SwissyJim
7 October 2014, 22:59
So... had some fun today. I wanted to test some Lehigh Defense, LLC projectiles but, at $1.50 per PROJECTILE, do they perform and expand as advertised?
I found some recipes for homemade ballistic gelatin but I should note, this is NOT official ballistic gel, but rather kitchen gelatin made thicker, to *about* the 10% gel that the FBI recommends.
After making it up per the youtube vid and other online resources, and letting it set the required amount of time (day and a half) I took it out to the range today. I had to transport it in coolers, but not to keep it from melting, but rather from freezing! It was a balmy 30 degrees when I was testing today but only 20 when I left my house.
My load was the 194g bullet, loaded with 10.5g od A1680 to a COAL or 2.185", using homemade case from LC brass.
I used my 8" 300BLK SBR with a SilencerCo Specwar762, and a Primary Arms, LLC red dot sight that I had on my M&P 15-22 that was sighted in for about 15ft due to some squirrel issues. That proved to be a huge time saver, as it proved that it was also mostly sighted in for the 300blk at the same distance. After verifying the sights with some 208 HPBT Hornady subsonic ammo, I tried one round of the Lehigh Defense to make sure there was no shift in POI. There was not, so I let one loose into the gel.
I was expecting something cool. A block of gel to jump up. A loud POP in the gel. The whole table to wobble. Anything. But I had to get up and check to make sure I actually hit the gel, it was so quiet and calm. I found a neat little entry hole, and unfortunately the gel is not very clear, but an amber color. It took a few seconds to find the bullet, and the path was a little easier to see. I wish I had a cool high speed camera to do slow motion, but I didn't even have room to set up my GoPro. (Next time I'll take a tripod to use the GoPro)
I was able to locate and cut out the bullet...it was perfectly deformed, just as it should be. It penetrated roughly 15 inches of the gel - just into the second block. They are sold at 194 grain bullets, and the recovered weight of this one was 193.4 - and in all fairness, I do not know what it was before loading it. But it's pretty easy to see it did not lose much, if ANY, of its weight.
So curiosity got ahold of me. What would a Hornady 208 grain Hollow Point Boat Tail projectile do? Since the second block of gel was barely touched, I turned the sawhorses around and readied for a second shot, this time the 208g HPBT. I actually shot 2, just for the hell of it. And the results were interesting (at least to me)
The bullets did not deform in any way. They look like brand new, save the rifling marks from the barrel. Both the bullets was found backwards, meaning they tumbled when they hit the gel. They penetrated the same depth into the gel, roughly 15 inches. The path also showed an area spread apart (wound channel) that I can only surmise is from the bullet tumbling. But it looked to be roughly the same size path as the Lehigh, but more 'one dimensional' from the tumbling. The Lehigh path would take a cucumber to fill the hole, whereas the Hornady would take a small booklet due to it being a flat opening. I have no idea what the temporary channel would be... probably impressive.
http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0298.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0298.JPG) http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0304.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0304.JPG) http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0312.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0312.JPG) http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0320.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0320.JPG)
these are the Hornady 208g HPBT
http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0318.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0318.JPG)
the 2 bullets side by side
http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0325.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0325.JPG)
Pretty cool, and lots of fun (was a GREAT conversation starter at the range!) but by no means an 'official' or scientific test. But, I wanted to test the bullets in MY gun with MY loads. Overall, I've super happy with the results. I actually was expecting the Hornady's to go thru the block, all nice and clean.I'm a little surprised they penetrated the same as the Lehigh Defense. My plan is to re-melt the gel, then form it again and test the 208 A-May subs and if the gel is willing, some 110 Barnes supers.
I found some recipes for homemade ballistic gelatin but I should note, this is NOT official ballistic gel, but rather kitchen gelatin made thicker, to *about* the 10% gel that the FBI recommends.
After making it up per the youtube vid and other online resources, and letting it set the required amount of time (day and a half) I took it out to the range today. I had to transport it in coolers, but not to keep it from melting, but rather from freezing! It was a balmy 30 degrees when I was testing today but only 20 when I left my house.
My load was the 194g bullet, loaded with 10.5g od A1680 to a COAL or 2.185", using homemade case from LC brass.
I used my 8" 300BLK SBR with a SilencerCo Specwar762, and a Primary Arms, LLC red dot sight that I had on my M&P 15-22 that was sighted in for about 15ft due to some squirrel issues. That proved to be a huge time saver, as it proved that it was also mostly sighted in for the 300blk at the same distance. After verifying the sights with some 208 HPBT Hornady subsonic ammo, I tried one round of the Lehigh Defense to make sure there was no shift in POI. There was not, so I let one loose into the gel.
I was expecting something cool. A block of gel to jump up. A loud POP in the gel. The whole table to wobble. Anything. But I had to get up and check to make sure I actually hit the gel, it was so quiet and calm. I found a neat little entry hole, and unfortunately the gel is not very clear, but an amber color. It took a few seconds to find the bullet, and the path was a little easier to see. I wish I had a cool high speed camera to do slow motion, but I didn't even have room to set up my GoPro. (Next time I'll take a tripod to use the GoPro)
I was able to locate and cut out the bullet...it was perfectly deformed, just as it should be. It penetrated roughly 15 inches of the gel - just into the second block. They are sold at 194 grain bullets, and the recovered weight of this one was 193.4 - and in all fairness, I do not know what it was before loading it. But it's pretty easy to see it did not lose much, if ANY, of its weight.
So curiosity got ahold of me. What would a Hornady 208 grain Hollow Point Boat Tail projectile do? Since the second block of gel was barely touched, I turned the sawhorses around and readied for a second shot, this time the 208g HPBT. I actually shot 2, just for the hell of it. And the results were interesting (at least to me)
The bullets did not deform in any way. They look like brand new, save the rifling marks from the barrel. Both the bullets was found backwards, meaning they tumbled when they hit the gel. They penetrated the same depth into the gel, roughly 15 inches. The path also showed an area spread apart (wound channel) that I can only surmise is from the bullet tumbling. But it looked to be roughly the same size path as the Lehigh, but more 'one dimensional' from the tumbling. The Lehigh path would take a cucumber to fill the hole, whereas the Hornady would take a small booklet due to it being a flat opening. I have no idea what the temporary channel would be... probably impressive.
http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0298.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0298.JPG) http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0304.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0304.JPG) http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0312.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0312.JPG) http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0320.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0320.JPG)
these are the Hornady 208g HPBT
http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0318.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0318.JPG)
the 2 bullets side by side
http://www.swissybaroo.com//Photos/var/resizes/Misc/DSCN0325.JPG (http://www.swissybaroo.com/Photos/var/albums/Misc/DSCN0325.JPG)
Pretty cool, and lots of fun (was a GREAT conversation starter at the range!) but by no means an 'official' or scientific test. But, I wanted to test the bullets in MY gun with MY loads. Overall, I've super happy with the results. I actually was expecting the Hornady's to go thru the block, all nice and clean.I'm a little surprised they penetrated the same as the Lehigh Defense. My plan is to re-melt the gel, then form it again and test the 208 A-May subs and if the gel is willing, some 110 Barnes supers.