Check out this ATF-approved bolo round for pistols. Using a steel cable and a special slug which separates into four pieces after it fires, you can shoot a massive spinning round accurately out to 20 yards. Even more impressively, this round comes in three versions: non-lethal, less-than-lethal and lethal. The manufacturer even advises stacking them together, giving the option of an escalating defense in a single magazine, as fast as you can pull the trigger.
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Most people are familiar with bolo rounds in a shotgun, whether they’re bought or made, but the fact that Advanced Ballistics Concepts, the manufacturer, pulled it off in a .45 caliber package is pretty impressive. Whether or not anyone would want to defend their home with this round remains to be seen, but having the option of non-lethal ammunition could be a positive one in some cases.
There are a few downsides to firing a round like this, and the video didn’t do a very good job of covering them. For instance, the energy that it takes to make this bullet spin has to come from somewhere, and in this case it comes from the forward velocity of the round. In other words, as a trade-off for shooting a spinning death spiral out of your 1911, the round itself moves more slowly and its velocity drops off faster than standard JHP.
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