quilbilly
01-05-2012, 04:39 PM
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.
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.