Ballistic Machinist expands the range of his commercially available 12 gauges slugs. The latest addition to his product line are the shotgun shells loaded with slugs called “357 Defender”. Why is a 12 gauge slug named 357? Because it has a .357 caliber bullet inside it.

As seen in the images, the slug consists of an outer aluminum body which is a hollow point design on its own, and a .357 hollow point bullet placed inside the latter. These slugs are designed primarily for home defense. Here is how Ballistic Machinist describes the features of the slug:

These slugs were designed mostly for QCB like home defense. The main body of the slug is aluminum with a 357 magnum bullet in the nose. The slots in the front of the slug causes the slug to expand violently with impact of soft tissue. While at the same time the slug will break up in to ten parts if it hit one sheet of drywall. At speeds up to 1700 FPS that makes this a very powerful and very effective home defense round. Due to the relatively light weight of the slug it has very low recoil that can help with quicker follow up shots if needed.

Ballistic Machinist has also posted a video showing the accuracy and penetration tests of 357 Defender slugs. You can find that video embedded below.

As you might have expected, the designer also sent some of these slugs to TAOFLEDERMAUS to test them. I think it has become a sort of an industry standard for those who make new/unusual shotgun ammunition to send their creations to TAOFLEDERMAUS for testing.

The overall weight of the 357 Defender slug is 278 grain. The slugs are not available for purchase separately. They are only sold as loaded 2 3/4″ shells. Ballistic Machinist 357 Defender slug loads are available through the Detroit Ammo Co. website at an MSRP of $28.95 per a box of 5 rounds.

Images from www.ballisticmachinist.com, TAOFLEDERMAUS