5 liter wine box Cassettes for testing expansion

[JWFilips]

Well somewhere on this forum I read about a fellow who was thinking of using those 5 liter wine boxes as as expansion media for testing ( refilled with water of course) So after reading this a month or so ago I set out on a quest to collect as many of these boxes as I can so that I can try using them to test some of my HP boolits for expansion. My thoughts here as with my portable boolit recycling bucket, is to make something very portable so this old dude can carry them around easily with a bad back. I don't mind making many trips carrying light stuff vs. one or two trips carrying heavy things.

So I plan on trying to use these boxes as cassettes so to speak....lining them up shooting the test then replacing the shot ones with fresh. Not really sure what I will need (they are about 4" thick) So I may start out with about 24" ( 8 boxes) & see how that goes for .38 spec and .357 mag 150 Hps I would think I will only get one shot per each set up (unless I shoot quick!) Not really sure how many I will need for my 230 gr hp 45 acp's

I know, I know most folks shoot milk jugs......... I just can imagine having to drink that much milk :-D

[Artful]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot10.htm

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot13.htm

as for "got milk" visit you local school and restaurant kitchens, see if they can save some empty's for ya.

[Any Cal.]

I have used a cardboard box w/ a garbage bag in it. Just put the bag in empty and fill w/ water. I only went 14", as that told me whether there was expansion, how much, and if the bullet was traveling sideways or not. I guess if things were just right it could have been going backwards at the far end of the box...:-)

[jonas302]

Well just make sure you take a break between emptying the boxes of wine and shooting:grin:

[salty dog]

I've tried a couple different ways of shooting in to water.

One was shooting down in to a barrel. Besides getting wet, another problem is determining the amount of penetration. I cobbled together a series of screens so the bullet would be caught when it slows down enough, but it was flimsy and you shoot through a screen or two every time, so you have to patch or replace them.

What seemed a better way to me was similar to your idea. I made a box with an open front, and filled it with ziplock bags of water. It's a lot easier to determine penetration that way.

But mostly I settled on wet newspaper or phone books. (I can hear the whippersnappers now, "what is a phone book?") I like being able to see the path of the bullet because it lets you judge how quickly the bullet opens up.