Aquila IQ ammo?

[93sr20det]

I was at the gunshow yesterday and a vendor was hell-bent on selling me some $40 for 20 rounds Aquila IQ ammo for my .45. He made a good presentation and even had a piece of 1 inch plexiglas that had a bullet-hole in it from one of the rounds. He also said some guys purchased some the day before and came back and got another 5-6 boxes because they were shooting it though a level 3 vest. I called BS at that point and walked away but should I have? I want to say they were only 118 grain though. What if these puppies are the holy grail? Or maybe what I should say are gun show dealers the snake oil salesman of today?

[timlt]

Haven't tried it yet, and couldn't find much, after doing a quick search. One thing I saw was this report from a crime lab in San Antonio which tested the round. They found that it DOES live up to the manufacturer's claims for ballistics and how it performs, but that it does NOT live up to some of the Internet legends started about it (i.e., it would NOT perforate an armored vest when fired from 3ft or 9ft).

In the following page, scroll down to the section with the heading: " Aguila IQ Case Study in .45 ACP"

http://www.afte.org/TrainingSeminar/AFTE2006/Summaries/afte2006_tues.htm


Also saw this thread, which mentions the above report. Some in the thread are positive about the ammo and mention their own tests on it.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=239361

And here's one other thread that claims to have tested it, and says it did poorly. In all fairness though, this info is several years old, and Aguila says the "IQ" stuff they have now is new, so I'm not sure if they've changed it.

http://www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=78;t=000338



Please let me know if you found out anything else interesting about it.

[93sr20det]

Tim I think I found the "smoking gun"

http://www.thegunzone.com/aguila-iq.html

Michigan State Police found it did penetrate their issue vests!

[timlt]

If you get a chance to run some tests on it or if you find out any more details, let us know. Others might be interested in trying this ammo too.

[93sr20det]

I wont have a chance to buy any until April 12th or 13th when the gun show comes back around unless the guy was local that had it. I can ask one of the guys from our local gun shop because I saw him talking with the guy and he seemed like he knew him. Also I think it has been discontinued and may be a scarce item. I should have purchased a box but $40 for 20 rounds of an unknown ammo is kinda hard to do!

[gunrun45]

Here's the deal with the Aguila IQ ammo...
I have done testing with this ammo and I am glad that it is not available readily now as it once was.

I don't know why but importation has slowed greatly in the past 3 years or so. It used to be THE cheapest HP ammo I could find anywhere (I used to pay $12 TOPS for 20 rouns of 45ACP in 2006). $40 for 20 rounds sounds like high way robery to me.:lol:

Ballistic vests are rated by speed and projectile type and are really only designed to absorb and reduce the kenetic energy of a projectile as it impacts whatever surface area that it strikes. THis is why rifle rounds and some pointed type ammo will penetrate the lower rated vests easily. The system of rating for vests is level I, II, IIIA, III, IX and then suplemented with various types of soft and hard trauma plates. Ceramic plates are used in SWAT and military type vests to stop AP rifle rounds and shrapnel. Other special vests are designed to stop pointed objects like ice picks and knives for use in the correctional systems.

Why does IQ ammo sometimes (usually) defeate body armor? Easy. Its a projectile traveling very fast that has a reduced mass when compared to normal loads of the same caliber. Vests are rated to stop rounds of INDUSTRY STANDARD.

Especially when fired from longer barreled weapons like carbines, SBR's, etc... they are able to develope even greater energy that they transfer to the target (vest).

So, a level II (pretty standard LE vest) vest rated to stop most 9mm, 44mag, 45ACP rounds will NOT usually stop a 9mm IQ round that weighs much less than the 115 normal grains of a standard 9mm FMJ round. Fire it from a carbine and it really sings through.

Many agencies are moving to heavier (type III) vests due to various issues, not the least of which is the growing number of readily avaiable rounds that will perforate the lower levels of vests. Of course the cost of a vest per officer can almost double based on comfort issues like reduced weight and coverage options. There are level III vests out there that weigh as light if not lighter than level II vests but they cost plenty (think $800-$1000 each easily). Compare this to the standard issue level II vests that go for as little as $300. Now multiply that over however many officers you have in your department... I think you can see where I am going with this.

I have tested 9mm, 357, 40 and 45ACP IQ ammo against level II and III vests with soft trauma packs. 9mm and 357 perforated both front pannels of the vest and became lodged in the back pannels of the test vest in level II vests. Neither the 40 or 45 ACP completely perforated both of the front pannels but I would not want to bet on it NOT going through as only one or two pieces of fabric held the projectiles back.

NO rounds perforated both front pannels of a level III vest. They were all captured although noticeably deaper penetration was noted over standards (FMJ) shot into the same test medium.

I really like this round against soft targets anyway because it offers a simply unreal amount of expansion against targets. That massive hollow point can really carve out a wound channel and it expands, boy does it expand.

I would not buy this ammo and expect it to penetate soft body armor. Posession of ANY handgun ammo that is designed to perforate body armor is a FEDERAL CRIME and should be avoided.

Common sense here folks! Overpenetration is an issue with any ammo. No body wants to shoot the evil bad guy only to find out that your round exited the evil do'er and hit little johny as he was walking home from school. Having a handgun loaded with ammo that is designed to do exactly that is not only irresponsible, but extremely dangerous in most situations encountered by the general population.

Due to the massive hollow point in this ammo's design, it does expand violently in a soft target. This expansion is causes the projectile to reduce velocity as it begins to shed it's speed at a greater rate due to its now larger surface area. This means that your round has a greater chance of slowing down in the target and not overpenetrating. It makes sense when you think about it.