I stumbled across these while we were looking for new things to load in the Teppo Jutsu line of cartridges. As an engineer, the concept (in terms of fluid dynamics and behaviour in flight) makes sense. I would have to see how it works on flesh but seeing what an apple core drill does to an apple ...
The developer, Duan Suarez from JADA Enterprise, has a nice DVD that shows these being used against LexGaurd bullet proof laminate. Having worked for GE Plastics, I know it to be some tough stuff. Seeing how deep it goes into the LexGaurd was noteworthy. And as mentioned, from "flow of fluids past an immersed body" point of view, indeed it should see far less drag and therefore better long range capability. I am going to get about 40 or 50 and send a batch to Cold to test against piggies and a batch to RRA to test in general
A fuzzy picture of the back end.
The bullet is hollow all the way through. This makes the projectile light (200 grain) but also makes it rather aerodynamic. In terms of wounding, it acts like a cookie cutter I would guess and leaves a large permanent wound cavity. Due to the reduced drag, it should allow longer shots ... But if it is hollow, how do you shoot it you ask? Duane was using Lexan disks that were inserted in the case before the bullet. That works great for rounds like the .45-70 but for the necked rounds like the SOCOM it did not work. And the disk used up quite some powder space. So we went looking for a solution - a cap or plug that fit in the hole, tight enough not to fall out, loose enough to come out once the bullet leaves the muzzle. It acts like a discarding sabot, but the typical issue encountered with sabots - lack of accuracy - should not exist in this case
Here is a shot of the bullet and cap.
Where the 300 gr loads come in around 1900 fps, this load should come in around 2150 fps. As to BC, I have NO idea ... but if it is less than the 300 gr X Spitzer, I would be surprised.
As soon as we know more about range, effectiveness and BC, we will be sure to post ...
Marty