Advantages
The steel slugs made by D Dupleks differ radically from traditional lead slugs used for a long time. As a non-conventional material for ammunition making, steel has provided the possibility to shape the slugs in the way most favorable to their flight characteristics and expansive effect. As a result, those slugs have uncommon characteristics, unquestionably superior than those of traditional lead slugs.
The main advantages:
High accuracy. The manufacturing method of D Dupleks ammunition is different from the classical techniques. Therefore, steel slugs have different internal and external flight ballistics. Also, they have specific impact ballistics as well. When shooting a lead slug, its body becomes deformed during the shot, and after leaving the barrel it is shaped differently than before the shot. D Dupleks slugs are made of hard material; it ensures that they completely retain their shape during flight all the way until the slug hits. Polyethylene used in slug construction is very rigid, and after flexible deformation under maximum shot pressure it returns to its previous shape.
High level of safety. Steel slugs can be safely fired from all shotguns through all standard chokes. The diameter of a steel slug body for every gauge is calculated to ensure fully safe slug passage through the narrowest possible standard shotgun choke. Also, length dimensions of slugs are designed to be no less than the diameter of the barrel. This eliminates the possibility for the slug to twist in an acute angle and damage the internal barrel surface during the shot. The high steel slug accuracy and resistance against ricocheting improves safety in hunting and sports shooting even further.
Longer shooting distance. Lead is a soft metal, and its characteristics enforce their own designing restraints on ammunition makers. Therefore, most lead slugs have equal diameters in all their lengths. D Dupleks uses steel as a material for slug making; unlike lead, it allows slug designing with different, more advantageous mass distribution and balancing. Therefore, steel slugs are better balanced, and they can be shaped in forms never possible for lead slugs. The mass balancing between slug tip and tail, along with rear part cone surface, does a great job of stabilizing slugs during their flight. The balancing cone and stabilizing rear wad prevents slugs from knocking over during flight. The slug body is ideally centered and encased in polymer by high-quality machinery, altogether creating a flawless slug for hunting. Thanks to their ideal balance and different shape, steel slugs at long distances are more accurate than lead slugs.
Higher penetration capabilities. Lead slugs are made of a soft material, and hitting obstacles (tree trunks, branches, dense grass etc.) can deform them. On hitting irregular obstacles and deforming, lead creates sloping surfaces. This facilitates slug body slipping along obstacle surfaces and changing its initial trajectory – an effect called ricocheting. On the contrary, monolithic slugs of the D Dupleks design, when hitting obstacles softer than steel, retain their shape, pierce the obstacle and continue their initial flight path. The effect of retaining the initial trajectory is best noticed in experiments on shooting to different metallic constructions. The slug does not disintegrate; instead, it fully transfers its energy to the impact location.
Controlled deformation from the first moment. Thanks to the special design of the slug shape and deformation controlled by its material, the expanding steel slug opens up at the first moment upon entering animal body. The slug does not expand if it hits dense grass or bushes. Unlike steel slugs that expand instantly, expanding lead slugs are capable of opening up only when hitting large bones, i.e., deep inside the body. The expansion diameter for a Dupo 28 slug is 30 mm, for a Rossa 32 slug – 27 mm, but for a Hexolit 32 slug – 36 mm. Depending on where slug hits the animal body, its forefront part until the end of energy transfer can retain a shape of maximum expansion. Or it can split apart into a wide cone of splinters, consisting of the main part of the slug and six regular splinters.
Instant pneumatic shockwave effect. Unlike classic slugs, D Dupleks steel slugs transfer their energy into animal body in different ways. Especially different is the effect of the expanding slug hit. The instant slug expansion and its enormous frontal area along with an extremely high impact energy transfer effect also produce a very effective pneumatic shockwave strike inside animal body. This causes an immediate lethal outcome which is both clearly seen and confirmed by meat product biochemical analysis. If an animal dies slowly from injuries caused by lead ammunition, its meat contains far more unhealthy substances compared with the situation when animal is bagged using a D Dupleks steel slug.
Combined hit effect. At the first moment of impact, an expanding slug doubles its forefront part diameter and provides maximum impact. Next, after forefront fragmenting, the impact is already provided by seven elements – a deeply penetrating main part of the slug and a cone of six splinters. The slug fragmentation provides a much larger impact area than any monolithic lead slug. A pneumatic shockwave effect is explicitly seen only in D Dupleks slugs and is therefore unique. The shockwave strike on respiratory, circulatory and neural systems ceases an animal’s vital processes instantly. Each of these three effects is powerful enough to provide a fast and lethal outcome. When enforced all together, they ensure an extremely fast result. In cases of imperfect hits, D Dupleks slugs provide much better chances to bag the animal than conventional lead slugs.
No meat damage. Unlike lead slugs, D Dupleks slugs do not create extensive blood effusions when hitting game. The impact locations are clean, without small slug fragments. Every splinter of a Hexolit 32 slug works as a scalpel blade, creating clean, cut perforations and not damaging the valuable game meat. The combined impact effect of steel slugs is so enormous that, in most cases, heart and circulatory systems stop instantly. Therefore, an animal is killed by heart stoppage, instead of bleeding to death, as frequently seen with lead slug hits.
Fast product identification. Every series of D Dupleks slugs has its own assigned polymer color, clearly visible through the transparent shotshell case. Thus, there is no need to read the name printed on the shotshell – the distinctive polymer color is enough to identify the slug.
Lead-free. Polymer-encased steel slugs are environment-friendly. Unlike conventional lead slugs, they do not contain heavy metals and do not endanger meat product consumers with possible lead contamination when eating meat products. Used in hunting and especially at shooting ranges, steel ammunition does not endanger a shooter’s respiratory system. Shooting with lead slugs creates lead fouling on barrel walls. The friction within a barrel, along with hot and pressurized propellant gas influence, dumps a large quantity of lead dust into the environment. This dust in a form of fine particles can enter both shooters’ and observers’ respiratory systems. At shooting ranges, where a lot of shots are fired, the lead pollution level also is high. D Dupleks slugs are made of polymer-encased steel. None of these parts is environmentally unfriendly or creates dangerous pollution.
No lead foil on internal barrel walls. During the shot, D Dupleks slug polyethylene encasing easily slides along the barrel surface and does not create any fouling. Polyethylene has much better sliding parameters than lead. After hunting with classic lead slugs, cleaning lead fouling off the internal barrel surfaces usually is required. On the other hand, after shooting with D Dupleks slugs, barrels are clear of fouling.
Internationally acknowledged products. At the moment, for a wide range of consumers around the world, D Dupleks ammunition is a complete innovation. However, in Latvia, this ammunition is widely known, recognized and used commonly. D Dupleks steel slugs have been extensively tested in practice for more than twenty years. Considering the obtained results, slug designs have been optimally improved and updated to achieve maximum ballistic results. Both the slugs and wide range of their design elements are patented. Technical parameters of the slug shotshells are recognized as adequate regarding international requirements. The whole range of D Dupleks products has CIP conformity certificates.