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More 357 Magnum Gel Testing J-words vs Cast
A general pattern is emerging. While cast boolits are capable of outstanding terminal performance, they seem to be capable of this performance only in a narrow velocity range, which somewhat limits their utility for rifles.
As I showed before the 359 Mihec hammer bullet with flat point pin expands magnificently and penetrates to a respectable depth at 1800 FPS. At 1200 FPS it is an icepick.
The 180 Grain Hornady XTP is not capable of quite the performance, clocking just under 1700 FPS in my Marlin with a charge of 16 grains of 300MP. At this velocity though that bullet nearly breaks apart, expanding to almost 3/4" of an inch and penetrates only 13". 80% retained weight. At a lower velocity (same load out of my 5" 686) of 1200 FPS this bullet still performs respectably, getting .58" of expansion and going deeper with 97% retained weight. So this could be a potential one load for two guns situation.
I did some more testing with moderate 357 loads. 13.5 grains of 2400 gets the 162 grain Hammer bullet with the small hollowpoint cavity going to nearly 1250 FPS in my 686. This load expanded beautifully to .635" and retained 100% of its weight. Same load out of my marlin and it blew up, shedding the entire hollowpoint section which broke into two parts and the core traveling to a greater depth. Not even 60% of the weight was retained in the three remaining fragments. It went 1600 FPS out of the marlin.
Attachment 249973
More 357 Magnum Gel Testing J-words vs Cast
If a deer or even a wild hog were three feet across, then 13” of penetration from that 180-grain XTP might not be enough. Also, fragmentation is not a bad thing if a projectile is designed to dump its energy into a soft target like deer or pigs.
Finding a cast equivalent for penetration + expansion is a fun endeavor, I understand that. From what I’ve read and researched, there really is no “one” right answer. One would think the perfect alloy for 3-gun or steel or hunting would have been widely published by the year 2020. Also consider that jackets were added precisely because they were necessary to achieve the performance no alloy could match.
R/Griff
More 357 Magnum Gel Testing J-words vs Cast
I appreciate your insight and will file it into memory for future reference.
I only have two questions, and that is, were you using the HP XTP’s, and, what the Sam-hill is ballistics gel supposed to emulate, in a relative manner, if not soft tissue? [emoji848]