Doing God's Work

... Testing ballistics that is.

I mentioned a few of the .380 gel tests a while back that are being put together over at Mouse Guns and Gear. Here is a recap of the more recent testing that they have put together since then.

.380 Ballistics Gel Test

Mouse Guns and Gear has posted up some great info on some gel testing they did with the Kahr P380. There is video and pics and everything else that you need.... The testing was very well done, and the results were impressive.

The good news is that all 4 showed some expansion from the short barrel and for me, that's what is most important.

I really would love to see some more testing with .380 done similar to the test that I pointed out a while back that included the use of a rack of ribs. .380 does great in geletin (even with a denim cover, but penetration was severely hampered in that video when the bullet struck a rib. I would like to see it tested further to determine if that is a consistent problem or just a fluke.

One of the most informative gun videos I've seen in a while

Via Guns For Everyone... Here is a very informative video about the ballistics performance of the XM193 5.56 This guy does a fantastic job of dissecting the ballistics gel and showing you what all went on inside... there is also a really cool visual of the temporary wound cavity. Well done, sir.

Ballistics

Shooting Illustrated has a nice look at the .40 S&W Federal 165-grain Hydra-Shock. Its one of those old faithful defense rounds, and in their testing, it showed pretty well.

Bushnell Scout 1000 ARC Ballistics Calculating Range Finder

This is pretty cool. Like almost every other range finder on the market it calculates angle and gives you actual shoot distance... BUT... this one will calculate your rifle's load and give you proper hold over in inches to compensate for bullet drop. Nice.

Hornady Critical Defense

Shooting Illustrated has a spectacular article up talking about these defensive rounds. It also covers some ballistic testing for .380, .38 Special, and 9mm.

I have always been intrigued by the design of these rounds, and have always felt that they are a great choice for winter months - especially in .380. Everything that I have ever seen of them shows that they have no problem what so ever going through heavy/thick clothing and while still getting adequate penetration and expansion.

.45 ACP Ballistics

Shooting Illustrated takes a look.... .45 ACP LeHigh Defense 174-grain Max-Expanding (with gel tests).

Diamondback to offer .32 NAA conversion barrels for their DB380

Reports Richard Mann over at Empty Cases

Here is the link over to the Diamondback site with the news. Here is a link to Richards Gel tests of .32 NAA. So basicaly you are looking at $100 to convert your DB380 into .32 NAA... which is a very promising round. The only problem is that it is still basicly a "wildcat" and only Corbon produces ammo for it.

BTW - you could do a lot worse than Corbon as a defensive load. They are top notch.

New Winchester iPhone/iPod App

Winchester is going to be offering their ballistics software as an app. Its a pretty good system, and a great way to market their ammunition. Remington also does something similar, and I wish a lot more manufacturers would do the same.

Here is the press release:

Multi Projectile .45 Colt

This is pretty cool... penetration is kinda all over the place though. I think I would just stick to traditional cowboy loads. There is not really a whole lot you can do to improve on .45 caliber hollow points.

9mm DoubleTap 80-grain TAC-XP

Shooting Illustrated did some ballistics testing with this round and it had some very favorable results:

Load	MV (fps)	PEN (inches)	EXP (inches)	RW(grains)
9 mm DoubleTap 80-grain TAC-XP	1,545	13.0	.60	60

*There is also a picture of their ballistics gel at the link.

This is a very interesting load. At an unusual weight of 80 grains, it is very light... and that is exactly why they are getting 1,500 fps performance. Its designed specifically for all the new micro 9mm guns that are now flooding the market place, and it might be just the ticket. Its a reduced recoil round (which is great when shooting an uber light 9mm gun), but it does not seem to give up much of anything in penetration or expansion.

*Their test gun was a compact S&W M&P

DIY Ballistics Gelatin Kit

Via Guns and Ammo (and they have a vid on their link)

Apparently GelatinInnovations.com has a complete kit that you can buy that contains everything you need but the water. $90 will get you enough stuff to make 3 6 1/4 x 6 1/4 x 16-inch blocks of 10 % gelatin.

Remington 124 gr Golden Saber

Shooting Times has a nice performance test on this ammo.

Load	MV (fps)	PEN (inches)	EXP (inches)	RW(grains)
9 mm +P Remington 124-grain Golden Saber	1,068	15.0	0.64	124

This is a fantastic round... in just about every caliber (I have seen some .380 testing where rounds did not expand). 124 gr also seems to be the sweet spot for 9mm rounds, and is an excellent choice for personal protection.

Ballistics Testing

I stumbled upon these guys on YouTube the other day. They've got a few really good videos up in which they do some .45 ACP and .380 ACP ballistics gelatin testing.

Whats interesting about their testing is that not only are they using a jacket and a t-shirt to cover the gelatin, but also a rack of ribs. Its very interesting to see performance (especially in the .380) when the bullets strikes rib bone.

*BTW here is another test of Winchester PDX-1 in .380 which is very impressive..... 1 inch of expansion in water!

Video: .380ACP Federal Hydra-Shok impacting ballistic gelatin

Gel tests galore

Golden Loki has some really nice gel tests for several pocket pistol calibers up to 9mm. These are very well done, and most importantly are done with small carry pistols. If you carry a small gun, then you need to spend some time checking these out.

Video: FMJ vs JHP

More on snake loads

Shooting Illustrated touches on the subject again.... run down a few loads.

380 ACP Wilson Combat 90-grain Hornady XTP

Shooting illustrated wrings it out here

Load	MV (fps)	PEN (inches)	EXP (inches)	RW (grains)
.380 ACP Wilson Combat 90-grain Hornady XTP	862	11.50	.46	90

Video: Bullets hitting gelatin

Shooting Illustrated has the video of Extreme Shock ammo........... here