Shooting Play Doh

[Bluerock2000]

217412217413217414217415

I'll receive my 360 gr mold back from being hollow-pointed in the next few weeks so wanted to set a baseline to compare boolit performance. I was very pleased with how the homemade play doh simulated ballistics gel. The numbers for the 180 xtp and 200 gold dot are very close to published ballistics gel data. About $20 worth of ingredients to make the play doh. I'll post results of my soft heavy cast boolit once I have them but thought y'all might like this experiment.

[jcren]

Ok, what is the formula. That looks just too fun.

[mehavey]

See: https://domesticsuperhero.com/best-homemade-playdough-recipe/

[Bluerock2000]

That is the exact formula I used. I made the playdoh about a month ago and put it in a trash bag and then into a super large ziploc bag. It molded a bit but definitely didn't dry out. I have a feeling it will be usable for at least a year.

[Walter Laich]

so how many batches of play dough did you make in all?

[Bluerock2000]

I made about 30 pounds of play doh. That fills a box that is 5.25" square about 22" deep. I hinged the sides so it lays open and you can cut into the block to examine cavity, etc. I started off making a pound at a time on the stove and that got old quick so I broke out the wok to make 5 lbs at a time. 5 lbs = 5 cups flour, 3 1/3 tablespoons cream of tartar, 1 2/3 cups salt, 5 cups water, 5 tablespoons oil.

[Bzcraig]

Printed the recipe...thanks for the link.

[jsizemore]

I made about 30 pounds of play doh. That fills a box that is 5.25" square about 22" deep. I hinged the sides so it lays open and you can cut into the block to examine cavity, etc. I started off making a pound at a time on the stove and that got old quick so I broke out the wok to make 5 lbs at a time. 5 lbs = 5 cups flour, 3 1/3 tablespoons cream of tartar, 1 2/3 cups salt, 5 cups water, 5 tablespoons oil.

Was that no trans-fat oil?

[D Crockett]

I was just wondering 2 things 1 what cal of a gun did you use??? and 2 how far in the play dough did it go ??? from what I see you had one heck of a experiment and I think it is a cool idea D Crockett

[pressonregardless]

Now that is pretty cool !! Homemade play dough....who would have thunk it ?

[Retumbo]

Would adding a good helping of borax in the mix stop the mold?

[longbow]

Hahahahahahaha! I tried something similar a few years ago but using "bread dough". I figured I could make a re-usable ballistic gelatin like media inexpensively by making somewhat soft dough then shooting, recovering boolits, re-kneading, shooting again, etc. and maybe even recover enough to freeze or preserve for re-use.

Well, not a bad idea I thought but... by the time I had kneaded the dough it was getting stiff (that gluten thing) and I figured it wouldn't be easy to re-knead so I added a bit of water to thin it some. Now if you've ever made bread dough you know it is not good to add water late in the game as it goes all slimy like. So now I'm covered with bread dough slime up to my elbows! I decide that the dough seemed too stiff to be useful as straight bread dough and shooting it would enhance that gluten thing so maybe if I thinned it more I could put some in 2 liter pop bottles or gallon milk jugs so... I added more water and got slimier! In the end I got it into bottles and expansion testing went pretty well but there was goopy bread dough hanging off tree branches and covering the countryside! And trying get boolits back was very messy. Very, very messy! Nothing was re-usable so not a successful experiment in most respects.

Play-Doh makes far more sense!

Great idea and write up. Makes me wish I was smarter!

Longbow

[Bluerock2000]

Was that no trans-fat oil?

Vegetable oil

[Bluerock2000]

I was just wondering 2 things 1 what cal of a gun did you use??? and 2 how far in the play dough did it go ??? from what I see you had one heck of a experiment and I think it is a cool idea D Crockett

44 cal and I wrote the expansion and penetration data beside each bullet in the pic (sorry for the sideways pic. I always seem to get that wrong.). The 300 xtp went through all 22” of medium and caught in a bag of towels. The 200 gold dot only went about 13” but fragmented considerably. The other two were in between.

[Green Frog]

217412217413217414217415

I'll receive my 360 gr mold back from being hollow-pointed in the next few weeks so wanted to set a baseline to compare boolit performance. I was very pleased with how the homemade play doh simulated ballistics gel. The numbers for the 180 xtp and 200 gold dot are very close to published ballistics gel data. About $20 worth of ingredients to make the play doh. I'll post results of my soft heavy cast boolit once I have them but thought y'all might like this experiment.

How many batches of the size described in mehavey’s post did it take? Did you make one big batch or in several little ones? I’m wondering how many times it can be kneaded out and reused? Would adding the food coloring make it easier to see and hit?

Froggie

[Bluerock2000]

I made six 5 lb batches. Five pounds at a time gets the forearms burning pretty good when you’re constantly turning it in the pan. Food coloring would definitely increase visibility but I was only shooting from 15 feet and adjusted my loads to match the impact velocity at my intended hunting distance. I’ve read different accounts online regarding how long it will keep and it seems to be a few months. However, this is from people who are actually using it for kids to play with so it is constantly being worked and dried out. I stored this in three bags to eliminate all air from getting to it and am optimistic that it will keep for a long time. It’s very easy to use and really gave me a good idea not just about expansion and penetration but also of cavity dimensions, how fast the bullet opened, etc. I’m really excited to get my mold back and try my 360 gr HP’s in this.

[Bluerock2000]

As a side note if you're going to try this definitely make a strong four sided box to hold it or your play doh will be all over the place with the first shot. My box held up pretty well but I used light duty hinges and the Nosler blew one of them off. Ended up using a ratchet strap to secure the sides and top of the box for the last few shots.

[rking22]

Longbow, for some reason your post had me laughing uncontrollably! Seems like something I would do,.....
Playdoo sounds interesting, looking forward to more info, thanks for the recipe.

[Thumbcocker]

I had an elementary school teacher who sent a recipe for this stuff home with us one year in the late 60's.

[Walter Laich]

we used it all the time (35 years as elementary teacher)

biggest problem with the 1st and 2nd graders was keeping them from eating it. Even when we mixed colors to make it look yucky it would go straight into their mouths.

[rsrocket1]

Wow this brings back a lot of memories.
I must have made a couple hundred pounds of this stuff from the same recipe while my kids were growing up. The last batch I made was probably 10-12 years ago. The trick is not to overcook it. Just like gravy or any other flour-based liquid that you heat up over the stove, when it gets to a certain temperature, it suddenly thickens up. That's when you pull it from the heat to stop it from cooking. My son's loved playing with the stuff and they got a nearly unlimited supply. We went through a lot of flour, salt and cream of tartar.

[dondiego]

we used it all the time (35 years as elementary teacher)

biggest problem with the 1st and 2nd graders was keeping them from eating it. Even when we mixed colors to make it look yucky it would go straight into their mouths.

Hence, the need for it to be non-toxic!

[Bloodman14]

When I read the title, I thought you had made Play-Doh boolits! Kinda like hot glue boolits? Too funny.

[Bluerock2000]

Next up in the test...."baby train" and "steam loader."217785217786

[longbow]

Play Doh is a way better idea than bread dough! I will have to try this one.

Another funny story is BruceB's attempt at using soggy rice in a plywood box in the back of his pickup! Do a search... good reading!

I have a Bullet Test Tube but it is only good for one shot then cut the waxy stuff apart to look at cavity/recover boolit then melt, recast, do again... tedious!

Longbow

[Bluerock2000]

Haha. Your story had me rolling. That was an interesting experiment by BruceB. I can guarantee you that my playdoh box wouldn't hold up to the pressures he was pushing through that rice. Maybe if you made 100lbs instead of 30 lbs of playdoh and left some voids between the playdoh and the inside of the box. But I was surprised at the pressure the 300gr jacketed bullets exerted, even subsonic. I'll be using a couple of ratchet straps around the box for these 350gr boolits.