Best medium to shoot into.
04-27-2009, 03:37 PM
#21
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Lake Tahoe
Posts: 308
RE: Best medium to shoot into.
Windy day at the range! But, I did finally get there with everything and here is how it went. Wet news paper was the best for me. I used a box packed full of dry dirt, a box of dry phone books and a box of wet news papers. I was only able to use two types of bullets because I was out of S/Ws. The two I used were Barnes 250gr. TMZ & Hornady 250gr. SST. I have tried to upload pics but I keep getting an error saying the file is too large. If I figure out how to get them up I will. Except for the box of sand, the bullets went through a jug full of water before they went into the bullet catch. Great effect!
The box of drydirt didnt do very well. 3 Barnes & 2 SSTs. The Barnes went right through it. Large exit holes though. I could not recover them. The SSTs hit on the bottom of the box and did not go through. Great group though. I was able to recover one copper jacket with no lead and one that was all mushroomed out. Almost flat.
The dry phone books did ok. They both went throughand I was able to recover both bullets.The Barneslooked just like its sposed to. Opened up nice. Tore through the phone books. Nice exit. The SST, blew the phone book box back a couple of feet and really left a shreddingchannel in its wake.All Ifound was the copper jacket, no lead.
The wet news papers did the best job. It stopped both bullets and I was really able to see the penetration and expansion is slow motion as I peeled the paper off a little at a time. The Barnes made a nice entrance hole and went through 4" of the wet paper before it stopped. Nice open channel all the way. I could stick my pinky in it. Bullet held together very well. The SST went through 7" of wet paper before it stopped. I didnt get but a few pages deep and I found a little piece of copper jacket. The hole was not as open as the Barnes. I could not stick my pinkey in it. As I peeled the paper off, I found another little piece of copper jacket. Once I got to the bullet, it didnt mushroom too much. It was deformed and did leave a bigger channel but not till it was close to stopping.
There is no doubt that the SST is accurate and will get the job done. I can see how its inconsistanciesin expansion and bullet fragmentation could result in a thru & thru without leaving a large exit hole or a non penatrating shoulder shot.
The penetration to the box of wet news paper was very impressive but the channel it left and the deformation to the bullet was not. I also didnt like the how they reacted in the otherstuff I shot into. The SST went through the phone books but who knows what happened to the lead. The box ofdirtthey did not go through and the two bullets reacted in different ways.
The Barnes looked just like they do in the pictures. Opened up just like a little copper flower and did not fragment or get deformed. I dont know what to think about the penetrationin the wet news paper. Only 4". But the way it went through the phone books and the box ofdirt tells me thatpenetration isnt a issue.For me, no doubt about what I will be using for hunting.
Anyhow, there is my report and I will continue to try and upload some pics.
The box of drydirt didnt do very well. 3 Barnes & 2 SSTs. The Barnes went right through it. Large exit holes though. I could not recover them. The SSTs hit on the bottom of the box and did not go through. Great group though. I was able to recover one copper jacket with no lead and one that was all mushroomed out. Almost flat.
The dry phone books did ok. They both went throughand I was able to recover both bullets.The Barneslooked just like its sposed to. Opened up nice. Tore through the phone books. Nice exit. The SST, blew the phone book box back a couple of feet and really left a shreddingchannel in its wake.All Ifound was the copper jacket, no lead.
The wet news papers did the best job. It stopped both bullets and I was really able to see the penetration and expansion is slow motion as I peeled the paper off a little at a time. The Barnes made a nice entrance hole and went through 4" of the wet paper before it stopped. Nice open channel all the way. I could stick my pinky in it. Bullet held together very well. The SST went through 7" of wet paper before it stopped. I didnt get but a few pages deep and I found a little piece of copper jacket. The hole was not as open as the Barnes. I could not stick my pinkey in it. As I peeled the paper off, I found another little piece of copper jacket. Once I got to the bullet, it didnt mushroom too much. It was deformed and did leave a bigger channel but not till it was close to stopping.
There is no doubt that the SST is accurate and will get the job done. I can see how its inconsistanciesin expansion and bullet fragmentation could result in a thru & thru without leaving a large exit hole or a non penatrating shoulder shot.
The penetration to the box of wet news paper was very impressive but the channel it left and the deformation to the bullet was not. I also didnt like the how they reacted in the otherstuff I shot into. The SST went through the phone books but who knows what happened to the lead. The box ofdirtthey did not go through and the two bullets reacted in different ways.
The Barnes looked just like they do in the pictures. Opened up just like a little copper flower and did not fragment or get deformed. I dont know what to think about the penetrationin the wet news paper. Only 4". But the way it went through the phone books and the box ofdirt tells me thatpenetration isnt a issue.For me, no doubt about what I will be using for hunting.
Anyhow, there is my report and I will continue to try and upload some pics.
