History

Origins

The origins of D Dupleks steel slugs made today date back to the 1970s and 1980s. Over the years, experience was accumulated together with achievements in industrial production technologies, thus providing a basis for a wide range of modern, progressive and highly effective products. The experience of steel slug making had started back when Latvia was still incorporated in the USSR. Mostly smooth-barreled weapons were available to local hunters then. Shotguns were used in all kinds of hunts, from waterfowl hunting to bear hunting. During a hunting season, more than 20,000 big game animals (moose, red deer, wild boars, roe deer) were bagged using shotguns. Feeling the need for a highly accurate long-distance shotgun munition, many hunters created a lot of their own interesting smooth-bore slug designs, allowing for better use of shotgun capabilities.

History of steel slug making

In 1983, the first steel slug in a polyethylene encasing was created. The slug body was precisely lathe-machined, to obtain a shape that does not change during the flight path. To guide the slug through a barrel safely, its body was pressed into a soft polymer casing. A polymer wad was added in the rear part of the slug; its task was to receive propellant gas pressure and start the lateral slug movement, as well as to serve as a stabilizer during the flight. Such shotgun slugs, shot from 100 m distance, provided an accuracy that was close to rifle bullets.

The high accuracy and flight path stability of those slugs, along with successful long-time hunting experiences, served as a basis for the first pilot design of expanding slugs. In 1996, the first new expanding slug series appeared. During several years, various designs of expanding slugs were developed; they differed in slug weight, diameter, shape, and penetration capability, thus covering the entire range of game animal hunting.

D Dupleks has 20 years of experience in steel slug production, and its products are highly regarded in the hunting community. Also nowadays, every next D Dupleks slug design is developed considering the latest science and technology achievements, to achieve even higher accuracy and effectiveness.

Company history

In 2001, D Dupleks started making Monolit, Dupo and Rossa slug series in industrially significant quantities. Since then, in Latvia, those products have gained a reputation as effective smooth-bore hunting ammunition. In 2002, D Dupleks started exporting its products abroad. D Dupleks is a multifunctional company; its other activities include military and law enforcement supply, local hunting equipment marketing and others. The company is involved also in hunter education programs and other hunting activities in Latvia.