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mdi
11-06-2011, 12:53 PM
When reading the post about hollow point expansion, I had a thought (I know, that can be dangerous). Water in milk jugs, wet phone books, and sand/water in milk jugs was mentioned and I thought of Jello in milk jugs! (Of course red jello would be cool) Wouldn't that be more like ballistic gel? Or does anyone have a recipe for home made ballistic gel?

Von Dingo
11-06-2011, 01:01 PM
I've seen the recipe for Ballistic Gel out there.

I remember John Barsness referencing a reusable clay type medium that is a lot more stable, and reusable over the long haul. Plus it can be disected, it doesn't splash back like ballistic gel. When done with a round of tests, remelt, and let harden for the next round.

williamwaco
11-06-2011, 02:01 PM
see

http://www.corbins.com/sim-test.htm

There is another company that sells it in cardboard tubes that are reuseable but I can't fine it.

Larry Gibson
11-06-2011, 03:02 PM
I prefer to use well soaked newsprint at 25 yards. I shoot a bullet of known performance (could be called a "control" or "reference) into it and then compare the wound channel, penetration and expansion of the HP cast bullet. For example; when testing an alloy for the 311041 HP in the 30-30 I use a 170 gr Winchester PP factory load. I then drop the velocity of both down to what the 200 yard projected velocity would be and again compare the results of my cast HP with the "reference" bullets performance. This method (I believe I first read about if from Rick Jamison many years ago) has proven quite reliable for the past 40 years or so.

Larry Gibson

Blackwater
11-06-2011, 03:26 PM
I'm with Larry on this. After having done these tests many times in the past, I've found wet newsprint/magazines/whatever, tied tight with string and then soaked pretty well and left to soak for at least an hour or so, is the easiest/quickest most satisfactory way to test HP's or other bullets for expansion and penetration. Be sure to carry a rod of wood or metal to probe around the "wound" and determine the extent of the "wound" size, depth and breadth.

Ballistic gelatin is, IIRC, the very same stuff as jello, without the coloring and flavoring agent added. It's just mixed about 20 times more densely than regular jello. I doubt regular strength jello would add much to a plain water jug test.

Water jugs can give you at least a fair idea of how your bullet will expand on game, but you have to be sure to use enough of them to stop the bullet for retrieval and inspection.

If you live where they grow, mellons or citrons can offer some interesting results as well.

In the end, I've concluded that the more types of medium you shoot into, the more insight you'll have into your bullet's characteristics in various situations. And remember, to get the same type of shot on deer that you'd get on a bad guy, you'd have to shoot the deer from directly underneath to get what amounts to a frontal chest shot on an attacking human. That's why a bullet that works well on humans may not always make a great deer bullet.

I'd recommend just using whatever materials you have convenient opportunity for mostly, and trying various media as motivation and opportunity allow. None will be exactly the same as actual animal flesh and bone, but comparative results will give you a pretty good clue at least, as to how your bullet will act in game in the real world.

runfiverun
11-06-2011, 05:09 PM
wet newsprint is different than flesh but it does allow you to follow the expansion and penetration quite closely.
you will/should get more penetration in flesh.
but newsprint is repeatable and gives you something to compare each boolit in.

Shuz
11-07-2011, 10:50 AM
Here's my test media set up: Picture a wooden box about 2 feet long with an open end, just large enuf to contain telephone books.In the sides of the box, every 2 inches or so there are slits to accommodate an 1/8th inch steel plate. Pack the phone books into the box and move the plate until it is real snug. Sometimes I then pour water over the edge of the phone books and watch them swell. Be sure to use enuf phone books to prevent "dimples" in the steel plate. This is a real easy to use method and your friends will be so glad that you have become a depository for their discarded phone books!

fishhawk
11-07-2011, 10:53 AM
http://www.myscienceproject.org/gelatin.html there's one for home made jell. steve k

fredj338
11-07-2011, 11:41 AM
I prefer to use well soaked newsprint at 25 yards. I shoot a bullet of known performance (could be called a "control" or "reference) into it and then compare the wound channel, penetration and expansion of the HP cast bullet. For example; when testing an alloy for the 311041 HP in the 30-30 I use a 170 gr Winchester PP factory load. I then drop the velocity of both down to what the 200 yard projected velocity would be and again compare the results of my cast HP with the "reference" bullets performance. This method (I believe I first read about if from Rick Jamison many years ago) has proven quite reliable for the past 40 years or so.

Larry Gibson
^^^^THIS^^^ I have used wetpack, soaked newsprint or phone books, for years. It gives me a bullet that looks amazingly like what comes ut of live game. It's easy to make, easy to use & unlike gello, a stack of phne books will take 5-6 handgun hits before it's done. Then toss in the recycle bin. The only thing wetpack does not reprpesent well is penetration. It's about 3/4 of what you get in gello, but then, I don't think gello tells you much about penetration in live game either. Like gello, wetpack isn't flesh & requires exact measuring & temp to get repeatable results.