A Firearms Training Performance Test with Liberty Ammunition Civil Defense Rounds

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Liberty Ammunition Civil Defense is an ultra lightweight +P 9mm round, only 50 grains. Despite this, it’s a very powerful and potent defensive round. Civil Defense has been designed to minimize recoil, which makes it great for firearms training, and increase the transfer of energy over a short path. Check out how it performs during testing when fired into ballistic gelatin and through intermediate barriers.

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18 Responses to “A Firearms Training Performance Test with Liberty Ammunition Civil Defense Rounds”

  1. Paul Oglesbee

    I’ve shot the Liberty.40 cal. Though 8 layers of denim over a 2×4 and refrigerator door. Into 3 one gallon water jugs. The bullet penetrated all the way into the third jug

    Reply
  3. Moose

    I have test fired this ammo and liked what it did. My question is, since it is rated +P due to higher pressure, is it safe to fire in most firearms, like XD, LCP, LC9, etc.? Looks ideal for self-defense, but not for much practice shooting.

    Reply
  4. Joe Slobodnik

    I have never been a fan of he 9mm due to over penetration. Seems like the issues with that problem has been addressed and helped considerably

    Reply
  5. Mark

    Since the bullet broke up through the glass, I would like to see it again through the glass against a layer of denim over the gelatin. Much of the bullet mass is fragmented off and peppers the gelatin but does not penetrate far. Does it go in at all if the target is dressed?

    Reply
  6. Paul Grumsha

    Most of everything was very informative and seemed plausible, however the word “tempered glass” was used inaccurately. If the glass used in the demo was indeed tempered, it would have blown up into many small pieces. Annealed glass was the type of glass used.

    Reply
  7. PDN Team

    Hi, Ray! We haven’t tested it, but I wouldn’t expect it to be a major issue due to the thinness of the hollow point cavity walls.

    Reply
  9. TC

    Nice video. Would be more helpful to see it in comparison to other average 9mm rounds. Even more important is muzzle energy. You’re looking around 444 foot pounds (50grains @ 2,000 ft/per second) which is more impressive to talk about, especially given the added control/accuracy you’ll have over the gun.

    Reply
  11. Gary Minter

    I would have rather seen a standard 2 X 4 drywall type barrier the type I would find in my home. Many layers of glass as well as car doors and windshields are not the type barriers I an likely to have to shoot through.

    Reply
  12. Mike

    Interesting round. I wonder if it would be usable in my Kimber Solo. They recommend nothing lighter than 124 Gr. This has something to do with sharp recoil in light 9 MM rounds causing roll pins to move out of the frame.

    Reply
    • Gunnr

      Mike, I’m curious about what Kimber had to say. The action and recoil of any firearm is increased by having a heavier bullet. A 115gr 9mm has less recoil then a 124gr and much less then a 147gr projectile. So a lighter round beats up on a gun much less then a heavy one. I would call Kimber and get some clarification on their statement as it is way wrong. If I bought any gun and the maker said something about what rounds you can’t shoot out of their gun I’d just let them keep it and buy a GOOD gun from another manufacturer. Peace brother. I would check that fact with them for sure as they are wrong.

      Reply
  13. Art

    that is impressive, but i would be interesting to see what it did through a car door or some sheet metal. it seems to me that is almost duplicating the old 357 hollows point before they got good at making hollow points. if my memory, which is not as good as it use to be, serves me the reason the 357 was so deadly was the petals also broke apart from the speed and force of it creating more wound chanels while still penetrating, but with more mass. the force if i remember correctly is velocity times weight. it would be interesting to compare the force of both rounds.

    Reply
    • Steve

      I believe the ‘force’ of a bullet is referred to as ‘muzzle energy’ and is often a listed specification with purchased ammunition. The force is calculated by multiplying mass (weight) times a fraction of the speed of light squared. E = MC2 Therefore, speed is more critical to muzzle energy than mass. If a 100g bullet were developed with the same speed as this round, the ME would be doubled. But if the 50g bullet were created with twice the speed, the ME would be quadrupled given the squaring of speed. Of course, neither of these hypothetical rounds could be built without a new powder or significantly larger case and then you’d be waaaay over pressure limits of the firearm.

      The impressive ME of this round, coupled with its light weight (for carry purposes), low recoil (for follow up shots) and accuracy at the range make this my carry round of choice whether I’m carrying 9MM or 45ACP. As an added bonus, they LOOK cool. I often tell people “They’re also effective on vampires, werewolves and zombies…”

      Reply
      • Dan

        Actually, the equation you’re looking for is F=MA; E=MC^2 is for quantum physics mainly and, at this point in time, has almost no relevance in firearms for self defense, unless you have a mini nuke gun or something similar. In which case, do share!!!

        Reply
    • mac

      sxt winchester (aka black talons) 9mm and 40mm thank you ill stick with the perfect pointed star formation lol

      Reply
    • mac

      sxt winchester round i pray i never have to use but should the need arise she ll be all thats needed what expansion

      Reply

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