I will make one simple post to address this. I knew at some point this would be an issue. I received a link to this post last night and knew after receiving it, it would not be long before it hit Facebook or a forum.
What FX has branded as a "hybrid" slug is not new to airguns and when I first started in 2015 I made my slugs in the same way however I was making big bore slugs in the very beginning and then moved into small bore slugs towards the end of 2015. I made these slugs using a two step process where you make the hollow point with no nose formed, only straight walled. Then in a second die operation you close the nose inward into the shape of the final slug. This is what makes the larger cavity in the middle and then shaped like the final slug in the second die. This process of making a hollow point is what makes it a "hybrid", not the base. I had different bases, flat, cup, hollow base. The base is no issue to make, they can be changed out in two minutes to make a different base shape. What make it hard to make is the hollow point.
Michael was also making slugs like this back in 2014 in 25 caliber only. Not that it matters but I made these type of slugs in 177, 22, 30 and in big bores before Mike had equipment to make other calibers. However, Mike made them in 25 caliber before I made them in any caliber. We both bought dies from Corbin who already had this process. Neither one of us invented this process. When you call Corbin and ask to make hollow points he will ask you if you want to make them with a point forming die after bleeding off the lead *two dies) or if you want to make a one step synchronized pin hollow point (one die).
Advantages to both. A two step is harder to produce because it takes two steps. It has an advantage that you can make a slug the same length but have that slug lighter. This does reduce the BC compared to the same slug that is not hollowed out. The advantage of the synchronized hollow point pin is that you can make the HP in one die, so much quicker to produce. However the tooling is much more expensive and delicate.
Since back in 2016 I was making these by hand I chose to convert my slugs all to the single step HP so I could bring my price point down. This meant I gave up making the hybrid style slugs I was making to go with a slug that would reduce costs. I am a business man on top of being a shooter and I made the gamble that people would buy more slugs if they were cheaper. I believe I made the right decision at the time.
In regards to a patent claim, that is never going happen. The process in which we use to make hybrid slug is something that has been around for decades and was not invented by Mike or me. We both learned about this process because Dave Corbin taught us. I don't think even Dave is the founder of this process. This is how jacket hollow points are made. This is old technology being used in air guns. It is only new to most airgunners who don't realize this is an industry standard way to make hollow points in the firearms world for jacket bullets.. Mike has been making them since 2014 and I made my first one in like January or February of 2015 in big bore slugs before I knew who Mike was. Both of us bought our tooling and learned to make them from Corbin.
As far a a patent claim, this comes from Mike and not FX. The process is not invented by any of us and has been commercially available for decades. As far a shape of the slug, this shape is standard off the shelf from Corbin with maybe some small tweak we all put on our slugs. In the United States you have one year from your first sale to apply for patent, if you do not apply you have lost your chance to get patent. Mike has been selling since 2014 and me since 2015 so neither us could qualify for patent if we wanted to. But neither of us invented this anyway so it does not matter. If you lie on your patent application and they grant a patent because you got it through, when you try to defend your patent and the defendant shows proof of previous sales more than one year of the application and or showing proof you sold the same or similar product prior to the application the lawsuit will be dropped and no patent protection will be granted.
I do not plan on any elaboration on the subject. I hope this clears up any rumors, I have already received many emails about it and thought I needed to address it before it got out of hand.
Bottom line is we should be happy FX has brought back this product and made it commercially available. They are a good slug design and have a place in the market but will also cost more because they are much harder and more expensive to produce. It is nice to have a variety of slugs to shoot and choose from and different price points to allow as many people as possible to get into slug shooting. Also keep in mind I stopped making hybrids because at the time I did it all by hand and did not have high speed equipment to make them. Looking forward to see what 2020 brings.
