My level of gun nerd often has me doomscrolling decade-old forum posts one after another. Typically, I start on one subject and just end up somewhere. One of my most recent forum dives was at the International Ammunition Association Inc. There I found something called Short Stop rounds.
If you Google Short Stop Rounds, what shows up in 2026 is a round seemingly designed to be a simmunition type design. These Short Stop rounds are not simmunitions, but specialized self-defense rounds produced for .38 Special revolvers. There are lots of weird defensive ammo types out there, and they all have a ‘thing.’ A thing is having some kind of weird effect on the target.
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The Short Stop Rounds – Why?
The Short Stop rounds are designed to be lethal only at close range and are said to fall to the ground at about 200 feet, according to a brochure. These rounds were developed by MBAssociates, a company owned by Robert Mainhardt and Arthur Biehl. If those names sound familiar, it’s because these two guys also designed the GryoJet rocket guns.
In this era, there were all sorts of specialized rounds designed to limit penetration through a threat. The Short Stop rounds are designed to be lethal at close range while avoiding overpenetration of the target. If you missed, well, the round would fall to the ground soon enough.
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The trick behind the cartridges was simple: don’t use a bullet. Well, don’t use a traditional bullet. Instead of lead and copper, what we had was a small, flexible pouch filled with lead shot. They were encased in a shell that looked like an orange bullet.
Upon firing, the shell engaged the rifling, stabilizing the round. As the round left the barrel, the shell fell away, and the small pouch opened up to about an inch-wide projectile. The advertised velocity was ‘over 1,000 feet per second.’ If that sounds a lot like a less-lethal round fired from a shotgun, it’s because it’s quite similar.
MBAssociates also produced a 12-gauge round that did the same thing, just bigger.
Less Lethal or Lethal?
There isn’t a ton of information on these cartridges out there. The forum post and one place selling a round for $25 dollars is about it. The literature calls them lethal, but other places refer to them as less lethal.
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To be fair, anything fired from a gun can be lethal. This included bean bag rounds. MBAssociates called them lethal, but I wonder how lethal. If they hit the toros, are they likely to penetrate deep enough to reach something vital and shut an attacker down? Or are they lethal if you happen to hit someone in the head at close range?
Where does the lethality lie when it comes to practical use? What I would like to know is whether they are reliably lethal. I have a hard time believing they would be. The round opening up would drop the speed quickly, which is the point.
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Without a gel test, I would have to say they probably aren’t all that effective. However, in the 1970s, when these were released, there was a huge focus on skyjackings. They were becoming a threat, and while not common, there seemed to be a spate of them in the 1970s.
There was a short period when companies produced a ton of different low-penetration cartridges designed for use inside planes. They were supposed to prevent penetration through threats and through the fuselage. The Short Stop seems to be in this same genre, but was advertised to a variety of shooters, not just Air Marshals.
Did Short Stop Succeed?
In the 1970s, the Short Stop rounds cost up to $1.84 a round. That’s 1970 money. MBAssociates sold cartridges in both 50-round boxes and six-round bandoliers. Buying six rounds at $1.84 a round was a little more tolerable than 50 rounds at 1.70 a round. Just to make sure we have a good frame of reference, $1.84 in 1971 is $16.85 today.
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Per round.
Price aside, I have a hard time believing the rounds were sufficiently lethal. They could kill, but did they do that reliably? A bag full of shot that is 1 inch wide doesn’t seem all that effective for stopping a threat. I’m sure it hurts, but I’m betting the regular ammo of the day was more effective.
Short Stop is an interesting side note in the world of defensive ammo, but we only had a short stop with the ammunition.
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