Recently I have been talking to a company called PolyCase, they featured quite heavily in last months edition of Guns & Ammo, and they specialise in creating bullets by injection molding, using high tech polymers. Due to the method of production many more bullets can be produced in the same amount of time that it would take to cast lead bullets, and without the inherent problems associated in dealing with lead. At present they are making a number of bullets, mainly it would appear in pistol calibre’s. But in the foreseeable future they are looking to make a number of larger calibre bullets for both target shooting and hunting. There may also be a selection bullets for smaller calibre’s, and as soon as I have more information I’ll let you know. These bullets have a number of advantages over lead bullets for shooters in general. The FBI however have stringent tests which they put their prospective ammunition through, and despite these high tech bullets passing, in theory all other areas of the test, they may not pass the safety glass test. Reinforced safety glass is one of the toughest barriers, and upon striking the glass, the ARX disintegrates. An advantage to civilian shooters, these bullets shatter when they encounter a solid object such as a wall, steel plate, etc. This is an advantage for all other shooters, including other areas of law enforcement, and should reduce damage or injury to property and bye-standers.. When out hunting, the above attributes mean any miss is terminated once a solid object is encountered, reducing ricochets which may have occurred using more traditional ammunition. Bullets of the same size and dimensions are a bit lighter, however this lightness does mean velocities are much higher. This additional speed, when combined with the now possible bullet design, as seen in the ARX, means there is no need for a hollow point. The design utilises the bullets spinning with precision flanges on the bullet, which create forces in much the same way a propellor does. These forces create an enlarged cavity whilst still retaining over 99% of the initial overall bullet weight. Shots into ballistic gel can be seen demonstrating this on PolyCase’s, YouTube – PolyCase Ammunition web site. This looks like being an interesting next few years in which the old ways, after nearly 500 years, will be eclipsed by new technology and materials. New is not always best, but these are early days, and I think in years to come these materials, and others like them will remove the need for lead. But lets not throw the baby out just yet, traditional ammunition will take a lot of beating and these new bullets will have to earn their stripes, but from what I’ve seen polymers are the way forward.