A-Square

I've been intrigued by the A-Square company ever since I saw a picture of one of their monolithic slugs removed from elephant and buffalo in a book called The World's Most Powerful Rifles and Handguns. I'm not sure of the status of the company right now, their web-page doesn't seem to have been updated in a long time, but it'd be a shame if they weren't still operating. I do recall reading about their founder, Arthur Alphin getting into some sort of trouble with a government agency, most likely BATF, but I cannot for the life of me recall the details.

One of the most interesting thing about A-Square, quite apart from their Hannibal rifle, is the Triad of Bullets they offer. For most of the calibres they offer they have three different types of bullet which, despite their varied function, have precisely the same trajectory as one another. So a hunter could have a magazine of, say, five rounds with different bullets for penetration or expansion or a combination of both- and he will know that all have the same trajectory.

The first of the triad is the Monolithic Solid, designed purely for penetration and where expansion is not required. This is one for punching holes through elephant, buffalo or the like. They are not supposed to deform at all.

The second round is the Dead-Tough. Intended as a general purpose hunting round the Dead-Tough is meant to offer expansion down a third of the bullet, offering a wide frontal area, but keeping the remainder of the bullet intact to stabilise it's path through prey.

The final round is the Lion Load, so named I presume because of the beast's thin skinned nature. This one will only penetrate 12-24 inches of flesh and offers maximum destruction. It appears to be a soft lead nose surrounded by a thin copper jacket, enabling the bullet to mushroom and fragment, dumping all of the energy into the critter shot. It's not recommended for use when bone might get in the way of the vital organs.

As well as bullets for reloading, A-Square offer ammunition from 7mm all the way up to the massive .700 Nitro Express, most of it in the Triad format.