The Brasstard » penetration expansion testing

Armor Beat-Down

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:25:28 +0000

I thought I’d share these pix with you from a recent trip to the public range. These are the 300 yard rifle gong’s after several seasons of hard pounding.

It’s amazing that hard armor plates can be defeated by soft lead given enough velocity and repetition.

In Review: .177″ Hunting Pellets

admin — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:20:11 +0000

In this post, we will take a look at three high-grade .177″ hunting pellets, and how they perform in wet mass. These include…

Beeman “Crow Magnum”
Gamo “Rocket”
Gamo “Red Fire”

The test gun was a Crosman 2100 Classic pump rifle, and the test medium was a single, water-soaked phone book.

The entry’s above were fired from a distance of 10 feet. The “Shooting Chrony” did not register the tiny projectiles at all. So, I cannot provide you with impact velocities. However, the Crosman 2100 Classic will generally push pellets to 700-750 FPS, depending on the design and weight of the projectile.

Midway through the book, the Red Fire and the Crow Magnum are showing signs of good expansion where the Rocket did not expand.

At the rear of the book, only the Gamo Rocket managed to fully penetrate. Above, you can see how the two Rocket rounds were stopped by the polyethylene backstop. The Red Fire and the Crow Magnum both penetrated through 2/3 of the book before coming to a rest. Since this particular book was a bit thinner than the standard ones I use, I have calculated the following estimates for ballistic gelatin penetration equivalents…

Gamo Red Fire = 4″- 5″ in ordinance gelatin
Beeman Crow Magnum = 4″- 5″ in ordinance gelatin
Gamo Rocket = 6″- 7″ in ordinance gelatin

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Recovered Projectiles

The Red Fire displayed excellent expansion, even at these modest velocities, and was recovered with an average diameter of 0.242″.

The Crow Magnum was the best performer when it comes to expansion with a recovered diameter of 0.251″.

The Rocket did not expand or deform at these velocities. However, the heavy weight of the pellet makes for fantastic penetration for quick kills on small game.

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Conclusion

All three of the pellet designs performed very well. The Red Fire and the Crow Magnum work great on a wide variety of small game, and deliver uniform expansion and energy transfer without over-penetrating. The Rocket is a great choice for slightly larger animals where more penetration is needed… I personally know an entire coop of deceased, over-fed feral pigeons that can attest to that.

Any of the three pellets ought to quickly drop game up to the size of a large crow (at reasonable distances) as long as you do your job as a marksman. Accuracy-wise, all of the pellets shot true through the rifled barrel of the 2100 Classic. The best groups came from the Crow Magnum, but not by much. All were well within the acceptable range of accuracy needed to hit small targets.

Happy Shootin’

The Brasstard

Rainier Plated Bullets: Do the hollow points expand?

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:35:08 +0000

If you are involved in reloading, you may have heard about companies like Rainier and Berry’s who produce value-priced, copper-plated bullets. In this article, we will take a look at the .40 caliber Rainier plated hollow point to see how it performs in wet mass…

The test gun is a Glock 20 (Gen III) with a 4.6″ Lone Wolf .40 conversion barrel.

The load is .40 S&W – 165 grain 0.401″ Rainier Plated Hollow Point over 4.9 grain of TiteGroup and a CCI #500 primer. The OAL is 1.126″.

The chronograph velocity is averaging right around 1000 FPS at 10 ft.

The media is a pair of soaked phone books with additional backing of one dry book to arrest the bullet.

The entry wound of the Rainier was pretty aggressive. (above)

Tissue disruption at the back of the first book is significant. (above)

Here it is coming into the second book. (above)

Here is the exit wound coming out of the second book. It was a good 4″ wide from end-to-end. The bullet expanded to 0.511″ and retained 164.9 grain of it’s original mass.

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UPDATE: Recently Added 10mm Test

The load is 10mm Auto – 165 grain 0.401″ Rainier Plated Hollow Point over 13.5 grain of Accurate #9 and a Winchester Large Pistol (WLP) primer. The OAL is 1.250″.

Chronograph velocity is averaging around 1225 fps.

The bullet expanded to 0.695″, but only retained 139 grain of it’s original weight. The higher velocity of the 10mm load caused rapid expansion as well as some fragmentation and shedding of the “petals”. Nonetheless, it created a hefty wound channel that would likely ruin a bad guy’s day. The bullet penetrated to the second half of the second phone book, or at least 12″-15″ of ordinance gelatin. Despite the higher velocity, the plating did not fail and remained firmly bonded to the base and sidewalls after impact.

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Conclusion:

Rainier plated bullets are a healthy compromise between the dirtier cast lead bullets, and the more expensive jacket hollow points. They keep your barrel free of lead fouling, they reduce toxic lead vapors in your shooting area, and they are very affordable. Now, these would probably not be my first choice for defensive loads mainly due to the fact that you can get better performance from jacketed designs (your life is worth the extra $$$). However, they did expand well, they retained most of their mass, the plating remained intact at reasonable velocities, and they are reliable and accurate. So, from a theoretical standpoint, I suppose they would work just fine for self defense if that is all you have available. Lord knows I wouldn’t want to get shot by one.

Caution:

Plated bullets are not designed to withstand excessive pressures/velocities. Therefore, if you plan on using them for faster cartridges such as .357 Sig, 10mm Auto, .357/.44 Magnum, etc… make sure you use reduced loads. There is little consensus on what the exact threshold of plating failure is, but I have had good results by reducing jacketed bullet max-load data by 7-10%.

For more info, go to http://www.rainierballistics.com/

Happy Shootin’

The Brasstard

In Review: Gamo Rocket Pellets

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:42:37 +0000

The Gamo Rocket pellet is likely to impress even the most demanding hunter. The unique design of the BB-integrated hollow point, and the sheer down-range power of the Rocket makes for a very useful and diverse pellet.

This relatively heavy .177 caliber (4.5 mm) 9.6 grain projectile is designed to expand by forcing the BB into the hollow cavity on impact. The added weight makes for a significant increase in retained energy at longer distances, and makes it less susceptible to excessive effects of crosswinds.

I tested this ammo in a Crosman 2100 Classic, which only produces about 700 fps at the muzzle. Nonetheless, it produced some amazing real-world results on small game in comparison to other hunting pellets. The first thing I noticed is that it is very accurate, and 25-yard rested groups were about 1.5″ with open sights. The second thing I noticed is that the Gamo Rocket packs a mean punch.

Some time ago, I was suffering from a pigeon infestation in my carport. I needed a humane way of eliminating the pests quickly without using poisons or traps. After taking the first few birds with standard all-lead pellets, I realized the need for more punch as they all required multiple hits before the bird expired. This is when I decided to try a batch of Gamo Rocket pellets on the fat little squatters. Every single subsequent bird expired quickly with only one shot using the Rocket pellets… and I was taking them from a considerable distance of 15-30 yards. I could see and hear the difference immediately… the sound was a solid thud, and the lights go out… one painless ticket to pigeon heaven.

I also tested these on some wet phone books to see how they expand and penetrate. Unfortunately, the 700 fps muzzle velocity of the 2100 Classic is not enough to fully expand the Rocket. I am betting that another 200 fps would do the trick as several of the pellets began to show signs of preliminary expansion. Penetration was very good, with all rounds passing at least half of a phone book. This equates to about 5″-6″ in ballistic gelatin.

Overall, the Gamo Rocket pellet is an excellent choice for any small game hunting or pest control application.

Gamo Rocket Official Site

Happy Hunting! The Brasstard

In Review: .22 Long Rifle Performance

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:28:52 +0000

In this post, we will take a look at what is perhaps the most common caliber on Earth, the rimfire .22 Long Rifle. I wanted to test a few CCI “premium” loads, as well as one of my preferred “bulk pack” loads. We’re also going to see how they compare in rifle vs pistol velocities…

From Left to Right…

Winchester 333/555 – 36g Hollow Point
CCI MiniMag – 36g Hollow Point
CCI Velocitor – 40g Hollow Point
CCI Stinger – 32g Hollow Point

The test medium was a single water-soaked phone book, and the range was 5 yards. The elevation was 5400ft, and the temp was an even 0 C. The test guns were the Sig P226 .22 Classic…

… and the Savage MK II…

I started off with one phone book to see how the tissue damage varies from round-to-round; from pistol to rifle. I fired one of each cartridge through the pistol and one of each through the rifle for eight total shots. On entry…

The Stinger was moving so fast out of the rifle that it expanded instantly on contact. Its wound channel was immense in the first half of the phone book, after which it had lost much of its juice and sputtered out the back. This is essentially a “varmint grenade”, with massive expansion in the first 3″-4″ of the wound channel.

How about on the exit…

The results were not as I had expected. I thought the rifle exits would be much bigger than the pistol exits. However, I believe that this phenomenon is the result of the rifle rounds expanding so rapidly that most of the tissue damage happened in the front half of the book, after which the majority of their energy was diffused. The pistol rounds on the other hand seemed to expand more slowly, causing the wound channel to peak out in the rear half of the book.

I then decided to fire eight more rounds (four each in pistol and rifle) into multiple phone books so I could recover some bullets, and see how they penetrate.

Recovered Bullets: Pistol (Left) and Rifle (Right)

Winchester 333/555

These rounds expanded well… perhaps a bit too well. As you can see, they had the tendency to shed mass from the expanded nose cone, particularly at rifle velocities. Recovered weight was 32.2 grains for the pistol, and 24.9 grains for the rifle. Recovered diameter was .335″ for the pistol, and .254″ for the rifle. The pistol round was recovered half way through the 2nd book, or about +12″ of calibrated gelatin. The rifle round was recovered at the first quarter of the second book, or about +10″ of actual penetration. These are accurate cartridges that run well in a wide variety of guns, and they are hot enough to cycle even the most finicky autos. This is great ammo for all-around use or cheap range fodder.

CCI MiniMag

A lot of people love this load from CCI, and that love is certainly justified. These rounds perform very well through a wide range of velocities. They expand nicely from a pistol (left), and still manage to hold together well from a rifle (right). Recovered weight was 36.3 grains for the pistol, and 36.2 grains for the rifle. Recovered diameter was .344″ for the pistol, and .336″ for the rifle. Both rounds were recovered roughly half way through the 2nd book, or about +12″ of calibrated gelatin. These are accurate, consistent, and hard hitting rounds that deserve their noble reputation.

CCI Velocitor

This is a somewhat newer load from CCI, and it shows some great potential. Just don’t expect consistent expansion from a pistol. The bullet cavity is wide but shallow, and doesn’t appear to be conducive to reduced-velocity expansion. Recovered weight was 39.8 grains for the pistol, and 39.7 grains for the rifle. Recovered diameter was .22″ for the pistol, and .334″ for the rifle. The pistol round was recovered at the far back of the 2nd book, or about +16″ of calibrated gelatin. The rifle round was recovered half way through the second book, or about ~12″ of actual penetration.

CCI Stinger

This little 32g projectile is the fastest and most energetic of the bunch. As you can see, the bullet shows severe deformation coming from the Savage MK II (right). Amazingly, the largest exit wound we saw above was actually not coming from the rifle. It was a Stinger coming from the pistol. Again, this is likely due to extremely rapid deformation at rifle velocities, causing a large but shallow wound. On the other hand, the pistol’s reduced velocity must have hit a sweet spot of expansion in the rear of the book, resulting in the impressive exit.

Recovered weight of the Stinger was 31.6 grains for the pistol, and 18.4 grains for the rifle. Recovered diameter was a generous .370″ for the pistol, and .365″ for the rifle. The pistol round was recovered a quarter of the way through the 2nd book, or about +10″ of calibrated gelatin. The rifle round was recovered in the first few pages of book two, or about +8″ of actual penetration.

A little side note on the Stinger…

I have hunted various small game with these rounds over the years, and I must warn you… if you plan to eat the animal and/or collect and save the pelt, don’t use Stingers (especially inside of 10-15 yards). Even with a pistol, they will virtually destroy small animals. These are great for vermin & pest control against things like rats, pigeons, crows, or feral pets who’s carcasses are of no use. Just remember, the fact that you get a “clean” kill with them does not in any way reflect actual cleanliness.

After testing these four loads, I would have no reservations in recommending any of them. Depending on your intended purpose, you can fill most of your needs between these four choices. For general small game hunting & target practice use, the MiniMag or the 333/555 is a great choice. For serious pest control & extermination use, the Stinger is king. And, if you are limited to using a .22 for defensive purposes, the Velocitor gives you about the most you can squeeze out of this cartridge.

In the end, we have to question our assumptions that rifles are somehow prone to penetrate more than pistols. As we witnessed here, it is not always the case… especially with hollow point ammo in wet mass. In every case in this test, the slower pistol round out-penetrated the faster rifle round. When it comes to HP .22’s, fast bullets stop fast, and slow bullets stop slow.

Chronograph Velocity Results 3-Shot Average @ 10-Feet:

Winchester 333/555 – Pistol=1028 fps/84 fpe… Rifle=1222 fps/119 fpe
CCI MiniMag – Pistol=1017 fps/83 fpe… Rifle=1243 fps/124 fpe
CCI Velocitor – Pistol=1067 fps/101 fpe… Rifle=1357 fps/164 fpe
CCI Stinger – Pistol=1185 fps/100 fpe… Rifle=1570 fps/175 fpe

Happy shootin’…

The Brasstard

In Review: 10mm Auto From DoubleTap

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:12:44 +0000

As a huge fan of the 10mm Auto cartridge, it was only natural for me to give the little beast some server space here at Brasstard.com. DoubleTap Ammo has been one of few ammo factories who load the 10mm up to it’s full potential. In this post, we will take a look at 3 of their full-power 10mm loadings to see how they hold up.

Here they are in all of their glory…

Left) DoubleTap 10mm Auto – 200g Controlled Expansion/Hornady XTP-JHP
Center) DoubleTap 10mm Auto – 165g Remington Golden Saber-JHP
Right) DoubleTap 10mm Auto – 200g FMJ-FP

All 3 rounds gave me reasonably good accuracy. However, they are not designed to provide match-grade accuracy. If you want match ammo, you have to sacrifice some velocity. These loads are a bit on the warm side, and are designed to hit hard as opposed to making overlapping holes on paper at 50 yards.

Here is the test gun (my backcountry defensive weapon of choice), the venerable Glock model 20 (Gen 3). This one is fortified with a 22lb recoil spring, stainless steel guide rod, and night sights. The rest is bone-stock Glock…

The test medium was water-soaked phone books, the elevation was 5400 ft, and the temp was a balmy 1 degree Celsius. The first rounds I tested were the Golden Saber and the XTP. I wanted to see what they would do to a single book at nearly point-blank range. Here are the results from firing about 5 feet away…

Believe it or not, the image above is actually the entry wound of the Golden Saber at extremely close range. And here is the exit shown below…

The exit wound looks like it was made by 2 separate projectiles… that is sort of what happened. It appears that the Golden Saber literally shattered on impact with the wet mass. There was likely a core-jacket separation which caused the two to exit at different points in the rear. The tissue damage spread to about 5″ from top to bottom… straight up nasty.

Now lets take a look at what the 200g Hornady XTP does to a single phone book inside of 5 feet…

As you can see, the entry wound is significantly more conservative than the Golden Saber was. This is likely due to the fact that this bullet is much slower and heavier. It also has a much less aggressive cavity in the tip which slows expansion, hence the term “controlled expansion”. Despite the conservative entry wound, the exit wound was outrageous…

The XTP damage dwarfs even the respectable Golden Saber load. The exit wound from the XTP at close range disrupted a diameter of nearly 8″ of tissue… truly awesome performance. This is what you might expect from a hot loaded .357 Magnum round out of a long-barrel revolver.

Since both loads easily passed through one book, I didn’t bother to test the FMJ-FP here. Those would have cut through like it wasn’t even there. Next, I placed 2 books back to back to see what happens. Here are the results when shooting from a more reasonable range of 7 yards…

The entry wounds above indicate that the Golden Saber seems to have less of a tendency to explode on impact if you give it a little bit of distance from the muzzle. At this range, they only lose around 30 fps, but I guess it must make a difference.

Here they are coming out of the back of the first book.

Notice the severe necrosis and shock ripples around the wound channels… this means we are beginning to see signs of hydrostatic shock. Both JHP rounds are showing significant deformation by this point. Remember, one phone book represents between 8″-10″ in ballistic gelatin. The Golden Saber has again suffered a core-jacket separation resulting in two distinct wound channels. The XTP is holding up like a champ, showing severe tissue damage… and of course the FMJ-FP is just getting warmed up by this point.

Here they are coming out the back of the second phone book…

Apparently, the Golden Saber’s jacket did not exit, and was found lodged in the middle of the second book. Only the bullet core made it through. The XTP on the other hand created a hole so large, that it consumed/engulfed the entire wound channel of the FMJ-FP. Though this particular bullet was not recovered, it shows signs of good structural integrity. The XTP performed how it is supposed to… giving us deep penetration and great expansion. Clearing two phone books is equal to over 16″ in ballistic gelatin.

As for the 200g FMJ-FP, it just plowed right through those two books like a pack of hyenas through a half-eaten zebra carcass. I therefore decided to place four phone books back-to-back, assuming that there was no way it would make it through all of them. Well guess what?… I was wrong. I fired two rounds through four fresh phone books at 7 yards, and both rounds fully penetrated and were not recovered. I would have then tried five books, but by this point I had run out of fresh wet phone books. This means the FMJ-FP load will clear at least 32″-40″ in ballistic gel and still keep on going.

Here are the exit wounds on the back of the fourth book…

The one on the left appears to have tumbled a bit, creating a longer wound channel and knocking the last phone book down as it passed through. These bullets make a great load for the woods where deep penetration is the key to a quick stop with a pistol.

I then decided to fire some JHP’s at the four book’s to see how deep they go, and to recover some expanded bullets. Here are the results…

The XTP held together nicely, retaining an average of 197.33 grains and expanding to an average diameter of 17.61 mm (0.69″)… more than a 70% diameter increase! All rounds were discovered in the beginning of the third book, equating 18″+ of penetration in gelatin. These would make perfect hunting rounds for deer and wild hogs.

Unfortunately, the Golden Saber did not fare so well. Every single recovered bullet had shed its jacket. I have had great results with the Golden Saber bullet design in lower-velocity calibers like 9mm/38+p/40SW/45ACP. However, it consistently failed to hold together in this platform. The average recovered bullet weight was only 126 grains, and the average recovered diameter was 21.27 mm (0.83″) for the jacket and a mere 13.45 mm (0.53″) for the core. The jackets were discovered in the rear half of the second book, and the cores were discovered in the first quarter of the third book. This equates to 14″-18″+ of penetration in calibrated ordinance gelatin.

Despite the core-jacket separations, the Golden Saber load makes a nasty wound channel and doesn’t excessively penetrate. Keep in mind that wet paper is more dense than human body mass, and may be harder on bullets as a result. Therefore, I wouldn’t discredit it as a viable defensive load against 2-legged predators. Just don’t expect it to work miracles through something like an automobile windshield. Perhaps DoubleTap might consider using the newer, bonded Golden Sabers for this load in the future.

Chronograph Velocity Results 5-shot Average @ 10 Feet

Golden Saber - 1307 fps / 626 fpe
XTP - 1112 fps / 549 fpe
FMJ-FP - 1101 fps / 538 fpe

As you can see, these loads failed to achieve the firm’s advertised velocities, and should be at least 100 fps faster across the board. Despite this, they still performed nicely against the wet mass.

Is it just an over-priced .40 S&W?

Some folks claim that the 10mm Auto is just an overpriced version of its offspring, the .40 S&W. I guess if you look at modern factory ammo from the big names, they may be right in making this claim. After all, much of the 10mm factory ammo is loaded down to virtual .40 levels; with 200g loads running at around ~1000 fps. Needless to say, this is not “real” 10mm Auto folks. It is watered-down, liability-resistant, .40 S&W loaded into a 10mm Auto case, and stamped with a bloated price tag. The “real” loads, the ones that are closer to original Norma specs, are elevated to a much higher performance class.

This is a similar test using a Glock model 23, and firing a .40 S&W 155g bonded Winchester Ranger JHP… a round considered by many to be one of the better factory loads on the market. The exit wound was 3″ end-to-end…

Nothing against the .40… its a great all-around defensive cartridge, and a well-balanced compromise between power and shoot-ability. But as you can see, it is not quite the same beast.

The diagnosis: 10mm Auto kicks some serious butt when using full-power loads. Plus, a simple barrel swap allows you to fire cheaper .40 S&W out of your Glock. So I ask the nay-sayers, whats not to like?

Be safe out there, and happy shooting.

The Brasstard

In Review: .38 Special Defensive Ammo Testing

admin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:53:17 +0000

Here is a report on the testing of 4 different types of defense-grade ammo for the .38 Special. From left to right, the Remington 125g Golden Saber +P, the Buffalo Bore 158g LSWC-HP, the Buffalo Bore 150g Wadcutter, and the S&B 158g JSP. I fired them all from a S&W model 637-2 AirWeight 5-shot revolver with a 1 7/8″ barrel and a 0.005″ B/C gap…

The range was 7 yards and the test medium was 3 wet phone books back to back…

The first cartridge was a Remington 125g Golden Saber +P. This ammo performed well, though total expansion occurred only about half the time. The other half of the time the rounds deformed into nasty looking blobs with sharp petals sticking out randomly on the sides. Even the ones that didn’t expand completely still looked like they would do the job. The rounds all fully penetrated one phone book and were found in the middle of the second book. This equates to between 12″-15″ of actual penetration, which is about perfect for CCW in public.

Accuracy with this load is very good, and all rounds fired on first strike without any failures. One thing I noticed after firing is that I had a cracked case on one of the spent rounds… from the case mouth about half way down the case wall. This is pretty rare for new brass in a revolver, but I have been told that Remington brass is not the best. It looks like the heat treatment process was not done correctly and the brass became brittle. So, if you reload, you may want to toss out these cases after use. Aside from that minor issue, I would have no problems with carrying this ammo for daily defensive use.

The next cartridge I tested is the Buffalo Bore 158g Soft-Cast Lead Semi-Wadcutter Hollow Point “LSWC-HP” (20C/20). This stuff is also offered in a +P loading, but honestly the standard load is plenty of bang for me. I never really cared for the heavy recoil of the +P version in my little 15oz. J-Frame, but this standard pressure load is just about a perfect balance between power and shoot-ability.

As you can see, expansion was good with the occasional shedding of the mushroomed nose mass. Penetration was deep too; I found most of these in the rear of the second phone book… in other words between 15″-18″ of actual penetration. Accuracy was quite good overall. Just keep in mind that any soft lead bullet generates significant lead fouling in the barrel. If you can afford to shoot a lot of these these at a range session, make sure you bring your cleaning kit… after 20 rounds of these, my barrel was thoroughly gunked. Buffalo Bore ammo is pretty expensive, and I still debate with my wallet over whether or not it is worth the cost. But it does work, and it works well.

The third cartridge in today’s lineup is another hard-hitter from Buffalo Bore, the 150g Hard Cast Wadcutter (20D/20). I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of using wadcutters for self-defense until I saw these in action. They are loaded to similar velocities as the cartridge above, but having the solid, wide flat face makes them hit with a nasty slap. They created entry wounds that could rival some exit wounds. They also dug deep… very deep; most of these were found in the first half of the third phone book. that means 20″-25″ of actual penetration!

This hard cast load from Buffalo Bore did not deform on impact at all, they were highly accurate, totally reliable, and they hit like a heavy, blunt object. I now use these almost exclusively in my daily carry revolver. Also, if you lack a good mountain gun for the woods, these would make a decent alternative (in all but the large bear territories)… at least until you get your hands on a more capable caliber.

The final load I tested in this lineup is an import from Sellier & Bellot. The 158g Jacketed Soft-Point (SB31102) drew my interest because I always wondered if a heavy JSP would deform from a snubby .38. Being a rabid .357 Magnum fan, I have seen the carnage that this bullet configuration can reap upon unsuspecting game. However, we are talking about a standard pressure .38 Special in a sub-2″ barrel here, not a 6″ GP100 stoked with Magnums. Well, as you can see below they did not deform much, if at all.

The velocity not nearly enough to deform the tip, therefor the rounds penetrated pretty deep; they easily passed through the first book and were found in the back of the 2nd book, some even making it to the first few pages of the 3rd book… or about 18″-22″ of actual penetration.

Though the S&B’s are not my first choice for .38 self-defense loads, they are also not my last. I like to use them in my extra speed-loaders as a cost effective alternative to higher-priced ammo. They function flawlessly, shoot consistently, toss a heavy chunk of lead, and are quite accurate… that’s good enough for me. Lets not forget to mention that they only cost about 1/3 the price of “premium” defensive ammo. Whats not to like?

Chronograph Velocity Results 5-shot Average @ 10 Feet

Buffalo Bore 158g LSWC-HP – 821 fps / 236 fpe
Buffalo Bore 150g HC-WC – 870 fps / 252 fpe
Golden Saber 125g +P JHP – 912 fps /231 fpe
S&B 158g JSP – 753 fps / 199 fpe

(see “Phone Book Ballistics” for info on penetration calculations)

In Review: 12ga 00 Buck vs. #4 Buck vs. Birdshot

admin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:01:00 +0000

Anyone that has ever ventured into the shotgun section of an internet gun forum has likely witness a heated argument over various defensive loads. Most folks are of the school of thought that will accept nothing less than 00 buckshot and/or slugs. A few others feel that #1-#4 buck better suits their needs, perhaps for liability/safety reasons, living in an apartment or for some other over-penetration concerns. Then there is another small group of passionate individuals that insist on the use of game loads such as birdshot for defensive use.

Well, we all know that any information acquired on the internet should be taken with a pretty hefty pinch of salt. Better yet, we can find out for ourselves what works and what does not.

Today I tested 3 loads.
1) Sellier & Bellot 2.75” 00 Buckshot 9-pellet
2) Sellier & Bellot 2.75” #4 Buckshot 21-pellet
3) Winchester Universal 2.75” #8 Birdshot

The test gun is a Remington 870 Express with an 18.5” cylinder bore (no choke) barrel. The test medium was a single, water-soaked phonebook (see the page “Phone Book Ballistics”). We fired all shots at 7 yards.
First, lets look at the 00 buck… on the entry…

… and on the exit, it looks like all of the pellets fully penetrated the book without hesitation. They sure made a mess of mister ambulance chaser.

Next, lets look at the #4 buckshot… on entry…

… and on the exit, it looks like only a couple of pellets made it all of the way through. Most of them were stopped in the far back of the phone book. Not the best penetration, but I still consider this adequate considering that there are 21 of the darn things making 7”-9” puncture wounds in your enemy all at the same time. Many of these will still reach the vital areas needed to stop the attack.

And now, lets see what the #8 birdshot did to it… on entry…

… notice how I didn’t post an image of the exit side? Though the birdshot made a really ugly entry wound, not one single pellet made it through the book. Actually, the deepest pellets were found less than half way through… equating to maybe 4”-5” of total penetration. And, this is at only 7 yards. What do you think will happen at 15 yards? Unless your goal is to merely disfigure your attacker, make them mad at you for injuring them, or the attacker is just a rabid squirrel, this is not useful defensive ammo in my humble opinion.

When choosing your defensive shotgun ammo, remember that you can’t rely on pain infliction or intimidation alone to stop an attack. In many cases, the attacker has lost the capacity for rational thought. They may be juiced up on drugs, adrenaline, psychotic delusions, or all of the above. In my limited knowledge of trauma medicine, only two things stop attackers reliably.

1) Blood loss, which can take anywhere from seconds to minutes to hours, and
2) Disrupting the central nervous system, which entails brain/spinal trauma.

These are the only things that guarantee the attacker will stop. Other factors in so-called “stopping power” such as energy transfer, shock, pain, fear, broken bones, severed limbs, etc… may also stop an attacker. However, they do not do so with any level of consistency. So please, try to choose ammo that is designed for the animal you are using it on… and save the birdshot for the birds.

In Review: 7.62 x 39 Ammo – Foreign vs Domestic

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:52:02 +0000

Here is a comparison I did with two types of expanding/deforming x39 ammo. Both rounds were fired through an M70 Century Yugo AK with a 16.25″ barrel. The test medium was a pair of water-soaked phone books (see “Phone Book Ballistics”), and the range was 10 yards.

The small hole on the right was created by a cartridge from DoubleTap Ammo which they call “7.62×39 123gr. Rifle Defense”. It is an American made, brass-cased load using what appears to be a Hornady .308 polymer-tipped bullet. The problem with most US-made x39 ammo is that a .308 bullet is not designed specifically for use in an AK/SKS, which has a .310+ bore. Though you can get away with using a .308, it can result in lost pressure and velocity… could be the reason for the poor expansion. Though I really love many of the other loadings offered by DoubleTap Ammo, this is not one that I can recommend… especially at the immense $1.20/round price range.

The big hole on the left was dug out by a Russian made cartridge from Brown Bear (Barnaul). It is a 125g Jacketed Soft Point bullet in a steel, poly-coated case. This is factory new, good quality non-corrosive ammo… not the old corrosive surplus stuff from who-knows-when. I also had the chance to chrono some of this stuff at the range. It averaged just a hair over 2,400 fps in my M70, and about 1,600 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle, which is just about perfect for a bullet of this weight. At 300 yards, it still packs more punch than my hottest 10mm Auto loads at the muzzle of my Glock 20. This is great ammo for the price… currently about $225/1000 rounds on the internet.

Both loads fed, fired and ejected flawlessly. However, I am leaning heavily towards the Brown Bear based on better performance at about 1/5 the price. Maybe we can get Mike at DoubleTap to start loading some high-grade x39 with .310’s in the future… I bet they will rock.

In Review: Winchester Super-X 12 Gauge Slugs

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:54:06 +0000

These are some Winchester Super-X 12 gauge 2.75″ 1 oz. rifled soft lead HP slugs that I picked up at Wal-Mart at about $3/5-pack. I have to admit, they are loaded hot for only being a 2.75″ case. They kick pretty hard, move quite fast (listed at 1600 fps), and hit like a small meteor. I shot one of them through this pair of water-soaked phone books at about 10 yards. The expansion was severe on the exit side… heck, even the entry wound had shock ripples around it. So far, I have run about 30 of these slugs through my gun. The rounds all fed, fired and ejected nicely in my 18.5″ 870 Express. I would not hesitate to use them for home defense or hunting applications. Great stuff at a great price.