1st Recon Conducts Breaching Exercise 140610-M-ED261-003

A breaching round or slug-shot is a

shotgun shell A shotgun shell, shotshell or simply shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellet-like spherical sub- projectiles called shot, fired thro ...

specially made for door breaching. It is typically fired at a range of 6 inches (15 cm) or less, aimed at the hinges or the area between the doorknob and lock and doorjamb, and is designed to destroy the object it hits and then disperse into a relatively harmless powder.

Design and construction

Breaching rounds are designed to destroy door deadbolts, locks, and

hinge A hinge is a mechanical bearing that connects two solid objects, typically allowing only a limited angle of rotation between them. Two objects connected by an ideal hinge rotate relative to each other about a fixed axis of rotation: all othe ...

s without risking lives by ricocheting or by flying on at lethal speed through the door, as traditional buckshot can. These frangible rounds are made of a dense

sintered Clinker nodules produced by sintering Sintering or frittage is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by pressure or heat without melting it to the point of liquefaction. Sintering happens as part of a manufacturing ...

material, often metal powder in a binder such as wax, which can destroy a lock or hinge and then immediately disperse. They are used by military and

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

teams to quickly force entry into a locked room. Amongst police, these rounds are nicknamed " master keys", and their use is known as "Avon calling", alluding to the

Avon Avon may refer to: * River Avon (disambiguation), several rivers Organisations *Avon Buses, a bus operating company in Wirral, England *Avon Coachworks, a car body builder established in 1919 at Warwick, England, relaunched in 1922, following ...

brand of cosmetics which was sold door-to-door. Ideally, breaching rounds may be used in a standard combat shotgun or riot shotgun, or in a specialized shotgun, often attached to a rifle, such as the KAC Masterkey or M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System. The most effective use of this round is with a "stand-off breacher" attached to the muzzle of a specially converted shotgun. The stand-off is held on the surface of the door and vents gases to prevent overpressure. Though designed not to endanger people behind or around a door, a breaching round is easily lethal if fired directly at a human target. Examples of breaching rounds: * Royal Arms has made the TESAR round for over 25 years using a frangible copper slug of various weights and configurations, with different loads for different applications. It is used by many military and law enforcement agencies around the world. * The US military M1030 breaching round is a 12- gauge, shell that uses a projectile made of powdered steel, bound with wax. * The Clucas Method of Entry Hatton round is a 12-gauge, magnum shell that uses a frangible projectile, consisting of a high-density wax binder. *Firequest makes a 12 gauge 2 3/4 frangible slug named the door breaching cartridge. The slug consists of copper and tin powder.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breaching Round Paramilitary cartridges Shotgun shells