9mmP Halo-USM4 Trivia

#1

A year or two ago Liberty Ammunition came out their 50gr solid Halo load with the distinctive “Halo Point” box. This was another super-bullet load rated at 2000fps. Recently I noticed that they were offering what appeared to be an identical load, but now named USM4. When I asked around, I learned that Microsoft apparently filed a copyright suit against Liberty over the Halo logo. It seems that the Liberty box uses an identical copy of the Halo logo used by the microsoft game “HALO Nation”, a game of space warfare. the game has its own ammunition: http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Ammunition.

Attached are photos of both boxes and both cartridges. The Halo loads have “RWS 9mm Luger” headstamps and the USM4 loads have “9X19SRA4 DAG10BO851” headstamps, both nickel-plated cases. Most of the Halo loads had a dark finish inside the HP, but a few were silver inside. The USM4 loads also have a mix of bullets with dark and silver/Ni finish inside the HP.

I was surprised that Liberty used the Microsoft copyrighted name. They marked it as registered, and I wonder if they thought they had some sort of agreement with Microsoft.

Perhaps one of you know more of this story. If so please share it.

Cheers,
Lew

#2

Lew, Liberty Ammunition’s application for trademark “Halo Point” was filed on March 17, 2010, and later they claimed first used in commerce since May 8, 2011. No claim was made to any particular font, style, size, or color, but their boxes evidently have copied the one used by that game. Because of this issue, it seems they reached some sort of agreement with Microsoft because they voluntarily cancelled their trademark registration on Novermber 6, 2012. A viable option would have been choosing a different style, but for some reason they decided to go in a new direction.

#3

Lew, check the thread here where I mention this and found a really informative blog post by a guy who showed a video of a popular cable show which probably garnered much attention to the symbol infringement:
http://iaaforum.org/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11689

The “Civil Defense” 9mm box that I have looks like the .45 and .40 boxes shown, and the cartridges are exactly the same.

#4

Matt, Thanks for your post. I totally missed your previous post! The material you reference is very interesting.

I have never seen the 9mm Liberty Critical Defense load (Same name as the Hornady load!!!) with the silver box like the 45 & 40 S&W you picture. Does anyone have a photo of this box in 9mm?

Cheers,
Lew

#5

It’s “Civil Defense” Lew. Many of the ammo manufacturers making hollow points are putting the word “defense” in the title these days to be overly obvious to all the new gun owners who are new to ammo.

#6

Wonder where they got these DAG cases from. The HS clearly indicates that this case was made for an Action 4 bullet. And I have never seen a nickel - plated DAG A4 round.

#7

Was just at Cabelas yesterday and I saw the latest box style from Liberty Ammunition which I grabbed a couple of. I was also pleased to see that they finally have their own headstamp. The new box style is seen in the bottom left of the box photo:

#8

I noticed in a local shop today that Liberty ammo has released a .380 version of their most recent generation of “Civil Defense” ammo. The cases had JAG 380 headstamps (Liberty has used JAG brass on other calibers in the past couple years). Still only the 9mm seems to show their custom LIBERTY headstamp.

#9

As of this past month, Liberty Ammunition is offering their “Civil Defense” load in .38 special. It is the same plated copper frangible hollow point type of bullet. A link to Liberty’s listing for this caliber is below, but I would advise against purchasing it on their site if you are considering buying since some other retail websites are selling it for over $10 less.

http://store.libertyammo.com/civil-defense/civil-defense-38-special/

#10

Today I received Liberty Ammunition’s latest release in their “Civil Defense” line, the .357 mag caliber. The brass is Armscor’s new headstamp style of A USA . Like all of Liberty’s brass it is nickeled, and since Armscor does not nickel their brass (as far as I know), Liberty must be nickeling this brass before loading? I also received a box of .40S&W in the new box style they are currently using, and the brass was a mix of Starline, and JAG 11 headstamps.

libertyammohs_zps498ddc64.jpg731x331

#11

I noticed recently that Liberty has added 10mm to their Civil Defense line-up.

http://store.libertyammo.com/civil-defense/civil-defense-10mm-auto/

I also notice that they are billing themselves as “the world’s fastest handgun rounds”, although the venerable, albeit more expensive-per-rd Magsafe pistol ammo has loads in every caliber which either equal or outperform Liberty in terms of velocity, and the fragmenting damage achieved is similar.

#12

I just noticed on Liberty’s website that they have a 9mm headstamp different from the only one I had known previously. The one I have has thin letters and says 9x19mm +P, while the one shown in a segment of a product video there shows a fat letter version saying 9mm +P:

This would have to be from the same new/current style box version which they are selling, and means they have had a headstamp shift at some point in 2014, or early 2015.