Ruger continues their expansion en route to becoming a one stop shop for all things firearms. The latest addition is the partnership with Polycase Ammunition to produce a Ruger branded AMX ammunition. This new ammunition is an injection molded mixture of powdered copper and polymer, with a patent-pending twist shape design reported to provide maximum hydraulic displacement with terminal energy transfer.
The BlueSheepDog Crew got a first glance at the Polycase Ammunition at SHOT Show 2015, and from what we saw there was a lot of potential for this ammunition upstart. These bullets are not simply a compressed powder bullet like some frangible ammunition on the market. The Polycase ammunition is designed for self-defense use, with engineered design to maximize performance where it counts – at the point of impact.
Polycase AMX Technology
Using the injected molded mixture of copper and polymer powders, the AMX bullets go well beyond its mixture to include a highly engineered shape design that disperses its energy forward and laterally as it penetrates its target. In addition to the proprietary bullet design, Polycase is manufacturing their cartridges to SAAMI standards to ensure repeated reliability. In addition, due to the lighter bullet weight, powder charges can be reduced without hindering performance, resulting in a lower recoil discharge.
Even though the AMX bullets are non-expanding, like traditional self-defense ammunition, the uniquely engineered grooves maximize soft tissue damage through rotational energy. Traditional hollow-point self-defense ammunition relies on the expansion of the bullet upon impact with soft tissue to slow the bullet and increase would channel by blunt force.
The AMX bullets remain intact in soft tissue. The AMX bullets still use blunt force energy forward, but it is the lateral energy that increases would potential due to scientific concepts of fluid dynamics. AMX bullets are designed to expend the majority of the lateral rotational energy in the first 6″ of penetration, leaving the vast majority of energy and damage in the middle of the target.
The AMX bullets are also designed to provide consistent 12″ to 14″ penetration, which is consistent with FBI recommendations for self-defense ammunition. Should the AMX bullets strike a hard barrier, or bone, the bullets’ powdered design will allow the bullet to fragment. This fragmentation reduces the risk of over penetration, while creating multiple wound paths from the separate pieces.
From Polycase Ammunition:
Upon entering soft tissue, the specially designed grooves in the nose harness the rotational energy of the bullet during the initial 6” of penetration. As the bullet penetrates it tumbles in a controlled, predictable fashion that delivers very consistent terminal performance that equals or exceeds conventional hollow point designs.
The flutes in the nose of the ARX® bullet harness the gain in kinetic energy accrued due to the increased velocity of fluid through the constriction designed into those flutes. Fluid passing through the ARX® flutes travels between one-and-a-half to two-times the velocity of the bullet. In soft tissue, the ARX® is designed to penetrate 12” to 14”, every time.
From the literature we observed, the Polycase AMX bullets literally act like an auger when penetrating a soft tissue target. Energy transfer is immediate and very impressive going forward, allowing the unique lateral twist energy to reach maximum capacity. The wound cavity from the lateral energy is impressive, as the bullet expends energy in a shorter area, and the twisting causes increased wound potential through rotation.
Ruger AMX Ammunition Features:
- High speed
- Low recoil
- Patent-pending proprietary bullet design
- Copper and polymer powdered bullet
- Bullets designed for maximum hydraulic displacement and terminal energy transfer
- Increased wound potential for stopping power
The initial Ruger launching includes their AMX Ammunition in .380 caliber and .45 Auto caliber, which makes sense considering Ruger’s very popular LCP. Ruger also plans to follow-up the initial release with perhaps the most popular handgun cartridges on the market – 9mm and .40 caliber. Though some have claimed that the Ruger AMX cartridges are simply repackaged Polycase ammunition, the numbers for the Ruger AMX cartridges are slightly different in bullet weight and terminal ballistics than standard Polycase ammunition.
Ruger AMX .380 Ammunition
- Caliber – .380 Auto AMX
- Bullet Weight – 56 grains
- Muzzle Velocity – 1315 feet per second (fps)
- Muzzle Energy – 215 foot/pounds (ft./lbs.)
- MSRP – $21.99 (box of 25)
Ruger AMX .45 Caliber Ammunition
- Caliber – .45 Auto AMX
- Bullet Weight – 118 grains
- Muzzle Velocity – 1307 fps
- Muzzle Energy – 448 ft./lbs.
- MSRP – $23.99 (box of 20)
Ruger AMX 9mm Ammunition (Coming Soon)
- Caliber – 9mm Luger AMX
- Bullet Weight – 74 grains
- Muzzle Velocity – 1540 fps
- Muzzle Energy – 385 ft./lbs.
- MSRP – TBA
Ruger AMX .40 Caliber Ammunition (Coming Soon)
- Caliber – .40 S&W AMX
- Bullet Weight – 118 grains
- Muzzle Velocity – 1320 fps
- Muzzle Energy – 414 ft./lbs.
- MSRP – TBA.
Final Thoughts
The Polycase ammunition has some very impressive features and reported results. The uniquely engineered bullets use scientific principles of fluid dynamics to improve wound creation for stopping power. The lighter bullets allow less powder, which results in lower recoil. The ammunition appears to be priced well as well, for self-defense ammunition.
Considering that Ruger has examined the cartridges and has agreed to license ammunition with their own name on the box, I would say that these rounds are going to offer a lot to self-defense minded shooters. What do you think?