History

Development

The plastic bullet was developed as a replacement for rubber bullets in the United Kingdom.

The ammunition was developed by the British as the L5 Plastic Baton Round (PBR) with a projectile that could be fired directly at targets while also reducing the risk of serious injury or death.[5] It was intended to replace the older rubber bullet: training doctrine was to fire these rounds below waist level, to reduce the risk of lethal injury. Rubber bullets would ricochet uncontrollably from the ground, if fired too low. The intention of the plastic bullet was to produce a projectile of similar effect on its target, with less risk of ricochet than rubber.[citation needed]

It was introduced in 1972 and initially was used alongside the rubber bullet, which it replaced completely in 1975. The first plastic bullet was made of PVC,[6] was 89 mm (3.5 inches) long and 38 mm (1.5 in.) in diameter, and weighed approximately 131 g (4.6 oz). The weight was similar to the rubber bullet but the new projectile had a lower muzzle velocity.