[William R. Moore]

Not that I'm advising people to load their own defensive ammo, but testing on .40 & .45 Sierra JHC bullets is impressive and consistant. The .40s go to around 0.64 and the .45s to 0.72 with adequate penetration by FBI test standards.

 

[IrishCop]

I always liked Sierra bullets way back in the day when I reloaded. .72 inches is truly impressive with the .45 ACP. May I ask if you know the velocity, and were you using ballistic gel as a test medium? (I only ask because with the heat here, I'm pretty sure a block of gel woulda melted before the first shot was fired ;-) )

 

[William R. Moore]

Velocity was clocked on a PACT chrono. The 230 gr .45s clocked ~850 fps. the .40s varied a bit, IIRC right around 1000 fps for 180's. Test media was water, using a published system verified as suitably accurate by Dr. Fackler. FWIW, testing Hydra-Shok 147s during initial trials duplicated the Federal (Ammo and Agency) results both for expansion and penetration. To approximate water penetration in 10% gelatin, divide the water penetration by 1.55.

The thing to remember though is like the FBI states: the purpose is provide a uniform test medium. It does NOT predict results in actual tissue. I will note that test results with Cor-Bon 9mm +P (they use Sierra bullets) very closely resembled real world results. [I didn't have a statistically significant number of tests, but then the FBI doesn't either].

I didn't bother with denim "clothing" with these particular tests. What I've observed is that penetration typically increases slightly with the cloth in place, the expansion is slightly delayed but goes to full diameter.

 

[IrishCop]

Thanks for the info Mr. Moore. Don't worry. I long ago accepted the fact that the only truly valid test medium for any load is a living, breathing human being. And even then I believe there to be variables from person to person on the effectiveness.

Like you said, it provides stable a basis for evaluation.

But you still have to put the bullet in the right place.

 

[Charlie Petty]

Actually I spent quite a bit of time with the "Fackler box" and was able to compare some resutls from it with actual gelatin. I think Dr. Fackler had a correlation factor to get the two equal but don't recall.

I don't like the idea of reloads in a carry gun but I'd sure look at Gold Dots if I did.

I've had great luck with Sierras in both accuracy and function but don't think I ever did any expansion testing.

 

[IrishCop]

I looked into buying some ballistic gelatin once. Couldn't justify the expense just to satisfy my curiosity. Decided to leave it to guys like you who can conduct the tests and explain t me what they mean

I kinda like like ol' Dr. Fackler. (Gotta Google "Fackler Box") And I just read a report by a Dr. Roberts (I think that was his name) on AR15.com that was written a while back concerning the best 5.56/.223 loads, and the argument to going to the 6.8 for the military. Must say it was well written and quite logical, but apparently ignored by the Powers that Be, probably because of the expense.

 

[Charlie Petty]

It is definitely more trouble than it's worth and making the jello is a pain. I had to have a dedicated refrigerator for the stuff.

If you Google "Fackler Box" you may find an article from The American Rifleman by a familiar face.

When the FBI first started working with the 10mm they were handloading with 180 gr. Sierra bullets and then when they started to get interested in the 40 Sierra came out with a 165 gr. JHC that was very promising in my work. Passed it on to a buddy at Quantico and promptly forgot about it. Was a bit pleased with myself when they went with that bullet weight for their ammo.