The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Ballistic gelatin testing results : .223 Remington

TomNash · June 23, 2005, 05:19 PM

Nope... the bullet did not appear to fragment. Also, I was unable to determine the presence of a 'triple-shock' effect, as mentioned in the advertisements. By inspection, there was no difference between this particular bullets wound profile and that of a 55gr. bonded .223 at the same velocity.

No prob. Big-Foot. The main issue with the gelatin testing is money. I would very much like to test all sorts of bullets, but each block of gelatin costs me 50 dollars to make. I think that a 45gr. would be interesting; can you suggest a bonded or otherwise limited expansion .224" bullet in that weight? I cannot think of one off-hand.

With regards to the penetration of such a bullet - I previously posted here the gelatin results of the 60gr. Nosler Partition at ca. 2900 ft/sec impact velocity. The block that was shot was pretty much the same as this last one, the Partition bullet flew all the way through it (16" long) and penetrated 0.25" into a loosely packed sandbag behind the block. The partition bullet was measured at a uniform diameter of 0.39". The Barnes bullet was measured at an average diameter of 0.419". So there were two things (maybe three) working against the penetration of the Barnes bullet : the frontal shape of the Barnes bullet is flatter while the Partition bullet is rounder - this makes a bigger hole in the target, but decreases penetration; the Barnes bullet was moving faster than the Partition bullet, which increased the fluid drag on the bullet exponentially; and the Barnes bullet just made a bigger hole in the block.

Anyways... My personal goal in wound ballistics testing is to evaluate the effectiveness of my chosen defensive loads and then to share the information with those who would care to read it. The FBI minimum required bullet penetration in ballistic gelatin is 12". Any load that expands and penetrates more than 12" could have conceivably expanded more, stopped at 12" and still be an 'effective' round, by the criteria of the FBI test method. Except you get the advantage of having made a bigger hole in the target. A lighter and faster bullet than the 53gr. would certainly do this, much as a 53gr. bullet did better in this respect than a 60gr. bullet (Partition). If you would be so kind as to suggest a source for this 45gr. bullet, I will look into doing such a test.

Tom

June 23, 2005, 05:19 PM	#4
TomNash Senior Member Join Date: October 4, 2004 Posts: 118	Nope... the bullet did not appear to fragment. Also, I was unable to determine the presence of a 'triple-shock' effect, as mentioned in the advertisements. By inspection, there was no difference between this particular bullets wound profile and that of a 55gr. bonded .223 at the same velocity. No prob. Big-Foot. The main issue with the gelatin testing is money. I would very much like to test all sorts of bullets, but each block of gelatin costs me 50 dollars to make. I think that a 45gr. would be interesting; can you suggest a bonded or otherwise limited expansion .224" bullet in that weight? I cannot think of one off-hand. With regards to the penetration of such a bullet - I previously posted here the gelatin results of the 60gr. Nosler Partition at ca. 2900 ft/sec impact velocity. The block that was shot was pretty much the same as this last one, the Partition bullet flew all the way through it (16" long) and penetrated 0.25" into a loosely packed sandbag behind the block. The partition bullet was measured at a uniform diameter of 0.39". The Barnes bullet was measured at an average diameter of 0.419". So there were two things (maybe three) working against the penetration of the Barnes bullet : the frontal shape of the Barnes bullet is flatter while the Partition bullet is rounder - this makes a bigger hole in the target, but decreases penetration; the Barnes bullet was moving faster than the Partition bullet, which increased the fluid drag on the bullet exponentially; and the Barnes bullet just made a bigger hole in the block. Anyways... My personal goal in wound ballistics testing is to evaluate the effectiveness of my chosen defensive loads and then to share the information with those who would care to read it. The FBI minimum required bullet penetration in ballistic gelatin is 12". Any load that expands and penetrates more than 12" could have conceivably expanded more, stopped at 12" and still be an 'effective' round, by the criteria of the FBI test method. Except you get the advantage of having made a bigger hole in the target. A lighter and faster bullet than the 53gr. would certainly do this, much as a 53gr. bullet did better in this respect than a 60gr. bullet (Partition). If you would be so kind as to suggest a source for this 45gr. bullet, I will look into doing such a test. Tom