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Ballistic Properties of Rubber Bullets

Ballistics is the study of high-velocity projectiles, especially those associated with firearms. Rubber bullets -- or more accurately, rubber-coated bullets -- have been touted by law enforcement and military users as a "less-lethal" ammunition, designed to give users a greater flexibility of response between riot batons and standard firearm ammunition. Most of the study of rubber-bullet ballistics has been terminal ballistics -- that is, how the round behaves when it comes into contact with a (human) target.

  1. Intent and Impacts

    • Rubber bullets are not actually all-rubber. They are metal projectiles coated in rubber that are fired using a smaller explosive charge than standard ammunition. Their use was researched and brought into current form primarily by countries involved in military occupations, especially the Israelis in the Palestinian territories and the British in Northern Ireland. Touted originally as "non-lethal" ammunition, the term was changed to "less-than-lethal" or "less-lethal" after many people died from rubber bullet wounds. Proper employment of the round requires it be fired at areas below the waist; and head shots accounted for most of the fatalities. The various rounds are also meant to be fired at distances between 7 and 20 yards, depending on the round.

    The Goldilocks Dilemma -- Too Far or Too Near

    • Rubber bullets are designed with soft rubber in the front and a harder rubber in the rear. The recommended minimum ranges are to allow the rounds to lose velocity before impact. However, one ballistics problem encountered by the rounds is that after a short distance, the stabilizing effects of rifling -- if a rifle is even used -- are degraded, and the bullet begins to tumble, which causes it to impact without the soft-point forward. The tumbling effect also affects the trajectory of the round in unpredictable ways, causing greater inaccuracy, with the attendant risks of a lethal impact or even hitting an unintended target.

    Unpredictability

    • Medical studies published by "The Lancet" and the Ramban Medical Center in Israel concluded that rubber bullets can ricochet, break bones, burst arteries and penetrate the head, chest or abdomen. In some cases, the rubber sheath breaks on impact, and the metal core then penetrates the body. The dynamic human variables influencing any situation where rubber bullets are employed have led researchers to conclude that there is no way to ensure non-lethality in the employment of rubber bullets, though there is a statistically lower probability of fatality than with the use of regular ammunition.

    Research Continues

    • Ballistic studies of existing variations of rubber bullets has led designers to continually seek improvements on rubber bullets. The move has been away from rifles and toward shotguns, with larger bores and the capacity to fire "bean-bag" type projectiles using lower-velocity loads that reduce the probability of penetration, while still creating enough pain and temporary disability to allow police to detain the target with minimal risk to themselves. These rounds have a significantly reduced range, so they can only be used when police are already in greater proximity to their targets.

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