8/1/22, 4:46 PM FBI Ammunition Protocol

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FBI Ammunition Protocol

Brass Fetcher Ballistic Testing
Rising from the ashes of the Miami Shootout of 1986, the FBI Ammunition testing standard started with
the goal of giving law enforcement planners the information that they needed to make informed
decisions about the terminal ballistics of defensive handgun ammunition. Consisting of six target
materials, the ‘FBI Protocol’ as it is also called requires a bullet to pass through each of 5 different
tactical barriers and evaluates the capacity of said bullet to deliver a fatal wound to an attacker in
each corresponding tactical scenario. Ammunition that scores highly in this scoring system can be
regarded as an excellent choice for Concealed Carry and Home Defense as well as Law Enforcement
use.

To be considered for civilian personal defense and Law Enforcement duty, a handgun bullet is shot 5
times through each of the following barriers: a bare ballistic gelatin block, a ballistic gelatin block
covered in heavy winter clothing, two pieces of 20-gauge sheet steel (simulating the thinnest part of a
car door) and then ballistic gelatin, wallboard and gelatin, plywood and gelatin and laminated car
windshield backed by ballistic gelatin. The penetration depths in gelatin of each of the 30 bullets are
then measured, the bullets are pulled from the gelatin and are then measured for expansion and
retained weight. All of this data is entered into a spreadsheet which applies the appropriate weighting
factors to the data. Penetration depths between 14.0-16.0 inches in the gelatin blocks are rewarded
while under-penetration and penetration over 18.0” are penalized. Given that the FBI Protocol came to
be due to an otherwise fatal hit that failed to stop one of the Miami shooters, due to under-
penetration, bullets that penetrate less than 12.0” are penalized heavily. All shots are taken from
handguns at a distance of 10 feet.

The final result of the calculations is a numerical score out of 500 points that will tell you the
suitability of the tested JHP for use in self-defense or for law enforcement duty purposes. The score is
not a direct measure of lethality; it is a measure of the terminal reliability of the tested bullet out of
the tested barrel length. This is, however, an indirect indication of handgun lethality — pistol bullets
that fail to expand typically inflict minimal damage on the target while bullets that expand well and
fail to penetrate will fail to incapacitate a large attacker or an attacker who is turned sideways at the
time of impact. The shooter must hit and the bullet must be designed to perform reliably once it hits
the target. Let us now take a look at the process behind obtaining the FBI Score and find the relevance
that the Barrier Standard has to us in selecting the appropriate self-defense ammunition.

Bare Gelatin
A ballistic gelatin block for usage in FBI testing is
composed of porcine gelatin (mixed at 10%
concentration), dissolved into water at 140 degrees
Fahrenheit and refrigerated for 2 days before use.
It must meet strict calibration criteria before being
considered valid as a test medium in the FBI
Protocol.

When gelatin cools and solidifies it becomes a

flexible solid with mechanical properties similar to
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Figure 1: Bare 10% Gelatin Block human muscle tissue. 10-percent gelatin blocks
match the low-velocity flow characteristics of living
muscle tissue and have very similar density to mammalian muscle tissue. Muscle tissue is present all
over the body and is tougher than fat tissue. In this way, the Bureau’s designation of muscle as the
target represents a wise choice for a reasonable worst-case scenario upon which to base future
defensive ammunition designs.

Bare Gelatin is a baseline for comparison to the other shots in the Protocol testing since gelatin is
present at the rear of all of the barrier materials and is used to assess the damage potential for a
bullet hitting a shooter hiding behind said barrier materials. Bullet effects in Bare Gelatin are similar to
bullet effects in Bare Gelatin covered by Light Clothing (a cotton undershirt and a linen dress shirt), so
it covers the ground nicely in terms of addressing bullet interaction with people dressed in warm
weather clothing. Bullets that fail to penetrate to 12.0” or deeper in this block can be expected to
receive a low FBI score and should not be counted on for self-defense uses.

Heavy Clothing
Clothing can be counted on to reduce the
expansion of a JHP at minimum and to cause a
complete failure-to-expand at worst, depending on
the quality of the bullets design and the impact
velocity. Expanded bullets slightly increase the hit
probability with organs and greatly increase fluid
drag and damage done to tissue. The thicker the
clothing, the greater the likelihood of bullet
clogging and subsequent failures to expand.

Figure 2: 10% Gelatin Block Draped in Heavy

Clothing

The Heavy Clothing barrier consists of: (1) layer of

Denim (14.4 ounces/yard), (1) layer of Polartec 200
fleece, (1) layer of cotton dress shirt (3.5
ounces/yard) and (1) cotton T-shirt (5.25
ounces/yard) layered firmly on the face of the
ballistic gelatin block. Bullets that are designed to
defeat this barrier will expand to close to their
bare gelatin expanded diameter. Bullets that
perform poorly during this test phase will usually
perform poorly on all of the remaining test phases.

Figure 3: FBI Heavy Clothing shoot-pack showing

the 4 layers of fabric used in Heavy Clothing

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Figure 4: Bullet A, recovered from Bare Gelatin Figure 5: Bullet A, recovered from FBI Heavy
Clothing and gelatin

Steel
While it is corollary to shoot only when you have
identified your target, the nature of close- quarters
fighting and history collide to show us that gunfire
taking place around cars can be counted on to take
place through cars as well. Stress causes people to
become ‘heavy on the trigger’ and to tend to shoot
at unseen targets located behind barriers.
Hollywood’s portrayal of people using car doors as
cover has subconsciously conditioned generations of
drivers to consider all areas of a car to be able to
effectively shield them from gunfire.

Figure 6: 10% Gelatin block covered in Light

Clothing and placed behind a Steel fixture

Critics of the configuration of this test event rightly

point out that car doors also contain other, more
substantial, objects: gears, motors and reinforcing
beams. Handgun bullets cannot readily penetrate
the car doors and these barriers combined. Since
having to shoot blindly through a car door or auto
body can be considered to be the tactically worst-
case scenario, it is logical to test only those parts
of car door that can be penetrated by a handgun
bullet.

The FBI Steel fixture is meant to simulate the

thinnest part of a car door. It is composed of two
pieces of 20 gauge sheet steel placed 3.5” apart.
Figure 7: The body of Emil Mătăsăreanu at the The gelatin is placed 18” behind the car door
conclusion of the North Hollywood shootout fixture and is covered in light clothing (the above-
mentioned T-shirt and dress shirt materials.) It is
meant to simulate an adversary who is shooting
from behind a car door. Conventional handgun bullets which impact this material emerge with a ‘nail
head’ appearance which slightly increases the expanded diameter of the bullet:
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Figure 8a: JHP prior to impact with single sheet Figure 8b: JHP after impact with Steel
of Steel

At best, the steel target will cause a handgun velocity JHP to fail to expand but it is not substantial
enough to cause the bullet to fail to penetrate to adequate depths in the target beyond.

Figure 9: Bullet B, recovered from Bare Gelatin

Figure 10: Bullet B, recovered from Steel and
Gelatin

The impact with the steel fixture actually increased this particular bullets performance while the bare
gelatin penetration depth was too shallow.

Wallboard
Sadly, much violent conflict takes place inside of
homes and apartments. In North America, the vast
majority of homes have interior dividing walls
which are composed of 0.5” thick gypsum board.
This material then has a combined thickness of 1.0”
which is thicker than the deepest JHP cavity in
production. As such, a JHP must be properly
designed to function with this obstruction present
in the expansion cavity. Bullets which function well
in drywall usually function well in bare gelatin and
heavy clothing.

The FBI scoring system includes the use of

Figure 11: 10% Gelatin block covered in Light wallboard for the same reason as steel – it is
Clothing and placed behind a Wallboard fixture commonly encountered during deadly force

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incidents and when under stress, people have been known to ‘shoot much and shoot often’, including
shooting through barriers to hit a fleeting target.

Figure 12: Bullet B, recovered from Bare Gelatin

Figure 13: Bullet B, recovered from Wallboard
and Gelatin

The similarity in muzzle velocity and penetration depth, despite a large disparity in expanded
diameter, can be explained by the loss of velocity caused by impact with the wallboard panels and the
subsequent loss of bullet stability caused by passage through the barrier. According to the FBI Protocol,
both bullets performed identically ... in terms of lethality, the Bare Gelatin bullets did more damage to
the gelatin blocks because of their higher impact velocities.

Plywood
The exterior walls of most residential buildings in
North America are constructed of 3⁄4” plywood
panels. As such, the FBI Plywood barrier consists of
a single 3⁄4” thick AA Fir plywood panel. For the
Home Defender, it is conceivable that a threat
could attempt to engage you through a wooden
door or by using a window sill or privacy fence as
cover. For Law Enforcement, there is essentially no
limit to the number of wooden barriers that could
pose a challenge to ammunition performance
during a deadly force encounter. Plywood is a more
challenging barrier than wallboard. However, the
effort spent identifying a bullet that can function
Figure 14: 10% Gelatin block covered in Light well in plywood is well worth it as a bullet that can
Clothing and placed behind a Plywood fixture expand in Plywood is indicative of a bullet that will
expand well in Wallboard, Heavy Clothing, and Bare
Gelatin as well.

Figure 15: Bullet C, recovered from Bare Gelatin Figure 16: Bullet C, recovered from Plywood and
Gelatin
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Bullet C performs very well in both the Bare Gelatin and the Plywood test events. The prudent choice
in ammunition selection is to use ammunition that functions as well in Bare Gelatin as it does in all of
the other barriers. Such ‘barrier blind’ ammunition does not currently exist but it can be considered to
be the pinnacle of performance and is something that is strived for by a handful of premium JHP
manufacturers.

Auto Glass
Figure 17: 10% Gelatin block covered in Light
Clothing and placed behind a Auto Glass fixture
Auto Glass is the most challenging tactical barrier
by far. It is a hard and very strong material that
universally deforms the handgun bullets that pass
through it. No conventional hollowpoint can expand
after passing through the glass because the tip is
far too damaged from the impact. The best that
can be hoped for in terms of performance is that
the chunk of metal coming through can travel 12.0”
or deeper in the ballistic gelatin that sits beyond
the glass.

The glass panel is an AS1 laminated safety glass

panel with a 0.25” thickness. The ballistic gelatin is
placed 18” behind the glass panel and covered in
light clothing. Bullets must be specifically
engineered to function well in auto glass — even a
bullet that performs well in the previous 5 test
events will, except for notable exceptions, perform
badly in the Auto Glass test event.

Figure 18: Shooters Perspective of the Auto Glass

fixture

Figure 19: Bullet D, recovered from Bare Gelatin Figure 20: Bullet D, recovered from Auto Glass
and Gelatin

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Coming in under 12.0” penetration, Bullet D will be an unreliable choice for self-defense usage.

Here is how the FBI Protocol is scored, using 9mm Luger as an example:

Calculation:

(((Penetration Score * Penetration Standard Deviation Score)*0.5) + (Shots under 12” score * 0.2))*50) =
Penetration Points

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Calculation:

(Table value * 0.2) * 50 = Expansion Points

Calculation:

(Table value * 0.1) * 50 = Weight Retention Points

A quick examination of the calculations reveals that the FBI places a 70% importance on the depth of
penetration and the consistency of penetration. The other 20% importance deals with expansion and
the last 10% importance is the retained weight, a measure of the structural integrity of the bullet.

All shots from all test events are averaged and used in the equations above.

Example

To date, the SIG Sauer 115gr V-Crown JHP in 9mm Luger earns the top FBI Protocol score amongst 115gr
9mm Luger cartridges (including the +P versions) when shot from a full-size handgun barrel. Let us take
a look at the actual gelatin results obtained by running this bullet through the FBI Protocol testing:

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We must first determine our subscore for Penetration Depth, Penetration Standard Deviation and Shots
under 12”.

From the tables above:

Penetration Depth = 14.25 inches = 10 points

Penetration SD = 2.28 inches = 0.6 points

Shots under 12” = 3 shots = 4 points

Feeding this data into the FBI’s equations:

(((Penetration Score * Penetration Standard Deviation Score)*.5) + (Shots under 12” score * 0.2))*50) =
Penetration Points

➪ (((10*0.6)*.5) + (4*0.2))*50) = Penetration Points = 190

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We see that the SIG 115gr V-Crown JHP had an average Expansion of 0.492 inches. Looking at
the above
table, this results in a gain of 5 points. The equation is then:

(Table value * 0.2) * 50 = Expansion Points

➪ (5 * 0.2) * 50 = Expansion Points = 50

Much is said about bullet retained weight. The weight of a bullet is a secondary measurement of its
lethality. While a heavier bullet will penetrate further, where weight retention becomes a useful metric
is in determining the amount of fragmentation that the bullet experienced. Penetration depth is
already a primary metric in the FBI Protocol so this helps to explain the low importance assigned to the
retained weight.

(Table value * 0.1) * 50 = Weight Retention Points

➪ (7*0.1) * 50 = Weight Retention Points = 35

Putting it all together:

FBI Score = 190 + 50 + 35 = 275

The evaluated bullet scored 275 out of 500 possible points. Let’s take a look at other 115gr JHPs scores
for an idea of what to expect from this weight of 9mm Luger bullet:

There are some very familiar cartridges on the table above, but a quick look at the scores indicates
which bullets were designed to function after passing through the commonly-encountered tactical
barriers that are addressed by the FBI Protocol. Good post-barrier performance does not happen by
accident, bullets must be carefully designed to function in these challenging circumstances.

Designing a bullet to meet the FBI's criteria is a balancing act of bullet construction, intended impact
velocity and material selection. The expansion in Bare Gelatin must be controlled enough to allow for
adequate penetration depths, but the bullet must deform enough in Steel to keep the penetration
below 18”. Add to this the fact that a properly-designed bullet will be able to expand with the cavity
clogged with Plywood and Wallboard and it becomes clear that much investment in Research and
Development is necessary in order to provide Law Enforcement and concerned citizens with the
ammunition that they need to save their lives.

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Defense Through Science

Airguns Load Data
Armor Penetration Muzzle Flash
Ballistic Art Paintball
FBI Protocol Simulated Shotlines
Featured Work Survival Technology
Firearms Reliability Suggested Reading
Effect of Gelatin Block Wounding Theories
Temperature
Infrared Imaging

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