Chenoweth, James H.

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Police Training Program Using Wax Bullets

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Journal of Criminal Law and CriminologyVolume 52Issue 3 September-October Article 13Fall 1961Police Training Program Using Wax BulletsJames H. ChenowethFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclcPart of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and CriminalJustice CommonsThis Criminology is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted forinclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons.Recommended CitationJames H. Chenoweth, Police Training Program Using Wax Bullets, 52 J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 347 (1961)POLICE TRAINING PROGRAM USING WAX BULLETS*JAMES H. CHENOWETHJames H. Chenoweth is Chief Deputy United States Marshal for the District of Alaska, Anchor-age, Alaska. Mr. Chenoweth is a Past-President of the Alaska Peace Officers Association and wasformerly an instructor in Law Enforcement, at the Anchorage Community College, University ofAlaska. This is his third article to appear in our Journal.-EDrroR.Even the most casual observer of the nationalscene must be aware that Alaska fosters an atmos-phere naturally conducive to the establishmentof hunting as both recreation and hobby. Becauseof this atmosphere it is surprising to find thatamong the obstacles which we share with policeagencies outside of Alaska who conduct firearmstraining programs, is that of disinterest; ouraverage police officer seldom manifests anyinterest in improving his ability to handle anofficial sidearm. This lack of interest seems toarise from two major sources. First, the unavail-ability--or the comparative unaccessibiity-of apistol range which can be used at a moment'snotice. Second, the comparative boredom which isa byproduct of any training program restrictedto the use of standard bullseye and silhouettetargets. Fortunately, some recent developmentsin making wax bullets now allows any policeagency to set up a shooting program which will beboth immediately available to all personnel andcapable of stirring the imagination and stimulatingcompetitive spirit.The wax bullet pistol range can be quickly andefficiently installed in any ordinary room withoutthe necessity for elaborate and costly protectivedevices. Wax bullets are safe for use within anyroom constructed of normal building material.Any police agency can manufacture its own waxbullets at a cost of less than one cent per bulletbecause the wax and shell cases, once prepared,may be saved and re-used over and over again. Theshell itself is obtained simply by collecting theexpended .38 caliber shells usually abandoned inthe process of carrying out any normal firearms* Although the Executive Office for U. S. Marshalsin the Department of Justice at Washington, D. C.has consistently evinced an active and enthusiasticinterest in any research which might improve theshooting ability of U. S. Marshals and their deputies,readers of this article should not infer that this methodof training is officially" prescribed, authorized, or con-ducted by the Department of Justice.training program. We have found that factorywadcutter cases with no crimp and no belling ofthe case mouth provide us with the best results.Next, the fired primer is removed from theempty shell by decapping it with a simple punchand base set. Place the case head in a counter boreon Lop of the base, and insert the pin head of thepunch into the case flashhole. A light tap on thepunch will knock out the fired primer.The only propulsive force used to propel a waxbullet is that which is derived from the explosionof a primer. To prevent excessive primer setback,which would bind the revolver cylinder, it isnecessary to enlarge the fiashhole in each shell caseused in making wax bullets. This is easily donewith a small hand drill and a simple wooden dampwhich will hold the case without misshaping it. Itis extremely important that flashholes should notbe enlarged too greatly or else the primer anvilwill be blown forward as a secondary missile when. the wax bullet is fired. These metal anvils couldpossibly inflict a serious wound. In preventinganvil blowout, the flashholes for cases to be usedwith -small pistol primers should not be enlarged tonore than .120 inch in diameter: a number 31drill size will make just such an opening. As anadditional precaution, our wax bullets have beendrilled out with a number 32 wire drill which givesus an even smaller flashhole but one which is everybit as effective for our purposes.Once the flashhole is drilled out, the wax shouldbe inserted. Normal /2 inch thick slabs of paraffinwax (such as the type sold in grocery stores forhome preserving) may be used for this purpose.The paraffin should be softened in warm waterand then rested on a fiat surface. Insert the casemouth into the paraffin block and push the casecompletely through the block. Twist the caseslightly and withdraw it. The resultant bulletgives the general appearance of a wax wadcutter.Because we use a white background screen on ourJAMES H. CHENOWETHwax bullet'range, we have found it advantageousto melt down the paraffin wax and add coloringby dropping in bits of colored candles with thecandle wicks removed; wax crayons used forcoloring will provide the same result. Great caremust be taken in melting the paraffin. Do not usean open flame as paraffin is inflammable. The pre-ferred melting method would be" to place theparaffin in a container which is then immersed inhot water. Once melted, the paraffin is poured intoa shallow flat-bottom pan to a depth of Y2 inch,after which it may be inserted into the cases inthe manner described above.Finally, the new primer is seated in the shell byusing either a bench-type loading tool or an in-expensive "re- and de- capping" tool. Althoughthere are various types of primers available, wehave obtained the best results by using the CCIsmall pistol primer which is taken from fresh stock.With such a light loading, there are many variableswhich can materially affect the velocity of waxbullets, so it is best to be consistent in the choice ofa primer.Your wax bullets are now ready for use. Itwould be wise to pause here for a consideration oftheir effectiveness. Unfortunately, the writer hasno information available concerning the impactenergy of such a wax bullet. Its velocity is sur-prisingly high when we consider that the onlypropellant used is the primer. The wax pelletitself generally weighs between 11 and 13 grains.If fired from a .38 Special revolver with a 4 inchbarrel, its muzzle velocity would be about 390 feetper second although it may range anywhere from330 feet per second to 460 feet per second. In thiscaliber, the use of a 6 inch barrel revolver wouldproduce a noticeably greater drop in maximumvelocity at longer ranges. Muzzle velocity with a2 inch barrel revolver is about 20 feet per secondless than with a 4 inch barrel. The loss in velocityafter the wax bullet has been projected abouttwenty feet is about 100 feet per second.Although the above-figures are not very im-pressive when contrasted with that of regularcartridges, every normal safety precaution shouldbe used during the firing of such bullets. Fired at adisiance of 16 feet, a wax bullet made according tothe above instructions is capable of penetrating twolayers of corrugated cardboard although the pene-tration was not sufficient to carry the pellet intoa third layer. At ranges of 20 to 25 feet such bulletsgenerally lack sufficient energy to pass completelythrough one layer of corrugated cardboard. Notwithstanding the relatively low impact of thesebullets, they possess an amazing accuracy, evenwhen used with a 2 inch barrel revolver. At 4 and6 yards distance from the target, the bullet isvery accurate; we have obtained 2-inch groupingsat 8 yards. Naturally, this accuracy cannot beobtained unless the revolver sights are adjustedto compensate for the lack of recoil. With a guncontaining a 4 inch barrel, we estimate that it isnecessary to file down the front sight by approxi-mately 3 2 of an inch, or elevate the rear sightby the same amount. It is suggested that agenciesinstalling a wax bullet range should also set asidethe number of revolvers necessary and have theirsights adjusted for use on that range. To avoidthe danger of using these altered weapons withregular ammunition, each weapon so altered shouldhave its handle painted bright yellow.No weapon will be damaged by using wax bulletsin it, but it is imperative that the residual waxdeposits left in the bore and cylinder chambers beremoved from the gun with a solvent and brushbefore regular ammunition is fired in it again. Themandatory use of special range guns eliminatesmuch of this cleaning since, even with constantuse, we have had no noticeable fouling effects.And the possible danger of accidentally mixingregular ammunition with wax ammunition (whichmust be strictly guarded against) is largely elimi-nated by requiring'the use of range guns.N0v for the pistol range itself. Although theordinary wallboard partitions in most buildingsare sufficiept to withstand the impact of waxbullets, we have found it feasible to construct atarget screen by erecting a large sheet of ordinaryplywood to which has been fastened in the centraltarget area a 4' x 4' sheet of ordinary masonite.The entire target area has been painted a flatwhite. When the wax pellet hits this target sur-face, it rebounds slightly and drops into a gutterimmediately under the target area, leaving on thetarget screen itself a small smear of colored waxwhich is easily visible against the white back-ground. The noise created by firing a wax bulletis approximately equivalent to that of a cap pistol.If this noise does not disturb those in the immediatearea, no further precautions are necessary; somesound absorbing material fastened to the remainingwalls or ceiling will help to reduce this noise if itis loud enough to be a nuisance. If the room inwhich the range is to be installed possesses windows,[Vol. 52TRAINING PROGRAM WITH WAX BULLETScare should be taken to place the target screen insuch a location that there is no danger of breakingthese windows.It seems entirely possible that even the smallestpolice agency would have access to a room whichcould be converted into a wax bullet range alongthe above lines. Such a range would be immediatelyavailable for use by officers coming off duty withoutrequiring them to travel great distances or makeelaborate preparations in advance. By itself, how-ever, it does little to correct the problem ofboredom. In an effort to overcome this problem,we have installed a projector on our wax bulletpistol range with which we project a variety oftargets onto the screen. Basically, we use threetypes of targets. The first are the bullseye andsilhouette targets. With these targets the shootercan practice in improving his accuracy and hiscontrol of the gun. The second type of target is asituational target in which an actual scene isflashed upon the target screen. These targets areused to improve the shooter's reaction and hisability to make on-the-spot decisions; some of thesituational targets 'are obviously "shoot" targets,others are obviously "no shoot" targets, and stillothers are questionable in that there is no bookanswer as to whether or not the shooter shouldfire. Targets in the latter category are followed upby questioning the shooter concerning his reasonfor his decision; if he has based his decision to fireor not fire upon some rational or logical line ofthought, he is given credit. The third type of targetis a new one with us which we call an abstracttarget. It is our belief that many shooters tend toover-compensate when they are firing at an objectwhich is partly hidden by a larger object. Ourabstract targets consist of one small circle strategi-cally placed adjacent to some distracting influencesuch as a heavy dark area or an area containingbroken lines moving off at an angle. While it istoo early to evaluate the results of using thistarget, it provides an interesting change of pacefor the shooter whose only instructions are to fireat the circle; shots missing the circle tend to beconcentrated on the side opposite to the distractingarea.Our wax bullet range contains two other itemsto eliminate boredom. One of them is a variablelighting system through which we can duplicateeither daylight or night-time firing conditions. Thesecond is an electric timer which we have fastenedto our projector so that the target picture remainson the target screen only for as long a period oftime as we wish it to.The normal procedure for using the wax bulletpistol range is a fairly standard one with variantsbeing utilized according to the training recordand shooting ability of the persons using the range.Our particular range is only wide enough to accom-modate two shooters and a range officer. Beforeentering the range they activate an outside switchwhich illumin tes a warning sign that the rangeis in use. Should anyone wish to enter the rangeroom during the firing, he need only flick a secondoutside switch which turns the light in the rangeroom on and off, thus notifying the occupants thattheir shooting must cease.Generally speaking, we allow only one personat a time to fire on our range; we have felt it bestto give individual attention to each shooter usingit. If the shooter has never used the range before,the range officer starts by explaining what a waxbullet is, and how range guns have beenadapted for use with wax bullets. To demonstrate,he projects a bullseye target on the screen, loadsthe wax bullet in the cylinder of a range gun, andthen allows the shooter to fire at the bullseyetarget. This acquaints the shooter with the relativenoise, accuracy, and lack of recoil he can expectwhen firing these bullets.The range officer then demonstrates the effectof reducing the lighting to simulate night-timefiring. He advises the shooter of the range rulesand general commands that will be used. Heexplains the different types of targets in use andexhibits each type on the target screen. He deion-strates the use of the timer and shows how thetarget may be flashed on the screen for a shortperiod of time during which the shooter, if hedecides to shoot, must draw his gun from hisholster and fire before the target leaves the screen.Because the projector does not move, the sametarget may then be flashed back upon the screenin exactly the same position it was originally; whenthis is done the shooter and range officer are able toevaluate the accuracy of the shot by compingthe location of the smear left by the wax bulletwith the theoretically ideal area where the bulletshould have gone. Each bullet smear can be wipedclean from the target screen by using a dry cloth;after each practice session, however, the entiretarget screen should be cleaned with energine,lighter fluid, or any other acceptable substitute.The shooter is also advised that during the19611JAMES H. CHENOWETHcourse of firing he will be required to state howmany bullets are left in his gun whenever therange officer so requests. Sometimes the shooter isstarted with a full cylinder, but because we areattempting to encourage our shooters to keepfiring at each target rather than to acquire thehabit of firing one shot and waiting to see its effect(a habit which is frequently fatal to a police officerexchanging shots with a criminal), we generallyplace only three wax bullets in each cylinder,spacing them so that the shooter never knowswhether a live round or an empty chamber is underthe hammer. Naturally, the methods for scoringeach shooter will vary according to the number ofshots he is required to fire while each target is onthe screen.At the present time we have 36 targets we canproject upon our screen; with twice that numberwe would have a truly selective choice of targets.Of course, we do not start any shooter at thebeginning and let him fire at all our targets. In-stead, we select a series of targets according to thecapabilities of the shooter, and these targets areflashed upon the screen in a well-shuffled sequenceso that the shooter is never able to anticipateeither the type of target with which he will beconfronted or, in the case of situational targetscallin for a decision on his part, what action hewill take. Our situational targets have been derivedfrom many sources. Many of them were posed forus by police officers or civilians willing to assist.Many of them are simply photographs copied fromfirearms training manuals, selfdefense manuals,or illustrations found on the covers of paper-backnovels. These latter illustrations have been veryhelpful in that they tend to capsulize a situationwith clarity by eliminating extraneous detail. Wehave derived a great deal of amusement by observ-ing the reactions of shooters who are forced for thefirst time to fire at a woman who is pointing a gunat them. Because we do not preface any targetwith an introductory explanation, we use a localground rule whereby any person holding a gunin a situational target is, by definition, a criminal.This does not mean that the shooter is requiredto fire at any person holding a gun in such a targetbut merely to consider that person a potentialthreat.One of our situational targets shows a manrunning toward the shooter. Behind him, a secondman is crouched in a shooting position with hisarm extended. Many of our shooters have firedat this second man before they realize that thereis no gun held in his extended hand. Anothersituational target depicts an attractive younglady somewhat scantily clad; many shooters do notrealize that she is pointing a gun in their directionuntil it is too late for them to draw and fire.We have further stirred the competitive spiritof our shooters by making it possible for twoshooters to contest each other by firing at the sametarget. Under this system each shooter uses waxbullets of a different color than that of his oppo-nent. Both shooters stand the same distance fromthe target, one on each side of the line of target-projection. At any time after the shooters indicatethey are ready, a target is flashed on the screenfor a brief period during which time each shooterdraw and fires. The shooter who fires with thegreatest accuracy scores three points; the shooterwho fires first scores two points. Under this systemit is possible for a shooter who is slow but accurateto win a shooting match against an opponent who isquick but inaccurate, although top honors willnaturally go to the shooter who possesses bothof these qualities.For those shooters who need constant practicein order to qualify on a practical pistol course,we have been successful in projecting silhouettetargets which are accurately reduced to the correctproportionate size which a silhouette target wouldappear to be if it were placed at distances of 8, 12,and 16 yards away from the shooter. In effect, wecan reproduce our entire practical pistol coursewithin the space of four yards. This type ofapproach to the use of a wax bullet range makesit possible for any police agency to duplicate anytype of shooting situation it deems desirable -forthe purpose of training its officers. We feel thatthe results derived from our wax bullet range haveamply demonstrated its capability for providingan inexpensive and exciting method of improvingour efficiency in the use of firearms.[Vol. 52

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Police Training Program Using Wax Bullets

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