Plastic bullet can refer to:
Plastic baton round: a large, blunt, low-velocity projectile fired from a specialized gun, intended as a less-lethal weapon for riot control.
Plastic bullet: a conventionally sized and shaped bullet made from a composite material including plastic, fired from a conventional rifle and capable of penetrating human tissue, intended as a less lethal weapon for riot control.
Plastic bullet (target shooting): a blunt, lightweight handgun bullet intended for short-range target practice, not intended for use as a weapon.
Both types of plastic bullet intended for riot control have caused deaths.
Plastic bullets are generally used for riot control. Some plastic bullets are intended to be skip fired, hitting the ground and ricocheting into the intended target; while others were designed to be fired directly into the target.
Plastic baton rounds were invented by British researchers to provide a more accurate alternative to rubber bullets, and were intended to be fired directly at rioters in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.
An unrelated blunt, low velocity, small-calibre handgun bullet made of hollow plastic is sometimes used for short-range target practice (see recreational use).
History
The plastic baton round was developed in the UK by Porton Down scientists and intended for use against rioters in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, first used there in 1973.
The first version was the L5 Plastic Baton Round (PBR, commonly called plastic bullet). It was created to replace rubber baton rounds (rubber bullets), which had been used in Northern Ireland since 1970 and which were withdrawn by the end of 1975. Rubber bullets were meant to be fired at the legs of rioters or the ground in front of them. However, they were often fired directly at people from close range and sometimes at the totally innocent. The use of rubber bullets in Northern Ireland resulted in at least three people being killed and many more badly injured.
The plastic bullet could be fired directly at people and at longer ranges. It was intended to be a projectile of similar effect on its target as the rubber bullet. Officially, its advantage over the rubber bullet was claimed to be greater accuracy.
The first plastic bullet was made of PVC (some sources say polyurethane), weighed , was diameter and 'rather over' long. The new plastic bullet was a similar size to but lighter than the rubber bullet, but the considerably longer range of the plastic bullet— against —implies an appreciably higher muzzle velocity. An analysis made in 1976 concluded that the plastic bullet would prove to be more dangerous than the rubber bullet it replaced, especially if used abusively at short distances.
In Northern Ireland between their first use in February 1973 and February 1983, plastic bullets killed four times as many people round for round as the rubber bullets they replaced.
The final variant of the L5 plastic bullet—the L5A7—was introduced in 1994. The L5 was replaced by the L21A1 in 2001. The L21 plastic bullet was fired from a new launcher, the HK L104A1 riot gun, a rifled weapon which gives greater accuracy when used with an optical sight than the smooth bore weapons used to fire the earlier L5 rounds.
A 2003 study for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission found that the new L21 round was 'potentially more lethal' since it was inaccurate and 2.5 times more likely to penetrate body tissue than the older L5 round. One in three L21 rounds missed their target, while 10% of the L21 rounds fired caused injury compared to 1.14% of the L5 rounds. The Defence Scientific Advisory Council found that the L21 round hitting end on could penetrate a human skull and lodge in the brain, killing the victim; also that the L21 round posed more risk to innocent bystanders than the L5 due to its greater potential ricochet.
The L21 was replaced by the L60A1 Attenuated Energy Projectile in June 2005 due to tests showing that the L21 was more dangerous than earlier rounds especially when striking the head.
Usage—plastic baton rounds
Use in Northern Ireland
The British Army in Northern Ireland was issued with plastic bullets in August 1972, the intention being to replace the use of rubber bullets, and first used them in February 1973; while the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) first 'tried out' the new round during a riot on 12th August 1973. Shortly after their introduction it was discovered plastic bullets were lethal at certain ranges. Rubber bullets had been withdrawn from Northern Ireland by the end of 1975.