[Buffman]

Got bored yesterday and had some spare time, so we picked up a pork shoulder and tried it on the mighty .45 ACP.
+P 230gr Federal HST. What's interesting to note is that we only got 9" of penetration out of it. Awesome expansion though, a just a tad over 1".

Here's a 4 layer khaki test with water jugs. Penetrated 3 full jugs and into the first side of the 4th.

We tried a barrier test, but were unable to find the bullet

For comparison here's a 50gr ballistic tip 5.7x28mm round. You can see it penetrated slightly more and made it into the water jug behind the pork shoulder when I tested it.

 

[Boris]

Got bored yesterday and had some spare time, so we picked up a pork shoulder and tried it on the mighty .45 ACP.
+P 230gr Federal HST. What's interesting to note is that we only got 9" of penetration out of it. Awesome expansion though, a just a tad over 1".

Here's a 4 layer khaki test with water jugs. Penetrated 3 full jugs and into the first side of the 4th.

We tried a barrier test, but were unable to find the bullet

For comparison here's a 50gr ballistic tip 5.7x28mm round. You can see it penetrated slightly more and made it into the water jug behind the pork shoulder when I tested it.

The HST expands fine at regular velocity and +P most likely hurts penetration with this round as it does the majority of projectiles. Also in flesh I learned a long time ago you get a range of penetration in flesh that will never duplicate the consistancy of gello. Fire that same round into an air filled lung and miss the ribs on the way in and penetration will be more than you get in gello. 100% normal.

 

[fredj338]

Yep, it is the problem w/ flesh vs homogenous gello. In all fairness, there are few people that would have 9" of muscle to penetrate. SOemthing to keep in mind. SOmething more realstic might be oh, some pork ribs, backed w/ water bags or gello blocks. Thanks for sharing, shooting stuff is fun & educational!

 

[Buffman]

^^ Yeah, I'd like to make some ballistic gel, but my first attempt at home made failed. I have used clay before, but at a similiar cost to the pork shoulder, I can feed my dogs with the pork shoulder for a couple weeks with treats

I do have some non +P 230gr HST, that I could try next.

 

[fredj338]

^^ Yeah, I'd like to make some ballistic gel, but my first attempt at home made failed. I have used clay before, but at a similiar cost to the pork shoulder, I can feed my dogs with the pork shoulder for a couple weeks with treats

I do have some non +P 230gr HST, that I could try next.

I did a exp for testing some buckshot. Pork ribs, qt bags of gello backed by a 1gal watter jug. Fun, not sure it proves much. Ballistic gell is such a PITA to make & use, wetpack is just easier or repeatable in the field plus takes on more shots.

 

[N.E. Tx.XD]

Thanks Buffman, for the time, effort, and the money you spent to perform this test. Would like to see more of this kind of thing done with other calibers and rounds.
Kinna puts all the proverbial prognostication to bed!

 

[Buffman]

The first one I did was a few years ago with the 28gr HP in 5.7. I however hit the bone dead center, and most of the damage went to that, but it was interesting to see how the core seperated from the jacket.

I plan to probably try 9mm next, or maybe 5.56