Testing defense rounds, any suggestions?

[sovietak474u]

HST is the standard to compare against in 9mm, .40 and .45. Any of the weights and +P or regular...

I did a lot of this in the 90s, when it was just ignorant writers in gun mags doing uncontrolled "tests". But now? It's been done 12 ways from Sunday and the results are readily available (for now anyway!) on Youtube. Why not smoke the ribs and watch videos?

It is fun to recover bullets, but nowadays since most of the designs actually perform as advertised, it's a lot less interesting. I still have a box of the bullets from the 90s that would not expand-- Hydrashoks, Golden Sabers, Silvertips, Gold Dots, etc. All garbage prior to about 1996. Wouldn't expand in water, unobstructed, 5" barrel Beretta 92FS. Neither would much of anything from a 2" .38-- 110 gr. Nyclad and 158 gr. lead SWC "FBI load" being the exceptions, and they didn't expand very much. Things are so much better today. Oh-- what did I learn in 1994? Buy a .45. Today? Buy a nine.

If you just want nice pretty expanded bullets-- get a 55 gallon drum, fill it up with water, and shoot straight down into it. You and your gun(s) will get wet. It is unlikely that you will damage the barrel. Sink a towel or something to the bottom if you want to be sure. I did manage to cause a leak in the bottom of a rusty barrel one time. It was almost rusted through anyway, but one of my unexpanded HPs hit it hard enough to crack the rust. I mention that for completeness.

In any case, good luck and have fun! Do include HSTs though-- they really are the standard to compare against.

Elegantly and perfectly said . This !

 

[sovietak474u]

Paul Harrell is where ive got 90% of my testing ideas from, i think he has the best videos online. I will take a lot of pictures and try to record, but my video quality will be limited to an iPhone & iPad. Im doing these test where I can see how each bullet performs with my own eyes & no bias. @Horsehat Thanks for the info, i will see if i can get a pig carcass, i would love to fill it up with ballistics gelatin & put a heart in the gel.

kuduman HST has crossed my mind, i know about the bullet but i have not seen any testing (other than just shooting a block of gelatin) that shows the bullet doing anything except over penetrating and not expanding. Basically every test ive seen with the HST & Hornady Critical Duty shows the bullet not expanding & seriously over penetrating. However, because HST is so popular i may grab a box and include it in my test. I am aware of the HST & critical duty's ability to go through glass & barriers but i don't see that being beneficial to anyone outside of law enforcement.
I really want this test to offer some insight on how each bullet will perform in a target that is as close as possible to a human body. I know there will always be variables & exceptions but i figure every defense load will have to encounter clothing, bone, & muscle regardless of the scenario. The one thing that weighs on my mind and has contributed to me not wanting to consider HST & Critical duty is over penetration without expansion. I picture a scenario where an attacker is between me & my wife or daughters and having to worry about a bullet blowing through and hurting one of them. Maybe thats an unreasonable fear but i cant shake the idea of it being a very real possibility. If the HST showed good expansion maybe i could test the poser it has after passing through the intended target, but i haven't seen good expansion with HST in anything other than gel..... and every bullet looks good in gel.

I really hope the Novx perform well, those bullets are so light it almost feels like you don't even have a mag in the gun. That would be a major plus for CC. The Corbon DPX are also much lighter than a JHP but the Novx are by far the lightest bullet ive ever held. Im skeptical about how well they will work but id be lying if i said i wasn't rooting for them.

Gel ain’t flesh. Do same test with clothes and bone . I’ve seen what HST does to flesh so that’s why I stick with it . Get some meat with bone in it . You will see the difference

 

[Goosebuster]

Gel ain’t flesh. Do same test with clothes and bone . I’ve seen what HST does to flesh so that’s why I stick with it . Get some meat with bone in it . You will see the difference

Gel aint flesh but its the closest thing to muscle tissue that i can get so thats primarily what it will be used for. I will also use it as a back stop. You can read my original post and see everything else i plan on using, this isnt just another gel test.

 

[sovietak474u]

Gel aint flesh but its the closest thing to muscle tissue that i can get so thats primarily what it will be used for. I will also use it as a back stop. You can read my original post and see everything else i plan on using, this isnt just another gel test.

Right but I’m not sure what part of town you live in but around here hitting muscle would be dumb luck lol. All I’m hinting at is HST is said by some to be the best as of now . So it would not hurt to include it . I look forward to see your results so I hope you post them

 

[Kman]

Normally I go down to Home Depot and pick up a few day laborers. It's a little more costly and heavier than the gel.

 

[Goosebuster]

sovietak474u I will go buy a box today and include it, because i read and watch so many videos on bullets its possible that i've not given HST a fair shake.

 

[Goosebuster]

Normally I go down to Home Depot and pick up a few day laborers. It's a little more costly and heavier than the gel.

But i bet the results are undisputed.

 

[sovietak474u]

sovietak474u I will go buy a box today and include it, because i read and watch so many videos on bullets its possible that i've not given HST a fair shake.

Get the 124gr . I like the 147 but it really shines with the 124

 

[sovietak474u]

Normally I go down to Home Depot and pick up a few day laborers. It's a little more costly and heavier than the gel.

Hookers man hookers . Less trouble , easy to collect and store .

 

[rockyfatcat]

Thick Denim or old blue jeans! Everybody wears pants. Denim is a good tough representation of the type of material that you may have to penetrate before your Bullet can do any damage, and will present a challenge as some hollow points if they get plugged up may not expand properly