One of the joys of having recently turned 50 (a figure I still write with a combination of bemusement and astonishment, having not actually grown up yet) is that I can poke fun at the younger guys. ‘Younger’, of course, means anyone under about 48.

I say this because last week I read an article about a ‘new’ multi-projectile load that was ‘developed’ by a company called Constitution Arms. My first thought was that the author must be a youngster reporting this as ‘new’, because the load is a dead ringer for ammunition that I remember seeing back in the late ’70s or early ’80s.

The new Tri-Plex load uses three stacked lead disks, each of which has a button on the forward side that mates with a similarly shaped recess on the back side. The projectiles are stacked in their case like coffee cups and separate in flight. The idea is to increase the size of the wound cavity and enhance the incapacitation capability of the round. The disks weigh roughly 50 grains each and are of .38 caliber (nominal.)

I’ll dispense with my critique of the maker’s claims regarding the supposed performance of this ‘new’ development, and simply point out that not much has changed with regards to either ballistics or human anatomy in the last two decades or so. You’ll note that the original wasn’t on the market for a very long time, and that it took a while to be rediscovered. Things that work generally stick around, or are at least remembered fondly. The triple-projectile load was neither, which should tell you all you need to know about its performance.

At the risk of repeating myself, there is no such thing as a magic bullet. Even if you stuff three of them into the same case.

-=[ Grant ]=-