GAH! "Teflon coated bullets are armor-piercing!"

[Beren]

Oh boy. I've written the author concerning the urban legend, but thought you'd find this interesting:

http://post-gazette.com/pg/06287/729938-53.stm

"A scuffle ensued, he said, and guards subdued the students and took a loaded handgun from each of them. One was a .380-caliber pistol, and the other was a .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver with Teflon bullets. Teflon-coated bullets are armor-piercing."

:banghead:

The worst part is, it's probably the school police who spread the myth to the reporter.

 

[bakert]

Beren, I've argued with a number of people about this. Mostly non gun owners or antis but some who should know better. The myth about teflon bullets persists with all kinds of claims of how lethal they are especially with so called journalists.

 

[Geronimo45]

They are? So the teflon wrapped around the copper water pipes makes them... armor piercing plumbing?

 

[misterpugsly]

I mailed Joe a letter about this, too, since I subscribe to the Post-Gazette. Thanks to Medula for providing a good model.

Dear Sir,

I want to point out what I believe is an error in the recent article on the young men caught with weapons at Peabody High School. While I certainly agree that guns at schools are alarming, I can't imagine that these two young men actually had "teflon-coated" bullets for "armor-piercing." Teflon-coated ammo has not been made in a long time, was not available to the general public, and was just a marketing gimmick when it was made; any deer rifle would defeat body armor far better than a plastic-coated handgun bullet. Misconceptions such as the existence of magical "cop-killer" bullets only inflame, and do not inform, the already volatile debate on guns.

 

[Pilgrim]

The myth about teflon bullets persists with all kinds of claims of how lethal they are especially with so called journalists.

But, but, but,....Robert De Niro in "Ronin" was shot with a teflon coated bullet.

 

[hammer4nc]

Interesting...

North Carolina specifically prohibits teflon-coated bullets.

Pursuant to North Carolina General Statute § 14-34.3 it is unlawful for any person
to import, manufacture, possess, store, transport, sell, offer to sell, purchase, offer to
purchase, deliver or give to another, or acquire any Teflon-coated bullet.

It would be amusing to learn the legislative history of this statute.

 

[Molon Labe]

As Paul Harvey says, "And now you know... the rest of the story."

Read on..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teflon_coated_bullet

 

[Don Gwinn]

Could the kid have had Nyclads?

 

[expvideo]

I'm no expert on the subject (not even by a long shot), but I talked to a friend of a friend about 2 years ago (just an average street thug) who carried a revolver with what he claimed were teflon coated bullets (they had a blueish coating). Was he full of it, or were they actually teflon coated bullets? If so, he was deffinately not a LEO, and they were in new condition, not 40 years old.

Not trying to instigate, just purely interested in the subject.

 

[tenbase]

did they look like this?

nyclads

 

[dragongoddess]

Wow. I have armor piercing skillets. Better hide them before the cops find out.

 

[expvideo]

They looked like that, but I'm pretty sure they weren't hollowpoints, if memory serves me. They did have a similar blue color to that though.

 

[River Wraith]

OH NO! Where's my chain mail? D'oh, that's made of armor!

 

[benewton]

7.62x25.

If it works, why even consider exotics?

 

[beerslurpy]

So if I dipped my fists in teflon, I could punch through tank armor? Raaaargh! Hulk smash!

 

[steveno]

the KTW ammo that I have seen was kind of a faded green color if my memory is correct

 

[SDC]

Here's a close-up shot of the two main styles of KTW you see (whole and sectioned); the original style used a steel core in a gilding metal base cup (where neither the steel nor the Teflon ever engaged the rifling), and the later style made out of machined bronze.

 

[expvideo]

So tenbase, what were those blue rounds?

 

[thexrayboy]

The bluish colored rounds in tenbase's post are nyclads. Nothing really exotic.

 

[Axman]

So, if I get out a roll of teflon thread tape, I could wrap my bullets with it and shoot through stuff? COOOOLLLL!

 

[Waitone]

As a courtesy to "journalists" everywhere, every note correcting errors in reportage should be accompanied by an offer to serve as an unnamed expert to hopefully and helpfully avoid further errors of fact . . . . . assuming of course the reporter and editor are worried about errors of fact WRT firearms.

 

[RioShooter]

If Teflon coated bullets really aren't armor piercing, how did one get through Robert De Niro's vest in Ronin?

 

[Crosshair]

If I could coat my Colon in Teflon I could kill people with my poo.

 

[ribbonstone]

Even KTW whent through some design changes. Were some rounds made form tungsten (pertty high tech back then) with a copper driving band...were some made of hardened steel, and some of ber.-copper. The teflon was kind of an add-on, and attempt to lubricate the sub-daimeter solid bulleet..so far as I know, it has nothing to do with it's penetration.

Nyclads also came in solid form...at least some 158gr. SWC solids were loaded by S&W...later Federal took off the Nyclad idea. Early S&W ammo used a black/dark blue nylon, later S&W ammo used that lighter blue...as did Federal once they took over production.

But it ain't to increase penetration...it's to act sort-of like a jacket without the expanision resistance of a jacket.

Most current ballistic vests are woven...if you've a hard point small enough to get in between the weave (the ice-pick effect) the bullet will pass though. As most prison gurads know, a typical "shank" can be driven through a vest if it's pointed and hard enough not to deform. For larger bullets, it's not the total energy, but the energy per surface area that seems to do the trick.

And why would you want ot shoot through a vest? (or is this like the "chicken crossing the road" joak?).

 

[strambo]

In Oregon there is a law specifically outlawing this urban myth...pretty amusing read. I don't have an ORS handy, but it defines "armor piercing ammo" as something like "any handgun ammunition designed to pierce a bullet proof vest by means of teflon, or similar coating." So, purpose designed AP ammo, rifle or pistol is legal as long as there is no coating on it...mythical ammo is illegal. Freaking brilliant. Just making the streets safe for police to go home after their shift. Should outlaw alligators in the sewer too...might kill someone.