Incapacitating non-lethal multiple projectile ballistic round

A novel multi-slug bullet or round is provided that, through the use of flat-faced abutting end walls of successive cylindrical slugs, tightly packed above the powder charge in the cartridge casing, and appropriate fast-burning powder charge tailored to the weight of the multiple slugs, achieves multiple-hit stopping power within self-defense ranges and the like with greatly reduced penetration and thus minimal chance of lethality or collateral damage. With a single firing, multiple hits over a controlled area are achieved, materially lessening the requirement for precise aiming, reducing the amount of ammunition and the number of firings required in use, and reducing recoil, while eliminating ricochet effects.

The present invention relates to powder-discharge-driven ballistic rounds, 
more particularly, though not exclusively, in bullet or cartridge form, 
being more specifically concerned with ammunition designed to provide 
incapacitating non-lethal stopping power. 
BACKGROUND 
The art is replete with many types of ammunition designed for a wide 
variety of uses and effects, ranging in the case of hand-held guns, from 
hard lead pointed penetration projectiles to multiple bursting projectiles 
such as shot gun pellets on the one hand, and so-called "Glaser" rounds 
for penetration and the tearing of lethal holes in the recipient, on the 
other hand. In all such devices, the approach is to employ a rather 
slow-burning powder to create the required gas expulsion pressure in the 
cartridge or shell casing to generate muzzle velocity necessary to launch 
and carry the hard lead projectile(s), packed in the cartridge, to the 
target for the intended penetration and, most often, lethal effects. 
Emphasis in both police and military applications has been also upon 
developing aiming expertise, with the particular end in view of hitting a 
precise spot behind which lies an organ or other body part that the bullet 
is to enter or where the projectile(s) should burst in order to kill the 
assailant. Multiple firings of successive rounds is provided for in 
revolvers and semi-automatic and automatic weaponry to insure the ultimate 
result if the first projectile fails to achieve its goal. Such conditions 
are described, for example, in an article entitled "Accurately Predicting 
Stopping Power" appearing in Guns Magazine, 1992. 
There are occasions and circumstances, however, including personal or home 
self-defense, as well as police, military and other uses, where society 
generally deems it preferable to achieve the stopping or disabling of an 
attacker or other threatening individual, without inflicting a likely 
lethal result, and otherwise with low inflicted collateral damage, and 
most desirably with greatly reduced ricochet potential. 
It is to such applications that the present invention is in large measure 
primarily directed, having also the concomitant synergistic effects of 
reducing both the required aiming skills and the number of bullets that 
must be carried in the weapon and potentially fired. 
OBJECTS OF INVENTION 
An object of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide a new and 
improved incapacitating and generally non-lethal ballistic round and 
method of limiting striking collateral damage effects thereof. 
A further object is to provide a novel bullet embodying multiple 
projectiles designed in consort with the expelling powder-generated gases 
to insure the limitation of the degree of penetration of the projectiles 
upon striking the recipient or other target, and to provide multiple 
striking points over a limited controlled region or lateral space 
distribution or area--such multiple entries also eliminating the necessity 
for both precise aiming skills and for multiple firings otherwise required 
in conventional singly fired projectile operation. 
Other and further objects will be explained hereinafter and are more 
particularly delineated in the appended claims. 
SUMMARY 
In summary, however, from one of its viewpoints, the invention embraces an 
incapacitating, generally non-lethal multiple projectile powder-driven 
ammunition round having, in combination, a cylindrical casing containing a 
powder charge disposed behind a plurality of successive abutting 
substantially virgin lead slugs of similar solid longitudinally 
cylindrical shape closely fitting within the casing, and each having flat 
planar surfaces at the opposing transverse ends of the cylindrical slug, 
the outermost slug extending beyond the open end of the casing to which it 
is crimped to expose its flat planar outer surface. 
Preferred and best mode designs and constructions and techniques of 
operation are later described.

Referring to the drawings, a multiple projectile round, illustrated as of 
the 0.357 four-slug type ("quadraplex") of FIGS. 1 and 4(A), is 
constructed, in accordance with the invention, as comprising four 
successive abutting similar soft, but solid, virgin lead cylindrical slug 
projectiles 1, 2, 3 and 4, tightly fitting within a conventional bullet 
casing C of just slightly greater diameter. The outermost slug 1 is 
crimped at the open edge of the casing C at 5 in conventional fashion, and 
a special powder charge, later described, is packed in the casing behind 
the fourth slug 4 at P, at the striking end 7 of the cartridge. Each of 
the slugs is of substantially the same diameter (related to the caliber) 
and of substantially the same longitudinal length, and is terminated in 
parallel flat, planar transverse end surfaces. The inner end surface 1" of 
the outermost cylindrical slug 1 is shown in FIG. 1 abutting the adjacent 
flat parallel end 2' of the next successive slug cylinder 2. The opposite 
or opposing flat face 2" of the slug 2 abuts the corresponding parallel 
flat end face 3' of the slug 3; and the opposite flat end surface 3" abuts 
the adjacent flat end 4' of the fourth slug 4. 
The outermost slug 1 extends beyond the open casing mouth in a slightly 
reduced diameter cylindrical section 10, terminating in its flat end 
surface 1' Preferably, but not always essentially, the outermost slug 1, 
or its forwardmost portions 10, may be covered with a copper cladding. The 
front end surface 1' may be unclad or covered by clad, as desired. 
When such a bullet is fired, assuming rather critical weight (density) and 
powder charge pressures later discussed, the slugs leave the gun muzzle in 
close succession, as shown in FIG. 8, where the front and next slugs can 
be seen exiting substantially as a unit. With the described cylindrical 
flat-end shapes, it has been discovered that the multiple slugs offer 
appropriate resistance in flight deliberately to dissipate slug energy and 
cause the slugs to separate or spread out in a very controlled and limited 
manner or pattern over the relatively close ranges of concern in the 
above-described self-defense home, store or office and many police and 
related usages. For the 0.357 four-slug bullet of FIGS. 1 and 4(A), the 
controlled pattern at 8 feet is shown in the target of FIG. 6A--in this 
case providing multiple hits over about a two-square inch area. The close 
and limited-spread slugs are shown in flight preparatory to striking the 
target in the stroboscopic picture of FIG. 6B. 
Thus, an assailant at, for example, eight feet, will be struck at multiple 
(four) points practically simultaneously and stopped. With suitable 
critical weight (density), shape and ejection velocities of the invention, 
it has been discovered that at the time the slugs hit the assailant 
(within such ranges of self-defense and related interests), their energy 
is very rapidly spent, minimizing the penetration depth and materially 
lessening the chance of reaching deeper parts of the body that could cause 
lethal effects. 
Tests in a gelatin target show such most rapid energy dissipation; and 
when, indeed, the slugs hit a wall, they just drop to the ground or floor. 
The importance of the use of the flat end slugs of relatively soft virgin 
lead (99.99% pure) in the critical cartridge system of the invention is to 
be stressed; the energy loss and minimal penetration effects not otherwise 
being found to be obtainable with conventional bullet shapes and of hard 
(Sb-Sn)Pb alloy. 
Similar results for the 0.38 sp three-slug ("triplex") cartridge of FIG. 4 
striking at ten feet, are shown in the graph of FIG. 5A, and the in-flight 
stroboscopic picture of FIG. 5B. Controlled two-hit patterns over somewhat 
larger areas for two-slug ("duplex") 9 mm and 0.45 caliber bullets at ten 
feet are shown in the graphs of respective FIGS. 7A and 7B. 
In connection with the two-slug 0.45 performance of FIG. 7B, the 
construction of such a round is shown in FIG. 3, with the slug 1 fowardly 
tapered to reduced diameter in frusto-conical shape at 10', but again 
terminally providing the flat forwardmost face 1'. Once more, copper 
cladding may be employed at 10'. The taper, moreover, need not be so 
extensive, as is shown in the modification of FIG. 2. 
Turning now to experimentally derived parameters for achieving the novel 
results of the invention, the following constructions have been 
successfully employed: 
______________________________________ 
Number of 
Aubtting Powder Charge 
Flat-Faced Approx. 
Sufficient to 
Slugs Weight of Slug Achieve Muzzle 
Caliber 
(virgin Pb) 
Each Slug Length Velocity of 
______________________________________ 
.45 ACP 
2 125 grains* 
.50 inch 
800 f.p.s. 
.357 4 56.5 grains 
.25 inch 
900 f.p.s. 
.38 sp 3 56.5 grains 
.25 inch 
800 f.p.s. 
9 mm 2 56.5 grains 
.25 inch 
700 f.p.s. 
______________________________________ 
*7000 grains/pound 
Generally, with the above constructions, there is less space provided in 
the bullet casing for the powder than in conventional bullets; and the 
demands for achieving the novel results of the invention have been found 
to require a considerably faster burning powder (by a factor of two or 
more) than in conventional bullets. A successful powder propellant for the 
above purposes has involved spherical double-based smokeless powder in a 
mix of nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose with the following specifications: 
______________________________________ 
Average diameter .0255 
web .0090 
gav metric density (gm/cc) 
0.635 
heat of explosion (cal/gm) 
1420 
flame temperature (.degree.K.) 
3524 
moles of gas/gm. .0387 
ratio of specific heat (Cp/Cr) 
1.22 
______________________________________ 
The ammunition of the invention, thus, is especially tailored for self 
defense, providing creditable knock-down and stopping or incapacitating 
power, but with minimum penetration, and thus reduced collateral and 
generally non-lethal damage. The particular type of multiple slug 
projectiles of the invention, moreover, develops a fast hydrostatic shock 
by making multiple wounds over a controlled region without 
over-penetration, such as to incapacitate, rather than destroy, an 
attacker. 
As a result of the novel density, shape and velocity combination underlying 
the invention, the multiple initially in-line slug discharge is designed, 
as before explained, to cause rapid loss of speed and ultimately harmless 
dropping to the ground over a relatively short distance beyond the desired 
typical indoor or outdoor confrontational ranges over which accuracy is 
excellent; or, if a target is intercepted, rapid spending of energy on 
impact of the soft virgin lead slugs, with the weight of the slugs causing 
them to shed their energy quickly after impact, tending to limit or lessen 
the likelihood of substantial penetration, including of normal interior 
walls. Ricochet is therefore substantially eliminated and minimum firing 
recoil occurs--providing further safety features for street use and for 
self-defense purposes, particularly. To this is added the benefit of 
having two, three or four impacts upon the assailant each time the gun 
trigger is pulled. This, as previously pointed out, not only reduces the 
necessity for precise aiming, but minimizes the amount of ammunition and 
separate firings required to stop an assailant. 
While the technique, approach and discoveries underlying the invention have 
been described with reference to hand guns and semi-automatic and 
automatic rounds, such are believed to be more generally applicable to 
other types of munitions, as well, wherever the features attainable with 
the invention may be desired. To obtain special effects, moreover, some of 
the slugs may be somewhat varied in length or weight, though substantially 
similar slugs have been found to be required for the described 
performance; and further modifications will also occur to those skilled in 
this art, such being therefore considered to fall within the spirit and 
scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.