Ballistic gelatin test

[Soundguy]

OK, so Saturday morning was my gel test.

had a couple buddies help me set it up. have almost 20 minutes raw cell phone ( decent quality ) video that I need to transfer and edit, pluss we have about 100 stills between the three of us.

I'm off to work, so this will be brief.

The basics. Gell was calibrated with a 600 fps 17 cal bb for 8cm of penetration, so should be just like 10% gelatin.

ammo tested was hornady critical defense in 45acp and 380 acp, plus FMJ for both as a comparison.

In short, both the crit defense stayed in the gel blocks, 45 traveling about 9 inches total thru a layer of shirt, jeans, ribs and then gel. 380 did the same at 7"

both rounds blew thru a rib no problem, minor deflection on the 380.

a fmj was tested on each block and blew thru the block, plus 2 sheets of wall board that were 2x4 spaced to simulate a wall, then popped 2L soda bottles of red food coloring water to simulate hits of friendlies on the other side of the wall.

45 fmj penetrated all and went into the dirt berm , the 380 fmj penetrated the block, wall, and then petered out and 'smacked' the soda bottle making a 'bruise' but no penetration.

[Soundguy]

Guns used were a rock isle 45 acp, and a sig p230 .380 acp

[jmort]

Would love to see the video
The critical defense seems to be a good choice in the tests I have seen

[JBinMN]

Great Soundguy! Thanks for sharing your results!


I only have 2 questions right now & I don't see the answers in your post.

> "How far away were ya from the "target" when ya conducted these tests?

> "What is the weight in grains of the different bullets/calibers used (HCD & whatever brand FMJ) to conduct these test shots?"


Thanks if ya get time to answer & Thanks again for sharing the results here!

[Soundguy]

I'll have to check the 45cd, but the 380 was 90 cd, and 85 fmj, the 45 fmj was 230

Approx 5'

[JBinMN]

I'll have to check the 45cd, but the 380 was 90 cd, and 85 fmj, the 45 fmj was 230

Approx 5'

Thanks! I appreciate the details!


Gonna guess at 185gr. for those HCD .45 ACP rounds.


You going to do any tests with cast?

[62chevy]

Awesome info thanks for posting this after all.

[Soundguy]

Awesome info thanks for posting this after all.

I DO plan on testing some 38/357/45 LSWC

[dverna]

This is really good stuff. It is how we learn.

[Soundguy]

I know one thing, from batch to batch, it gets easier to make/ mix the gelatin.

At the start of the test, I was wondering what the ribs would do to the self defense ammo, especially the .380. was glad to see that even the 380 could shatter and pass thru a hefty rib, retain it's mass and only deflect a very small amount.

[jmort]

I probably missed it, but how thick are the ribs???

[ofitg]

Soundguy, from what I've read, gelatin tests (done in the proper manner) are tedious and time-consuming... not to mention, costly.
Bravo, and thanks for sharing.

[Soundguy]

I probably missed it, but how thick are the ribs???

Hmm.. I didn't put a tape measure too them, but from looking at the 45 acp projectile diameter, I'd saw they were in the .4-.5 inch thickness in their thickest center section, and of course tapered on each side.

[Soundguy]

Soundguy, from what I've read, gelatin tests (done in the proper manner) are tedious and time-consuming... not to mention, costly.
Bravo, and thanks for sharing.

Yes to both. the large block I made was 30$ and the small block was 10 $. ( I have since, found a place slightly cheaper to buy a larger bulk 240z bag of gelatin online, so it will save a few bucks. About 4$ saved per 1g mold mix, if I buy the other powder I found.) The large block I made for instance, was 1.3 gallons, inclusive of the small cup I made for calibration test. The 2l molds work much better for 1-2 shots.. as they are only 2 quart, and with the new powder will be about 8$ to make.

it takes you about an hour to mix initially, then you have to let it set to hydrate. 2+ hours, then you have to section out the initially setup gelatin into small slivers so it will liquify with the least amount of heat, plus you have to use a double boiler setup for that last part.

Then you have to have a mold form prepped.. either a plastic container or a box with bag liner, etc. must pour to not entrain air, etc.

i also did a pre test on my bag liners, my first liner actually LEAKED. and those weren't simply trash bags, but actual bags meant to be used as form/ mold liners for pourable liquid-set molds. I tested with water, filled my mold and at 5 minutes, got a leak. liners were $ 2.50 for a pack of 10.

for the drywall 2x4 and nails, I sunk in another 19$

I used wax on hand to line my molds with, but a person doing a scratch setup will need a 4$ pack of canning wax.

Jeans and tshirt are pretty easy to find, I have un-wearable stuff on hand to cut up for the test.

Ribs were 10$ for a slab large enough to cut to cover both blocks.

The critical defense ammo is expensive. a box costs 24-30$ depending on the retailer.

A buddy that runs a gun smith business provided me the test ammo and the rib$ to help out.

The 20 yard NRA pistol targets I just printed off on the computer, and zereo'd the gun in on a wood backdrop so that I'd know where to aim for center penetration, so I used a few rounds of the SD ammo as sight in shots, before making the test shot, then followed with fmj as a comparison. Only used a couple round sof fmj, so negligible cost there in components, say 1$ of test ammo cost between both guns.

So grand total cost of this test , for someone wanting to dupe similar setup from scratch would be about 76$ of raw materials ( not including any shipping ) PLUS the cost of the specific ammo they wanted to test.

So.. if testing 2 different high performance ammo's.. ammo cost alone could be 60$.

Combined cost for me and my buddy was right at 140$ one I factored in shipping on one of the items.

That doesn't account for any labor. making the interior wall simulator while not hard nor time consuming did cost me a half hour in the shop. Once you pour the molds they have to set a minimum of 36 hours prior to use, 48 for large pours. Plus you have to calibrate them to ensure you are testing near 10% 'FBI style' gelatin.

That involves a 590 fps +/- 10 fps 17 cal bb fired into a test block, looking for 7.9-8.4 cm of penetration.

( please excuse - having a hard time editing posts / making posts with a phone.. )

Thus frm start to finish you need basically 5 days .. 1 to mix, 3 to set, and the last to use/shoot the block.

[JBinMN]

I applaud your efforts & Congrats on a successful test! Lots of work & the info shared is worth some Kudos!



I appreciate your efforts & I'd betting that there are more here who do also!


Thanks Man! & Please tell your friends who helped , "Thanks to them too!".

Another to them!

Looking forward to any new test(s) ya decide to do!

Thanks again!

[Bookworm]

Well, I enjoyed reading the testing.

The 380 smashing through the rib bone certainly caught my attention, as I regularly carry a Ruger LCP in the hot weather.

Thanks for taking the time to do this, and especially for making the results public.

[MaryB]

Like to see you test the Buffalo Bore 380 hollow point. Supposed to be at the top end of pressure and speed for a 380(+p almost but SAAMI doesn't spec a +p for 380)

[Soundguy]

Well, I enjoyed reading the testing.

The 380 smashing through the rib bone certainly caught my attention, as I regularly carry a Ruger LCP in the hot weather.

Thanks for taking the time to do this, and especially for making the results public.

I sometimes carry a KelTec P3AT in hot weather as well, and was also glad to see a 380 self defense round had no problem with a rib. I've heard internet rumor that 380's bounce off ribs, etc and to shoot ball rounds to just get some penetration.

As it turns out, even a 380 FMJ will pass right thru a bad guy, after hitting a rib, and then pass thru an interior wall. And the very minor deflection the self defense round made after passing thru a rib amounted to no change for the test.. the projectile stayed in the gelatin.

[Soundguy]

Like to see you test the Buffalo Bore 380 hollow point. Supposed to be at the top end of pressure and speed for a 380(+p almost but SAAMI doesn't spec a +p for 380)

I plan on doing more tests. hydra shocks, LRN, LSWC, etc.