small terminal ballistics test

[quilbilly]

This morning I tested two boolits using the "wet phone book" test to see how they would act when hitting a deer sized game. The test uses a stack of wet phone books 20 inches thick. Three inches in from the target is a piece of 1/8" veneer plywood simulating (sort of) clipping a rib bone.
The boolits are a .257 - 100 gr spire pointed boolit from a Lyman mold and the .224 - 53 gr Bator RNFP.
Both are launched at approximately 1900 fps at the muzzle with the target placed 40 yards downrange.
I found the results to be surprising and mysterious. The 53 gr Bator 224 penetrated 1 inch farther than the 100 gr. spire pointed!! The Bator went 14-1/2" into the medium but the 25 cal 100 gr boolit penetrated 13-1/2". The RNFP 22 Bator boolit ran straight into the medium but the 25 spire point deflected dramatically after passing through the plywood veneer. After about 6" the 25 spire point, while not mushrooming, created a wound channel 1-1/2" in diameter (forced t he moisture out of the surrounding paper explosively).
One lesson I learned is that my alloy is too hard so I will add more pure lead in the future.
Maybe someone can explain why the smaller flat nose 22 boolit penetrated farther than the 100 gr spire point 25 but I sure can't.

[Dan Cash]

Spire point bullets loose stability when they hit stuff.

[williamwaco]

Spire point bullets loose stability when they hit stuff.


All bullets loose stability when they hit stuff. How much and in what direction is random and unpredictable.


.

[quilbilly]

2 of the 3 - 25's deflected downward while one went on straight. The downward deflection is explainable because they went into the medium at a slight downward angle of about 2 degrees. Surprisingly, the boolit that went straight had the nose sheared off but the two that deflected were whole on retrieval. Also noteworthy is that the two that deflected followed almost exactly the same path and stayed as close together as the entry point (1 inch apart)
None of the 22's deflected.
This is always a fun project that occasionally has surprises. I've done similar with my 32-20 (1500 fps), 7mm TCU (1900 fps), and the 30-30 (1550 fps) in years past.

[Crawdaddy]

I cant explain it but am glad you posted this. I am just starting to play with Bator rounds. I casted up 800 and loaded 50.

At first glance I thought the boolit was a joke. Your testing is reassuring.

I started very light with mine for safety reasons. unfortunatley way to light. It wouldnt cycle the action on my Mini 14 or AR.

What was the cartridge and load for the Bator?

Thanks for posting.

[quilbilly]

The cartridge is 223 and the load is 9.5 gr of Sr 4759 although I have found that Unique performs well too. No chance of a double charge with 4759 even if it does burn a bit dirtier. The rifle is a T/C carbine with a 21" barrel.