
While Bruce was injured, it could have been much worse.
Thankfully, no one was nearby since these types of explosions usually send shrapnel flying in all directions.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with reloading ammo…
But companies spend millions on research and development to make the best ammo possible, and I trust their ammo more than anything I would make.
So, I focus my time shooting, and testing the various rounds and new types of ammunition instead.
And one of the newer types of ammunition that has hit the market recently is made by a company called True Velocity.
The unique thing about the ammo is that it has a composite casing.
What is composite-cased ammo?:
The ammo produced by True Velocity uses a polymer casing instead of brass or steel (similar material to the frame of a Glock pistol).
According to the company, the composite casing is significantly lighter and reduces heat transfer to the firearm.
Some of the critical components of the ammo are still made from steel.
For instance, the case head of the cartridge is still made from steel, and it’s fused to the polymer body of the casing.
Advantages of composite-cased ammo:
Composite-cased ammo is about 30% lighter compared to brass.
That’s a big difference, especially if you are carrying a lot of ammo on your body.
In addition, a polymer case is a heat insulator instead of a heat conductor like brass. So, the composite ammo can reduce the amount of heat transfer to the firearm.
In combat, military rifles can experience high round counts that produce a lot of heat.
Less internal heat transferring to the rifle can help it from getting so hot that the shooter has to stop to let it cool.
Should you buy composite-cased ammo?:
During testing (not conducted by me), the True Velocity composite ammo was about as reliable as brass ammo.
There wasn’t a big difference in the number of malfunctions between composite and brass.
And there isn’t a huge performance difference between composite and brass ammo.
But there is a big price difference.
The composite ammo is about 40% more expensive than similar brass ammo.
In addition, fired composite cases cannot be reloaded like brass can. So, if you are into reloading, I wouldn’t bother with composite casings.
At this point, composite-cased ammo is still relatively new. Eventually, it might take off and become more popular, but we are not there yet.
In my opinion, the few small benefits don’t outweigh the increased price.
But, if you want to try this new ammo out for yourself and see how it works for you, consider picking up some rounds from True Velocity.
Regardless of the ammunition you use, you want to ensure you practice all aspects of drawing and shooting your firearm.
You want to shoot from a static position, while moving, outside, from a vehicle, behind cover, etc.
And you need to absolutely include drilling situations where you can’t initially draw your firearm.
Maybe someone has attacked you at close range, maybe you’re in a cramped space where you physically can’t draw your gun right away.
In those instances, you must have a back-up self-defense tool that you can instantly switch to.
It’s why I always have a tactical pen and a quality folding knife on me.
