British Army "Rubber Bullets" & BATON ROUNDS:

When the two part 'Good Friday Agreement' was agreed & approved by Irish voters in 1998, - the DUP, Democratic Unionist Party (founded 1971 by fundamentalist Protestant Ian Paisley) - was the only group that disagreed with it's implementation - which mostly signaled an end to the troubles, rioting and the widespread use of "rubber bullets" since 1970 in Ireland.

The DUP recently did a "confidence & supply" deal to keep UK Prime Minister May's administration in power - in exchange for One Billion Pounds extra spending in Northern Ireland.

ROUND BATON 39mm MUN3492

Of course, - 'Rubber Bullets' are not rubber.

MUN3491.

Plastic & Aluminum Baton Round.

Regarding Caliber: L5 Baton Rounds were sometimes called "1.5 inch" Rounds" - and are also variously known & made in several metric names such as 37x122, 39.4mm, 39.7mm. & 37/38mm there are many different makers, models, and national variations that mostly also fit 40MM Launchers.

British Rubber bullets sometimes had a metal core and the plastic baton rounds were variously made of rubberized PVC and Polyurathane (PU) plus aluminum composite varieties.

Either way 98,503 (or 125,000 ?) were fired in Northern Ireland.

"Rubber bullets" were replaced by plastic baton rounds in 1974. 
- 17 deaths and many permanent injuries from Baton Rounds are recorded in Northern Ireland, the last in 1989. Weapons scientists at Porton Down had tested these batons on sheep and pigs to assess the likely lethality & damage.

These earlier Baton rounds - said to cost 7 UK pounds each - were replaced by the L60A2 37mm Attenuating Energy Projectile soft nosed impact in 2005 .. for both army and Police use.

37 mm AEP L60A2.

'Attenuating' means to lesson the amount of ..

 (I had to look it up 😼)

Keckler & Koch L104A1 Optical Sight Launcher

 & L21A1 AEP Baton Round.

The 'AEP' has been developed over many years - starting back in the 1880s in Singapore when short sections of broom handle were fired at rioters .. and in Hong Kong where police developed wooden baton rounds that tended to splinter.

Modern 37/40mm "Triplex" Wooden Baton Rounds

 - They're Cheap.

US. 'Less Lethal' Wooden Baton Rounds

 Said To Be Used By St Louis PD. 

37-38mm Solid Rubber Triple Load.

-F3 Iteration Uses Foam Slugs At short Range

 - Suggested 'For Cell Extractions'..

- If  you still hunger for more detailed information this link to a piece from Jane's Police Products Review may fill your needs:

http://www.quarryhs.co.uk/baton.htm

Marty K.

Is there a 'GOOD' way to control rioters? .. A favorite UK talk show host says on air

 "- I've met people - and you wouldn't like them."

- Here in NZ - a case might be made to allow shop-keepers (& others) to have 'Less-Lethal' defensive tools such as the Russian civilian legal Steyr 10x28 mm rubber bullet projectors. These hardworking family "Dairy" or corner shop workers are subject to repeated violent robberies while the Police advice is not to resist when being attacked.

M.K.