- Teflon-coated bullet
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Teflon-coated bullets, colloquially known as "cop killer bullets", are bullets that have been covered with a coating of polytetrafluoroethylene.
Contents
History
In the 1960s, Paul Kopsch (an Ohio coroner), Daniel Turcos (a police sergeant), and Donald Ward (Kopsch's special investigator), began experimenting with special purpose handgun ammunition. Their objective was to develop a law enforcement round capable of improved penetration against hard targets, such as windshield glass and automobile doors. Conventional bullets, made primarily from lead, often become deformed and less effective after striking hard targets, especially when fired at handgun velocities. The inventors named their company "KTW," after their initials.
After some experimentation with sintered tungsten-alloy rounds, which were eventually abandoned due to supply and cost concerns, the inventors settled on a bullet consisting mostly of hardened brass with a steel core. In testing, the bullets wore out barrels far more quickly than normal copper-jacketed lead rounds, since they did not deform to fit the rifling.[1] In an effort to reduce barrel wear, the bullets were then coated with a layer of Teflon. The inventors had also noted that the tips of canes were frequently covered with the relatively soft Teflon to help them grip surfaces. KTW stated that the addition of Teflon helped to prevent bullet deflection off of doors and windshields, reducing the risk of dangerous ricochets and improving penetration against these surfaces.[2][3]
The production of KTW-brand ammunition ceased in the 1990s. However, some manufacturers continue to coat their bullets with various compounds, notably molybdenum disulfide, as a protective layer against barrel wear, and to reduce the amount of lead given off as dust when shooting in indoor ranges.
Controversy
In 1982, NBC ran a television special on the bullets (against the requests of many police organizations) and argued that the bullets were a threat to police. Gun control organizations in the U.S. labeled Teflon-coated bullets "cop killers" because of the supposedly increased penetration the bullets offered against ballistic vests, a staple of the American police uniform. Many erroneously focused on the Teflon coating as the source of the bullets' supposedly increased penetration, rather than the hardness of the metals used. A common misconception, often perpetuated by films and television, is that coating normal bullets with Teflon will give them armor-piercing capabilities. In reality, Teflon and similar coatings were used primarily as a means to protect the gun barrel from the hardened bullet; the coating itself does not add any measurable armor-piercing abilities to otherwise normal ammunition.
The round in question could, in fact, penetrate a police vest. However, as Kopsch pointed out in a 1990 interview, "adding a teflon coating to the round added 20% penetration power on metal and glass. Critics kept complaining about teflon's ability to penetrate body armor... In fact, teflon cut down on the round's ability to cut through the nylon or kevlar of body armor." [2]
Legal status
United States
The federal ban on pistol armor-piercing ammunition uses only the composition of the bullet's core to determine legality.[4] However, many states have legislation restricting various kinds of coating materials. For example:
- South Carolina state law specifically bans "ammunition or shells that are coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon)".[5]
- Oregon state law specifically bans "possesses any handgun ammunition the bullet or projectile of which is coated with Teflon". [6]
Teflon coated bullets are illegal in Oklahoma under some circumstances.
See also
- Armor-piercing shot and shell
- Black Talon, a type of expanding, hollow-point ammunition also vilified in the early 1990s as "cop-killer bullets".
References
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