A breaching round or slug-shot is a shotgun shell specially made for door breaching. It is typically fired at a range of 6 inches (15 cm) or less, aimed at the hinges or the area between the doorknob and lock and doorjamb, and is designed to destroy the object it hits and then disperse into a relatively harmless powder.
Design and construction
Breaching rounds are designed to destroy door
, locks, and
without risking lives by
or by flying on at lethal speed through the door, as traditional
buckshot can. These
are made of a dense
Sintering material, often metal powder in a binder such as wax, which can destroy a lock or hinge and then immediately disperse. They are used by military and
SWAT teams to quickly force entry into a locked room. Amongst police, these rounds are nicknamed "
Master keying", and their use is known as "Avon calling", alluding to the
Avon Products brand of cosmetics which was sold door-to-door. Ideally, breaching rounds may be used in a standard
combat shotgun or
riot shotgun, or in a specialized shotgun, often attached to a rifle, such as the
KAC Masterkey or M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System. The most effective use of this round is with a "stand-off breacher" attached to the muzzle of a specially converted shotgun. The stand-off is held on the surface of the door and vents gases to prevent overpressure.
The British SAS also use these breaching rounds in their shotguns-most commonly the Remington pump action.
Though designed not to endanger people behind or around a door, a breaching round is easily lethal if fired directly at a human target.
Examples of breaching rounds:
-
Royal Arms has made the TESAR round for over 40 years using a frangible copper slug of various weights and configurations, with different loads for different applications. It is used by many military and law enforcement agencies around the world.
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The US military M1030 breaching round is a 12-gauge, shell that uses a projectile made of powdered steel, bound with wax.
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The Clucas Method of Entry Hatton round is a 12-gauge, magnum cartridge shell that uses a frangible projectile, consisting of a high-density wax binder.
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Firequest makes a 12 gauge frangible slug, named the door breaching cartridge. The slug consists of copper and tin powder.
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