National Police Ammunition (NPA), just announced the development and the release of their HELO Defense 9mm 115 grain + P solid copper hollow point with proprietary interior skives.

HELO Defense ammo is the same bullet that has been adopted by several law enforcement agencies known as the “HELO Duty” but is now available for the law-abiding citizen for self-defense. “H.E.L.O” is an acronym for High Expansion, Law Enforcement, Ordinance.

The NPA proprietary HELO family of products was originally designed for law enforcement and specifically to pass and exceed all FBI performance protocols.

Unlike bonded jacketed bullets the HELO is formed from a solid piece of high-grade virgin copper. At that point a proprietary cavity is formed with interior skives, the copper bullet is heat treated to the ideal hardness to allow the projectile to achieve maximum penetration and expansion while retaining 100% of its grain weight through ballistic gel and does not break apart like many copper hollow points on the market today.

An additional benefit is the HELO is designed to defeat barriers and not have its cavity get “plugged” by heaving clothing, drywall, and even plywood. The projectile also has a black oxide coating that reduced copper fouling in a firearms barrel and reduces drag for maximum velocity without over-pressuring the cartridge.

The HELO was designed to hit all the benchmarks of the FBI Protocol Test, even penetrating at the minimum length of 12” into bare gel from a Glock 43 sub-compact pocket pistol and will also penetrate an average of 15” of gel from a full size defense pistol averaging 1,150 FPS from a 4” barrel.

Along with a press release announcing the product, NPA has also released a demonstration video which shows the cartridge being tested for accuracy, reliability, and terminal ballistics using a high-speed camera that captures the projectile creating the temporary wound cavity into clear ballistics gel media.

The 9mm HELO was tested for accuracy by using several full sizes duty pistols and not a test fixture barrel which most manufacturers use when reporting their accuracy specs. The 9mm HELO consistently shoots below a 2” group at 25 yards shot from a rest with a 4” duty pistol.

Reliability and versatility of the HELO 9mm defense was shown by shooting multiple pistols from full sized to pocket pistols and even select-fire machine guns, in which the bullet reliably fed and fired from each firearm.

To demonstrate the terminal ballistics, the HELO 9mm cartridge was run through every FBI Protocol test and was captured on high-speed camera displaying the bullets’ flight into bare gel and through several barriers, which law enforcement can encounter in trying to stop an armed subject.

The video also shows the penetration, expansion, and weight retention of the HELO 9MM Defense ammo.

NPA will first introduce the 9mm 115 grain + P HELO pistol cartridge in the popular 9mm caliber and will be expanding the line to all other major calibers. The HELO Defense round can be purchased on National Police’s commercial brand site http://www.alchemistammunition.com.

Clear Ballistics gel 20% was used in all FBI Protocol tests because it closely mimics the density of true FBI gelatin. 

NPA has released 2 videos demonstrating the performance of this defense ammo: a long format showing all the full FBI Protocol Tests and a short format video showing bare gel and heavy clothing which would be the most likely scenario in a self-defense situation.

In the video above, the gelatin block is covered with four layers of clothing: One layer of cotton T-Shirt material (48 threads per inch); one layer of cotton shirt material (80 threads per inch); a I0 ounce down comforter in cambric shell cover (232 threads per inch); and one layer of 13 ounce cotton denim (50 threads per inch). This simulates typical cold weather wear. The block is shot at ten feet, measured from the muzzle to the front of the block.

About National Police Ammunition

Based in Miami, Florida for over a decade National Police ammunition is one of the leading manufacturers of lead-free ammunition in the United States whose products have been tested, approved, and recommended by State and Federal law enforcement.

NPA’s products are held to the strictest of quality controls which have been developed with our customers to address the unique requirements of law enforcement agencies. NPA is the only manufacturer of sintered nontoxic, heavy metal free, and low spark frangible bullets which they also load the same bullets into their own cartridges. 

This is in contrast to most other companies that purchase their frangible bullets from a third-party vendor. NPA consistently provides superior lead times, outstanding service, and the most cost-effective lead-free products to the industry.

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