Frangible projectile

Abstract

A projectile intended to be incorporated in a cartridge for firing from a shotgun, for use by police forces and other law enforcement agencies as a means of rapidly breaking a lock or bolt holding a door closed, comprises a cylindrical low-strength casing, for example of paper, filled with a dense non-toxic finely divided material such as tungsten powder. An advantage of the projectile disclosed, as compared to conventional shotgun projectiles, is that whilst the projectile will retain its integrity until it strikes the target and thus will effectively blast a hole through a lock or bolt or through the portion of the door carrying such, the impact of the projectile with the target will fragment the paper casing allowing the tungsten powder to disperse rapidly so that after the powder has passed through the door against which the projectile is fired the powder will lose momentum within a very short distance due to atmospheric drag on the fine tungsten particles.

1 . A frangible projectile comprising a closed low-strength case containing a charge of finely divided dense particles.  
     
     
         2 . A projectile according to    claim 1    wherein the case is made of paper.  
     
     
         3 . A projectile according to claim I wherein the dense particles comprise tungsten powder.  
     
     
         4 . A cartridge, comprising a hollow tubular outer body, a propellant charge within the hollow tubular outer body, a wad within the hollow tubular outer body in front of the propellant charge, a projectile according to    claim 1    being accommodated within the hollow tubular outer body in front of the wad, and closure means at the front end of the hollow tubular body.