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bullsi1911
Posts: 12,419 Senior Member
More Gel Tests
bullsi1911
Posts: 12,419 Senior Member
I had like 5 minutes to shoot a couple rounds into the Clear Ballistics gel block to test some .38 special factory and handloads and one .44Mag handloads.
Everything was shot into bare gel, and no, I did not set up the chrono.
.38Spl: Everything run from aaS&W model 10 with a 4” barrel.
First up was the Academy “Monarch” brand 158Gr SJHP.
No pics in gel- it did not expand, penetrated 16”, and kept going.
Next up was the Hornady “American Gunner” 125Gr XTP:
14” of penetration and almost zero expansion. I was a little disappointed by this one.
Next, we get into some goofy handloads. First up is a Matt’s bullets 125Gr Spire Point Gas Check (loaded with 4 Gr Trailboss) that is supposed to be a deep penetrator. Unfortunately, my son took this shot, and shot into the same hole and hit one of the previous shots. Even with it plowing through another bullet it went about 9” and held up very well:
Next is the one I REALLY wanted to play with. It is a stack of two Matt’s 75grain wadcutters on top of 4 grains of Trailboss.
From what I could tell, the two slugs had almost no spread to them at the 5 yards from muzzle to block. It looks like they collided in impact, and that caused them to tumble off on 2 different wound tracks that went 14” deep and ended up 2.5” apart from each other.
The pics in the block did not turn out well, because it was dark and in a buddy’s kitchen. I’ll see if I can clean them up and post em later.
But the real winner was the .44Mag load. This is using the Matt’s HBWC loaded upside down over 8.5Grains of Trailboss. Fired from the 4” Redhawk, it had almost zero recoil penetrated 10” and expanded to .818” in diameter
Once I remelt the block, the duplex load and the .44 will get a few more runs in gel to see if the results are consistent
BTW, shooting gel is fun. If you are interested in all with terminal ballistics, you should get a chunk to play with.
Everything was shot into bare gel, and no, I did not set up the chrono.
.38Spl: Everything run from aaS&W model 10 with a 4” barrel.
First up was the Academy “Monarch” brand 158Gr SJHP.
No pics in gel- it did not expand, penetrated 16”, and kept going.
Next up was the Hornady “American Gunner” 125Gr XTP:
14” of penetration and almost zero expansion. I was a little disappointed by this one.
Next, we get into some goofy handloads. First up is a Matt’s bullets 125Gr Spire Point Gas Check (loaded with 4 Gr Trailboss) that is supposed to be a deep penetrator. Unfortunately, my son took this shot, and shot into the same hole and hit one of the previous shots. Even with it plowing through another bullet it went about 9” and held up very well:
Next is the one I REALLY wanted to play with. It is a stack of two Matt’s 75grain wadcutters on top of 4 grains of Trailboss.
From what I could tell, the two slugs had almost no spread to them at the 5 yards from muzzle to block. It looks like they collided in impact, and that caused them to tumble off on 2 different wound tracks that went 14” deep and ended up 2.5” apart from each other.
The pics in the block did not turn out well, because it was dark and in a buddy’s kitchen. I’ll see if I can clean them up and post em later.
But the real winner was the .44Mag load. This is using the Matt’s HBWC loaded upside down over 8.5Grains of Trailboss. Fired from the 4” Redhawk, it had almost zero recoil penetrated 10” and expanded to .818” in diameter
Once I remelt the block, the duplex load and the .44 will get a few more runs in gel to see if the results are consistent
BTW, shooting gel is fun. If you are interested in all with terminal ballistics, you should get a chunk to play with.
To make something simple is a thousand times more difficult than to make something complex.
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
Replies
I'd load 125gr win silver tips or speer gold dots in +p if I wanted factory loaded 38spl hps for sd..
The XTP looks pretty good though to my eyes.
How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again! -- Mark Twain
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
And really curious as to the continued testing of the dual projectile.
How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again! -- Mark Twain
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
You can see the .44 load definitely made a HUGE cavity, went to 10” then sprung back to about 7.5” as the block rebounded. You can also see where the .38 SPGC collided with the .38 HBWC and went on a different track.
BTW, I took the .38 Dual WC load to the range and fired it at 7 yards”
Hit really close to POA, and minimal spread of the projectiles.
Also, the .44HBWC, I ran 6 of them through the redhawk offhand at 7 yards:
6 shots in 2 holes. And it was right at POA. I am pretty sure this will be my field load for my Redhawk. It’s just an easy to shoot, accurate and impressive load.
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again! -- Mark Twain
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
The XTP load is HANDILY making FBI minimum penetration without needing a +P pressure tag, and it's doing it with a nice flat hammer face and a couple of diameter-increasing spurs. Makes me very curious to see how it would do in a snubbie.
10" of penetration on a .44? .380 HP's will stop at about that depth, which is why I recommend flat point FMJ's for that round. You have a nice jackrabbit/coyote/jug-splatting play load there. Like I keep telling Zee, flip that bullet around the right way and hit with the flat.
Having punched straight through 18" gel blocks with what amounted to the 600fps British .38S&W 200 grain round nose Webley load, I would have guessed that the spire point would have pencilled through. My guess is that you are REALLY low on velocity and the bullet is probably tumbling, causing it to bleed off its energy faster.
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again! -- Mark Twain
We’d have more data to compare gel to flesh.
How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again! -- Mark Twain
When I did get outside to shoot in the last few months, it was between hunts. Slap the block of gel on the table, shoot a couple rounds, throw it all back in the truck and get to the next chore.
I just ordered the mold to remelt the block. Now that hunting season is over, when I do get out, I can shoot more, and will have more time (hopefully).
-Mikhail Kalashnikov