You remember my APB asking for the loan of an Austin-area Remington 870. I can now reveal my hidden agenda: I need an 870 to test Advanced Ballistics Concepts’ Multiple Impact Bullet. As you can see above, the round requires its own rifled choke tube—if you want to improve the bolo round’s performance out of your [otherwise] smooth barrel shotgun. ABC offers three chokes tubes that cover 95 percent of all existing scatterguns. But this is the one they sent us. Thanks to our readers’ generosity we’ll soon be testing the 12-gauge Multiple Impact Bullet ammo on, well, isn’t it obvious? Our new friend and ammo-testing contributor ShootingtheBull410 will also provide more scientific evaluation. And then we’re going to celebrate with a Remington 870 Schützenfest! But before all that a little history . . .
I first ran into this strange and wonderful ammo at the SHOT show 2012. Inventor/promoter Todd Kuchman was kind enough to let me shoot his 9mm Kevlar-connected bolo round and man did it make a mess of a paper target. I wouldn’t say I was sold on the concept—a round with a 24″ spread may not be the ammo you want to use in a hostage situation—but I was intrigued.
At the time, Todd was looking to license the round to a major ammo maker. When that didn’t happen he raised the cash to pursue his pie-shaped dream. Or, as Adanced Ballistic Concepts’ website puts it, a round that combines the accuracy of a spin-stabilized bullet with the increased hit probability and stopping power of multi-projectile-shot (i.e., buckshot).
ABC is now accepting orders for its $30-per-box-of-five shotgun ammo, promising 30-day delivery from the time you warm your credit card on their behalf. And again, you’ll need a $50 choke tube if you want to slice and dice the bad guy with a Multiple Impact Bullet in a Remington 870—unless your Remmy’s barrel is already rifled. Plus $30 for a box of five shotgun shells. Is it worth it? Will it blend? Watch this space.
Lil pricey for my taste and from the stuff on their site I feel as though I’m being sold grape Koolaid in Jones Town.
Just drink it, Jimmy said it was good. Honest!
Idk lets give it to Mikey first he’ll drink anything.
I’ll look forward to seeing the results from ballistic-gel test, the box-o-truth, and at least 10 real-world incidents before I put this into service in my own firearms.
Skeptical geek is skeptical.
12 bore. Buckshot. Average American tract home. It really ain’t rocket science. Reinvent the wheel for 6 bucks a shot and then a specialised choke to boot. I’ll pass.
Kind of like a miniature version of this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain-shot
I’ll look forward to seeing ballistic tests, especially for their handgun ammo. Definitely an interesting idea on paper.
Very kewl.
If you can borrow a rifled barrel, before, or save a few of your targets, Robert,
I wonder if it would be worth comparing this rounds fragment spread to what you get when you shoot 00 buck thru a rifled 870 barrell, at various typical in-home distances.
Not good for the rifled barrel, over time, but a poor man’s way to achieve greater spread.
I wonder if you can also try shooting something, or ask them about their experience with the round when it comes in contact with some narrow item, and one tether wraps around it- a stairway handrail, a piece of furniture, maybe even a stud in the wall – would the 1/3 fragment detach at some point, or just whip around and around?
This is interesting and inventive, and I’m looking forward to the tests. In the meantime, I’ll just have to depend on 9 pellets of 00 buck from a smoothbore for alternate dispute resolution.
You’ve really got to get some of this Ralph, since if you shoot people with just 00 they can come back during the zombie apocalypse and hunt you down. I mean 00 will kill them sure, but if you want to make sure they never come back. . . oh man you just don’t understand!
Ok and this is killing people deader than reasonably priced 00 buck? Does it reap their soul on the way through like a .45ACP does? Cause if it does I’m totally getting some. But if it just makes them even deader, I don’t see the joy?
If I ever need to commandeer a schooner, I know what I’m using.
Ya harr matey hoist the colors and fire the shotguns… eh it just don’t have the same ring to it. stick to cannons and chain shot.
Those loads don’t require ‘their’ rifled choke, RF, just ‘a’ rifled choke. I’ve been using Briley’s rifled choke tube with a Benelli M4 for perhaps three years. It seems to separate and stabilize saboted bullets well. The M4 takes Ber/Ben ‘Mobil’ chokes. Briley makes a very wide variety of Mobils. The one I own is marked Ber/Ben Deer, as saboted bullets were the main use. I think they simply call it ‘rifled.’ http://www.briley.com/benellimobilchoke.aspx
As for the loading highlighted in the post: No. Just say ‘no.’
I have a Hastings by ‘Verney-Carron’ , Special Steel, completely rifled barrel with 3 different screw-in chokes, 12 gauge barrel on my Remington 1100. I bought it to shoot steel shot out of. I use it for slugs, buckshot , and birdshot according to the season. The screw -in chokes are about 11/2 inches long, and are smooth, where as the rest of the barrel is rifled with Apprx 12-14 Straight grooves. I bought it around 1990, and paid a heck of a lot for it. My nephew convinced me that I had to have this barrel to shoot Steel Shells. It does seem to pattern quite well with any load. Am I hurting it to shoot lead birdshot while dove,rabbit, etc hunting?
ABC is marketing a “Semi-Lethal” round. They can keep their gimmicky ammo.
H-How the hell can something be ‘Semi-Lethal’? That seems like arisky proposition.
No BS. Go check out their website.
You will find that it serves no true defensive purpose. From the videos I have seen the penetrating parts of the ammunition hit the target at random. You will not be able to predict shot placement and hit vital organs at will. Please try to see if you can get a heart shot at 7-10 meters with this ammo vs buck, at will.
A 12 gauge load of crap. Target market-adult aged kids.
Now wearing my skeptics hat — Very poor marketing decision to launch the product without gel testing videos; which leads me to believe their claims are trumped beyond actual performance. Especially in the YouTube age.
It looks mean and nasty on paper, but paper ain’t people…err zombies; yeah, that’s the politically correct term for the idiots.
I’d also like to see the “string” made of a strong wire as to act as a sort of guillotine effect.
All that said, I’m still reserving any real praise or disparage remarks until after we see some real ballistics gel testing.
My first time commenting or asking questions, I posted a text about my Hastings Rifled Special Steel 12 gauge barrel on my Rem 1100. The 2 inch screw in choke are smooth bore, is this correct? Trying to make sure I’m no destroying my barrel by using it all-around???