Vaporizing Milk Jugs

[Hannibal]

Before buying a mold, get a dozen bullets of what you think is the best bullet and shoot them. Then decide if it is worth the investment.

Blowing up milk jugs gets old after a while. Find enough jugs, fill with water, carry them around, one shot and they are done.

I agree. I find moles and oppossums to be just as bad. Carcass disposal and all that.

[zymguy]

NO i WONT buy a 44 mag

i'm a fairly new member to this community, but i feel close. When I read this my knee jerk reaction was concern, I mean who wouldnt want a 44 mag ? then i read more closely and I know what you need 7"ish bbl ruger blackhawk in 45colt . Probobly gonna have to tart a new thread for what molds youll need for it tho...

[dbarry1]

+1 for light and fast bullet. Vaporizing things with gun never gets old.

Ever.

[Sasquatch-1]

I know the OP was originally looking for a cheaper way to destroy water jugs, but here is the solution if money isn't a concern.

GARY REEDER'S GNR CARTRIDGES

356 GNR, On the right is the standard factory 357 magnum. This cartridge is a necked down 41 magnum and gives the 357 bullet as much energy as a 44 magnum. Simple to load and no backing out in the cylinder makes the 356 GNR an excellent revolver cartridge for medium sized game. A 125 grain jhp will do almost 2100 fps.

[RogerDat]

I don't know about milk jugs but step sons 44 mag makes a neat little hole through a 4"x4" wood block, 45 colt RNFP makes a pile of 4 inch long splinters scattered on the berm. At least inside ranges where the 45 is still packing some heat.

[Hickok]

I realize 49FMarlin doesn't want to buy another gun, (come on now, we all want to buy a new one!), But I was just wondering what a .22 Magnum or one of the .17 rimfires in a handgun would do to the milkjug with water?

Easy handguns to shoot, and pretty good speeds with ballistic-tip type bullets.

[M-Tecs]

The highest bullet velocity coupled with the softest most explosive bullet will make the biggest splash. A light pure lead hollow point possibly paper patched would be your best bet for cast. If was me I would just purchase a box of 0ne of these:

http://www.bullets.com/products/-38-...of-100/BL10289

http://www.hornady.com/store/38-Cal-.357-110-gr-HP-XTP/

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...oint-100-count

Load it it as fast as safely possible. Hodgdon has some H110 and W296 loads that are over 2,000 fps in a 10 inch barrel. By the time she shoots a 100 jugs she will be bored with it.

[jmort]

A big slow 12 gauge slug will have far greater effect
Speed is nothing compared to big

[M-Tecs]

The OP has a 357 revolver. 12 gauge slugs won't chamber in it.

As a kid I grew up in a small town. I shot a lot with the local police. The most utilized target was confiscated cheap beer. I have shot hundreds if not thousands of full beer cans. That was in the mid 70 and LE still used 357 revolvers. Their 125 hollow points couldn't hold a candle to my max 45 colt loads using a 185 hollow points at around 1,500 fps. In the 357 the 125 splashed the cans way better the 140 or 158's

[KYCaster]

You already have the mold. Cast it soft, drill a hollow point and work up a max load of W231/HP38. Should work just fine.

Jerry

[Sasquatch-1]

I shoot in a 2x4 match on a regular basis. I use a .44 loaded with a 260 grn. wad cutter and 7 grains of Unique. The round makes a nice neat .430 hole for the first 1/4 to 1/2 inch and then knocks 6-to 10 by about 1.5 inch chunk out of the back.

I don't know about milk jugs but step sons 44 mag makes a neat little hole through a 4"x4" wood block, 45 colt RNFP makes a pile of 4 inch long splinters scattered on the berm. At least inside ranges where the 45 is still packing some heat.

Now if you want to see something vaporized, watch the Demolition Ranch video of shooting dry ice with a 50 BMG. That's impressive.

[sw282]

Complete vaporization=35gr Hornady NTX.. 42.5gr Win 748 powder in a 220 Swift case.

Thru my old Model 70 Winchester Varmint yields 4500 FPS..

lt'll do the same on a Prairie Dog out to 400yds

[shaman]

Look, I'm not trying to say "you can't get there from here." However, the path is going to be hard.

First off, just about anything you can put through a 357 Magnum is going to punch holes. Fast and light is the way to go. However, the bottom line is a GP100 is not going to produce the kind of fast you need.

I faced a somewhat similar problem with a 9mm last summer. I was trying to get a cast bullet to work in a P1-P38. I gave it my best shot and the pistol just did not like it. I looked down the road and realized if I wanted to shoot cast lead in 9mm, it would be cheaper and easier to find a pistol that did not have as finicky a diet. I bought a Ruger SR9 and my first trial was a success. Yes, it set me back $500, but it was easier and cheaper in the long run when you figure that it was going to be multiple molds and multiple attempts with each mold to get my idea to work. Meanwhile, the P1-P38 eats Berry HB's just fine.

The other thing in your way is your girlfriend's capabilities. She probably thinks 38 SP's are her huckleberry. My GF shoots a GP-100 and carries it as her primary CC. However, her wrist can't handle full-house 357 MAG loads. You also have the problem that the GP-100 has a relatively short barrel, so adding powder to solve the problem is just going to give you more flash and bang.

I've got some serious 357 Mag loads for my Marlin 1894 using a 147 Grain Lee GC over H110. Yes, it will pop a milkjug, but it does not vaporize it. I've tried these rounds out of a 7" Blackhawk-- Yikes! Not for the girls.

I also have a Super Blackhawk in 44 Mag. Again, here is a piece of hardware that will break a milk jug, but you have to have a serious load of H110 under a light bullet to make the kind of show you're looking for. The GF's wrist ain't going to like it.

The cheapest way to make milkjugs turn into mist is a .223. A Ruger American will set you back $3 bills. If you want a handgun that does it, try a 223 Rem pistol. These are sure bets.

Then there's the option of finding a new GF. Sometimes these can be had at remarkably low prices. Find one that has a low operating cost and cheaper demands. Trade the 44 in for a pair of 22's and be happy.

I'm just saying, sometimes it pays to think outside the box.

[725]

murf205 & rond have it nailed. Light boolit, kind of hard, driven fast with a big hollow point. Turn the hollow based wad cutter around backwards. Won't take but a couple of inches of water before all that energy is redirected in all directions.

[Bert2368]

You are looking for the highest amount of energy possible, deposited completely into the water-

Doubling the weight on target at the same speed doubles the energy (and breaks your girlfriend's wrist).

Doubling the velocity at the same weight SQUARES the energy, and keeps recoil comparatively low.

So a fast bullet which equals a LIGHT bullet, and so soft and expanding (or completely frangible, a bullet that is reduced to DUST in the first inch or two of water) that the bullet virtually STOPS in the 7" or so of water in your jug, depositing nearly all available energy inside the targets.

Yes, a wide flat bullet from a .44 or a 45 rifle bullet does what she wants too. When you have a lot more energy to begin with, you can use it less efficiently...

Personally? I have several 55 gallon garbage bags of the "tall boy" aluminum cans that energy drinks come in. I fill a couple dozen with water and place them out in front of the berm on our range, and at 100 yards these get blown into a cloud of water droplets and several pieces of explosively formed auminum sheet pretty dependable by a 40 grain tipped or HP varmint bullet out of the .221 Rem Fireball CZ 527. The round is so light recoiling and fast, you see the can do a disappearing act really well with the scope set down to 8 power or so. NO ONE who can pick up an 8lb. rifle will complain about the recoil and it's not very loud, compared to a .223 doing the same job.

I know you want to work with what you have... Try a short .357 jacket filled with hydraulically compressed powdered metal or dust fine lead shot coated with a small ammount of teflon oil to keep it from forming a strong bond between the particles. Give them a HP full WC nose profile. Aim for 90 or so grains "all in" weight. Drive as fast as safely possible.

The dies, supplies and press to make that load cost more than a new .221 FB pistol or rifle, just sayin'.

[tunnug]

What about pressurizing the bottles with air?, I got this e-mail from Air-gun depot http://www.airgundepot.com/umarex-bi...And+Blast+Caps ,

they are soda bottle caps that can be pressurized with a bicycle pump, or you can make your own as in this video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc2Y1Lq0Iyk , I'll be doing one or the other soon.

Edit to add, you can partially fill with colored water to add to the OOH and AHHH.

[murf205]

A big slow 12 gauge slug will have far greater effect
Speed is nothing compared to big

OH yes, it is. A 50 gr bullet out of a 22-250 @ 3600fps will sling a lot more water and jug than a big slug @ 1200 fps. I've shot milk jugs full of water with every thing I own and fast and frangible is the most devastating. A friend and I shot milk jugs filled with water @ 500 yds with a 100gr bullet in a 25-06 and never thought we were hitting them till we went down range and found tiny holes in them and all the water drained out. At 50 to 100 yds, with the velocity being very high, the jugs exploded. If you want devastation, there are 3 things you must have 1-frangible bullets, 2- velocity, 3-more velocity.

[Sasquatch-1]

I saw what could be a potential hazard with the one the guy makes. That metal valve could come flying back at you with the speed to do harm. The all plastic caps would lose a lot of their energy due to their being a lot lighter.

What about pressurizing the bottles with air?, I got this e-mail from Air-gun depot http://www.airgundepot.com/umarex-bi...And+Blast+Caps ,

they are soda bottle caps that can be pressurized with a bicycle pump, or you can make your own as in this video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc2Y1Lq0Iyk , I'll be doing one or the other soon.

Edit to add, you can partially fill with colored water to add to the OOH and AHHH.

[murf205]

Very true, but it can't be as bad as what I witnessed at a public range a few yrs ago. While I was unloading my van, two nit wits shot a 20 lb bottle of propane-@ 50 yds no less. I now hold a new world record for getting the hell outta there.

[M-Tecs]

Very true, but it can't be as bad as what I witnessed at a public range a few yrs ago. While I was unloading my van, two nit wits shot a 20 lb bottle of propane-@ 50 yds no less. I now hold a new world record for getting the hell outta there.

propane tanks only blowup in the movies. While I have never shot a full 20 pound tank I was given a case of one pounders that started to rust thru. Shot them all. Hitting them with a 220 followed by a tracer thing got more interesting but a trtacer qnly didn't set them off.

This one uses a flare as a flame source