Molly
06-29-2009, 10:44 PM
Every kid with his first 22 will stack up some 2x4s and pop them with his gun, just to see how many boards their gun will penetrate. And every single kid also digs out the fired bullet out of curiousity, just to see what it looks like. Over the years, I've learned more about cast bullets by examining fired bullets than anything else I've done. Naturally, I've tried quite a few methods of catching cast bullets without damaging them.
Anytime this topic comes up, the first thing out of the gate is Dr. Mann's oiled sawdust trap. And yeah, it works, but it's a royal pain to operate. Ask anyone who has used one. I wanted something a bit more convenient for my own purposes.
Believe it or not, clean sand is a pretty useful stopping medium, if all you want to study is the base of the bullet. Granted, the bullet nose is ruined, but the base is usually almost intact, depending of course on the velocity. If you're studying base upset, sand can be both useful and inexpensive.
If you're studying upset at the other end (expansion), blocks of jello / gelatin are traditional targets, but they tend to spray goop everywhere. Same goes for clay blocks.
If you're willing to get your gun wet, a long swimming pool can be put to good use. Even a clear stream with a sandy bottom will do the job nicely. Just be sure that the bore is full of water before you close the action and pull the triggger. But given the bore full of water, the only way you can tell it from firing in air is the reduced noise (more of a 'foomp' than a 'blam')and the short range of the bullet. Most of them won't go much more than about fifteen feet. Just swim down and pick them up. (You can also have a lot of fun annoying the local fish population, but don't tell the warden I told you so.)
Some more unusual methods I've used successfully include loose newspaper, soaked and allowed to freeze solid. It caught a cast bullet out of a .222Rem at close to factory ballistics, without the slightest trace of visible deformation. The only problem is that it was a LOT of work to set up, and reproducability was pretty tough: the weather / temperature isn't all that consistent.
If you can get slabs of styrofoam or polyurethane foam at something between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick, they'll stop slugs very nicely, with no deformation at all. Trouble is that it takes quite a bit of foam to do the job. Unless you have access to a foam scrap pile, or don't mind spending a small fortune at an insulation shop, this one isn't as practical as it should be either. You also have the problem of disposing of all the shot up foam blocks too.
I've also heard of shooting into deep snow drifts, and recovering the bullets after the spring thaw, but this isn't one I've tried myself.
If I were to get back into the game, I think my next effort would be to make a framework that held about fifty or a hundred wooden dowels, about a newspaper wide. Or maybe just double the newspapers, and let each dowel hold two or three, depending on the power of the round I'm testing. Then I'd use a hose or a garden sprayer to wet the sheets down before firing into them. The idea here is to provide some resistance to the passage of the bullet, but not enough resistance to cause it to expand or upset. If you want to try this, be sure that you have a solid backstop, in case you misjudge how much wet newspaper it will take to stop the bullet. Oh, and I suggest you do it well away from town ...
OK, how about someone else tossing their two cents worth in here now?
Molly
Anytime this topic comes up, the first thing out of the gate is Dr. Mann's oiled sawdust trap. And yeah, it works, but it's a royal pain to operate. Ask anyone who has used one. I wanted something a bit more convenient for my own purposes.
Believe it or not, clean sand is a pretty useful stopping medium, if all you want to study is the base of the bullet. Granted, the bullet nose is ruined, but the base is usually almost intact, depending of course on the velocity. If you're studying base upset, sand can be both useful and inexpensive.
If you're studying upset at the other end (expansion), blocks of jello / gelatin are traditional targets, but they tend to spray goop everywhere. Same goes for clay blocks.
If you're willing to get your gun wet, a long swimming pool can be put to good use. Even a clear stream with a sandy bottom will do the job nicely. Just be sure that the bore is full of water before you close the action and pull the triggger. But given the bore full of water, the only way you can tell it from firing in air is the reduced noise (more of a 'foomp' than a 'blam')and the short range of the bullet. Most of them won't go much more than about fifteen feet. Just swim down and pick them up. (You can also have a lot of fun annoying the local fish population, but don't tell the warden I told you so.)
Some more unusual methods I've used successfully include loose newspaper, soaked and allowed to freeze solid. It caught a cast bullet out of a .222Rem at close to factory ballistics, without the slightest trace of visible deformation. The only problem is that it was a LOT of work to set up, and reproducability was pretty tough: the weather / temperature isn't all that consistent.
If you can get slabs of styrofoam or polyurethane foam at something between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick, they'll stop slugs very nicely, with no deformation at all. Trouble is that it takes quite a bit of foam to do the job. Unless you have access to a foam scrap pile, or don't mind spending a small fortune at an insulation shop, this one isn't as practical as it should be either. You also have the problem of disposing of all the shot up foam blocks too.
I've also heard of shooting into deep snow drifts, and recovering the bullets after the spring thaw, but this isn't one I've tried myself.
If I were to get back into the game, I think my next effort would be to make a framework that held about fifty or a hundred wooden dowels, about a newspaper wide. Or maybe just double the newspapers, and let each dowel hold two or three, depending on the power of the round I'm testing. Then I'd use a hose or a garden sprayer to wet the sheets down before firing into them. The idea here is to provide some resistance to the passage of the bullet, but not enough resistance to cause it to expand or upset. If you want to try this, be sure that you have a solid backstop, in case you misjudge how much wet newspaper it will take to stop the bullet. Oh, and I suggest you do it well away from town ...
OK, how about someone else tossing their two cents worth in here now?
Molly