Just curious if anyone knows what service loads the UK police are using.
So far, all I've seen are vague references to 'hollow-tip', followed by the usual phobic 'certain to kill' nonsense.
I know the French went to 53617 as a service cartridge, and they're evidently happy with it....the bad guys, not so much.
But what of their neighbors?
If memory serves, Federal / Radway Green manufactured a 95 grain JSP loading for UK police forces. I'm not sure if this load is still employed by them today, however.
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I thought it was a blend of Darjeeling and Earl Gray with a hint of mint for the calming effect.
There was a huge flap in 2011 about the police going to JHP because of the reduced downrange hazard to innocents. The media were much more concerned about the safety of bad actors.
delete
Last edited by KhanRad; 05-25-2017 at 09:50 AM.
"A man with an experience is not a slave to a man with an opinion."
If you can suffer through this hilarious UK news article I think we can agree that they are issued Federal HST, unknown weight.Originally Posted by gruntjim
https://www.channel4.com/news/hollow...for-met-police
"I'm checking out, somebody throw me in the trash"
t. Frank Reynolds - IASIP
The Home Office (HO) controls what the various Police Forces may use - think of the HO as the Department of Justice. All equipment used by the Police in the UK must meet HO approved standards, this includes uniforms, batons, vehicles, firearms and munitions. They do not just get bribed and accept one manufacturers product. The HO has laboratories and testing facilities where things are put through the grinder to ensure that they meet the performance and safety standards and finally if suitable given a seal of approval- something I have noticed to be a tad lacking in the US.
After testing and approval the item goes onto the list of approved items. The list may have ten different types and styles of ammunition all of the same calibre and the Chief Constable of a Constabulary/Police Service may then buy an item on the list. In general the bloke doing the procurement for a Police Service will call a supplier and say, "we need 50,000 9mm, do you have any"? The supplier knows exactly what the police may and may not buy and he will supply 50K rds of 9mm that are on the approved list. For special purpose ammo the procurement request will be more specific and the specific calibre and type of ammo will be supplied.
There are, as in many cases, favourite brands and types of ammo that Police firearms units prefer, and, so long as they are on the approved list they may buy them. Maybe they will buy Federal, or Radway Green, or maybe Sellier & Bellot, or they may buy something else. I used to see a mish mash of general purpose ammo.
An officer needs to be able to stand in court after a shooting and to be able to state: "Yes your Honour, I used an authorised issued Heckler and Koch MP5 rifle with a magazine containing 30 rounds of issued 9mm ammunition manufactured by Federal Ammunition". BY stating that the items were issued, it means they are Home Office approved and therefore it immediately cuts of a line of questioning from the defence.
As a point of interest: During my time it used to be that on issue from the armory at the start of shift all case headstamps were checked and they were checked on hand in at the end of shift too. Just to make sure there had been no unauthorised activity and substitution of rounds.
Where they buy the ammo from:
http://edgarbrothers.com/ actually Edgars suppliers pretty much lots of the tactical gear
http://www.vikingarms.com/
http://hannamsreloading.com/ Tim used to bring in lots of ammo related stuff and also, as far as I know, used to supply reloaded ammo for training purposes only.
I don't know if it is correct, but I read several years ago that the anti-terror units were using 124 gr +P Gold Dots in their Glocks.
Whats an anti terror unit?
In London there is SO19/CO19 and in the last year CTSFO has popped up - then there is the usual mish mash of armed response vehicle teams.
No idea. The article I read no doubt provided that information, but I probably forgot it immediately. The thing that stood out in my mind were the 124 gr. Gold Dots, which the article seemed to find very exotic. If the article was right, though, it is obviously a good choice.
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