From National Police Ammunition
National Police Ammunition (NPA) has announced the development and release of its HELO Defense 9 mm 115 grain + P solid copper hollow point with proprietary interior skives. The HELO Defense 9 mm 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. “HELO” 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 percent of its grain weight through ballistic gel and does not break apart like many copper hollow points on the market today.
An additional design benefit is the HELO’s ability 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 firearm 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 inches into bare gel from a Glock 43 sub-compact pocket pistol and will also penetrate an average of 15 inches of gel from a full-size defense pistol averaging 1,150 FPS from a 4-inch barrel.
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 9 mm HELO consistently shoots below a 2-inch group at 25 yards shot from a rest with a 4-inch-barreled duty pistol.
Also new in the self-defense ammo category is Federal’s Punch for a variety of chamberings.