Until this past February I have never heard of, or maybe just never noticed, the maroon boxes labeled "DRT" (Dynamic Research Technologies) on the shelves of my sporting goods supplier. I was there to simply buy some target ammo as I was already set on carry JHP's for my 9mm and .380ACP; Winchester White Box, Remington UMC, and CCI Blazer Brass are the only boxes I take notice of when shopping for target ammo. However, while looking at the prices of the target 9mm, I noticed a rather unusual price tag that read $9.99. Initially thinking it was target ammo I asked the clerk to take a look at the box. At this point I noticed that these weren't solid ball FMJ's, but it was a box of (20) 85gr jacketed hollow points, with a proclamation stating "highly accurate, penetrating, frangible". 85 grain? Frangible? Immediately I thought I was just going to hand the box back to the clerk and grab what I came for. But I read the rest of the box, pulled up a few quick reviews on my phone, and spoke with the clerk about it a little bit who said that he'd just purchased some himself.
While the concept of 85gr rounds for a 9mm was very weird to me, it seems the logic behind it is that the lighter weight projectile will travel considerably faster. There is definitely some merit to that thought; I'm a person who really likes the idea of the .17HMR and .357 SIG. The information that I found suggested that the average velocity at 10 ft was a little over 1300 fps, and the impact energy was 328 ft/lbs. Considering the price tag, I thought those numbers were pretty respectable but I wasn't sold on the idea of trusting them for a defensive purpose. What did peak my interest though was the word "frangible". The box states that the projectile is made of a compressed lead-free metal, with a (what looks like) copper jacket. From that same quick Google search I learned that these rounds were designed to prevent over-penetration. This bullet is reported to pulverize once it strikes a hard surface (steel, brick), and is supposedly designed to penetrate 2" into a soft target (such as a body) and "sandblast" the inside of that target. It is supposed to be robust enough that it will penetrate a car windshield, or other similar cover, then perform this "sandblasting" trick once it enters a body. These claims really interested me because I live in a walking town, where the houses are fairly close to one another, there are folks walking up and down the sidewalks all the time, and an over-penetrating round could cause some devastating damage. I felt that these could provide me some level of comfort should I ever need to use them in a home defense situation, because in that situation I'm unlikely to be thinking about where the shot will end up if it were to go through my target. So, I purchased two boxes of the 9mm for $10/ea, and I also purchased two boxes of the DRT frangible .380ACP for about $14/ea. The .380 I was a little more comfortable with; the rounds are also 85gr which is in the normal (for me) range for that caliber. I figured that I'd try them out, and if I was comfortable with the performance then I could have some home defense rounds for a good price, and peace of mind that one of my shots wouldn't end up in the neighbor's house.
Fast forward to yesterday, where I finally remember to bring those DRT rounds with me to the range. I set up two targets, and proceeded to load my weapons. For 9mm I have a Beretta PX4 Storm compact, and for .380 I have a Taurus TCP 738. First, the .380: My Taurus is a very small subcompact "pocket" pistol. It has a 6 round magazine, the barrel is 2.84", is 0.84" thick, and weighs an airy 10.2 oz. unloaded. I have a TGL laser sight installed, but since we were outside and it was sunny, I just used the very small fixed iron sights. At 5 yds, with that small gun, I was able to place the DRT's in fairly tight groups; all were about 3.5". Clearly I don't claim to be a marksman, but for that tiny gun, and shooting open sighted, I am fairly happy with that. I shot three magazines of the DRT, and switched to 85gr Remington UMC FMJ's for three magazines for comparison. I felt less recoil with the DRT's, and my accuracy was just about the same, and neither round produced a single FTE or FTF. So to summarize, if I get the same results shooting another two boxes of the DRT 85gr .380's, then I would feel as comfortable carrying those in my TCP 738 as I do my usual carry round for that pistol - Hornady American Gunner 90gr JHP's.
For the 9mm, I had a substantially different experience. My Beretta, while classified as compact, is a stout gun. It has a 15 round magazine, the barrel is 3.2", is 1.4" thick, and weighs a beefy 27.2 oz unloaded. It has adjustable 3-dot combat sights, and due to the heavier weight and Berretta's rotating barrel design it disperses recoil in even the hottest loads and is deadly accurate; because of the rotating barrel I can shoot tighter groups than in guns with barrels exceeding 4.5". I loaded two magazines with 10 rounds each, and unfortunately it took me 15 minutes to burn through those mags. I would chamber the first round, fire, the round would eject, but the ammo wouldn't feed. I was never able to shoot more than two consecutive shots without clearing a FTF. This gun is extremely reliable, and I've never had any issues with FTE or FTF with any ammo, but it did not like this DRT stuff. My groups were 2.5" at 5 yds, which I would consider OK. But the fact that I had to clear jams after almost every shot had me really frustrated. I mentioned that the gun is fairly heavy, and while the recoil spring isn't terribly stiff, the slide is very heavy. I just don't think the light 85gr rounds had enough "oomph" to cycle the firearm properly. That being said, those light rounds produced recoil akin to shooting a .22, and if the ammo would've fed that would've been a very desirable quality. After the DRT nonsense I fired off 60 rounds of Winchester 115gr FMJ's, had zero FTE/FTF issues, and had groups at about 2". After this outing I'm going to stick with the Hornady XTP 147gr JHP's in my Beretta 9mm.
At the end of the day, I can't substantiate the claims of "sandblasting" the target, or preventing over-penetration. What I can say is that the DRT 85gr .380 performed just fine, and was a very reasonable price for JHP's in that caliber. The DRT 85gr 9mm is something that, despite being relatively accurate, is not something that I can recommend to anyone who has a pistol with a stiff recoil spring, or has a heavy slide. I'm eyeing up a Walter PPS, and that is a smaller gun that might cycle fine with the lighter ammo, maybe I'll try it in that gun. But I love my PX4 Storm because it is stout, and unfortunately the DRT seems too weak to cycle it properly.
If anyone has any other stories about DRT ammo I'd love to hear them. I love the idea of "sandblasting" a cavity, and a lighter weight - higher velocity round, unfortunately it just doesn't work with my 9mm. But if anyone has done any testing and can confirm different (or even similar) results, please share!
DRT Boxes
DRT Rounds
The firearms used
DRT rounds compared to my normal carry rounds
While the concept of 85gr rounds for a 9mm was very weird to me, it seems the logic behind it is that the lighter weight projectile will travel considerably faster. There is definitely some merit to that thought; I'm a person who really likes the idea of the .17HMR and .357 SIG. The information that I found suggested that the average velocity at 10 ft was a little over 1300 fps, and the impact energy was 328 ft/lbs. Considering the price tag, I thought those numbers were pretty respectable but I wasn't sold on the idea of trusting them for a defensive purpose. What did peak my interest though was the word "frangible". The box states that the projectile is made of a compressed lead-free metal, with a (what looks like) copper jacket. From that same quick Google search I learned that these rounds were designed to prevent over-penetration. This bullet is reported to pulverize once it strikes a hard surface (steel, brick), and is supposedly designed to penetrate 2" into a soft target (such as a body) and "sandblast" the inside of that target. It is supposed to be robust enough that it will penetrate a car windshield, or other similar cover, then perform this "sandblasting" trick once it enters a body. These claims really interested me because I live in a walking town, where the houses are fairly close to one another, there are folks walking up and down the sidewalks all the time, and an over-penetrating round could cause some devastating damage. I felt that these could provide me some level of comfort should I ever need to use them in a home defense situation, because in that situation I'm unlikely to be thinking about where the shot will end up if it were to go through my target. So, I purchased two boxes of the 9mm for $10/ea, and I also purchased two boxes of the DRT frangible .380ACP for about $14/ea. The .380 I was a little more comfortable with; the rounds are also 85gr which is in the normal (for me) range for that caliber. I figured that I'd try them out, and if I was comfortable with the performance then I could have some home defense rounds for a good price, and peace of mind that one of my shots wouldn't end up in the neighbor's house.
Fast forward to yesterday, where I finally remember to bring those DRT rounds with me to the range. I set up two targets, and proceeded to load my weapons. For 9mm I have a Beretta PX4 Storm compact, and for .380 I have a Taurus TCP 738. First, the .380: My Taurus is a very small subcompact "pocket" pistol. It has a 6 round magazine, the barrel is 2.84", is 0.84" thick, and weighs an airy 10.2 oz. unloaded. I have a TGL laser sight installed, but since we were outside and it was sunny, I just used the very small fixed iron sights. At 5 yds, with that small gun, I was able to place the DRT's in fairly tight groups; all were about 3.5". Clearly I don't claim to be a marksman, but for that tiny gun, and shooting open sighted, I am fairly happy with that. I shot three magazines of the DRT, and switched to 85gr Remington UMC FMJ's for three magazines for comparison. I felt less recoil with the DRT's, and my accuracy was just about the same, and neither round produced a single FTE or FTF. So to summarize, if I get the same results shooting another two boxes of the DRT 85gr .380's, then I would feel as comfortable carrying those in my TCP 738 as I do my usual carry round for that pistol - Hornady American Gunner 90gr JHP's.
For the 9mm, I had a substantially different experience. My Beretta, while classified as compact, is a stout gun. It has a 15 round magazine, the barrel is 3.2", is 1.4" thick, and weighs a beefy 27.2 oz unloaded. It has adjustable 3-dot combat sights, and due to the heavier weight and Berretta's rotating barrel design it disperses recoil in even the hottest loads and is deadly accurate; because of the rotating barrel I can shoot tighter groups than in guns with barrels exceeding 4.5". I loaded two magazines with 10 rounds each, and unfortunately it took me 15 minutes to burn through those mags. I would chamber the first round, fire, the round would eject, but the ammo wouldn't feed. I was never able to shoot more than two consecutive shots without clearing a FTF. This gun is extremely reliable, and I've never had any issues with FTE or FTF with any ammo, but it did not like this DRT stuff. My groups were 2.5" at 5 yds, which I would consider OK. But the fact that I had to clear jams after almost every shot had me really frustrated. I mentioned that the gun is fairly heavy, and while the recoil spring isn't terribly stiff, the slide is very heavy. I just don't think the light 85gr rounds had enough "oomph" to cycle the firearm properly. That being said, those light rounds produced recoil akin to shooting a .22, and if the ammo would've fed that would've been a very desirable quality. After the DRT nonsense I fired off 60 rounds of Winchester 115gr FMJ's, had zero FTE/FTF issues, and had groups at about 2". After this outing I'm going to stick with the Hornady XTP 147gr JHP's in my Beretta 9mm.
At the end of the day, I can't substantiate the claims of "sandblasting" the target, or preventing over-penetration. What I can say is that the DRT 85gr .380 performed just fine, and was a very reasonable price for JHP's in that caliber. The DRT 85gr 9mm is something that, despite being relatively accurate, is not something that I can recommend to anyone who has a pistol with a stiff recoil spring, or has a heavy slide. I'm eyeing up a Walter PPS, and that is a smaller gun that might cycle fine with the lighter ammo, maybe I'll try it in that gun. But I love my PX4 Storm because it is stout, and unfortunately the DRT seems too weak to cycle it properly.
If anyone has any other stories about DRT ammo I'd love to hear them. I love the idea of "sandblasting" a cavity, and a lighter weight - higher velocity round, unfortunately it just doesn't work with my 9mm. But if anyone has done any testing and can confirm different (or even similar) results, please share!
DRT Boxes
DRT Rounds
The firearms used
DRT rounds compared to my normal carry rounds
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