Bullet trap results

[BULLBLASTER]

I have a bunch of old BB's you can test.

I'd like data at 10ft 50ft 25yds and a 100yards.

I'd also like to know if they are tumbling after impact.

What kind of impact velocity to you expect? And how well do you think they will mushroom?

[Karl Blanchard]

I have a bunch of old BB's you can test.

I'd like data at 10ft 50ft 25yds and a 100yards.

I'd also like to know if they are tumbling after impact.

  will these get mag dumped or more of a spray and pray?

[BULLBLASTER]

Volleyfire

[jay.sharkbait]

Volleyfire

Is there any other way?

[BULLBLASTER]

Volleyfire

Is there any other way?

if there is si sure haven't found or learned it. 

[Karl Blanchard]

Volleyfire

Is there any other way?

if there is si sure haven't found or learned it. 

I bet you own a 10/22 as well 

[BULLBLASTER]

Volleyfire

Is there any other way?

if there is si sure haven't found or learned it. 

I bet you own a 10/22 as well 

I cannot confirm or deny...

[yorketransport]

Didn't see it on your list but have you tested any Berger 230gr .30cal or 208 Amax?  Can send you a few more if you'd like to test them.

I don't have either of those yet. As always, if you can spare a few I'll try them!

I have a bunch of old BB's you can test.

I'd like data at 10ft 50ft 25yds and a 100yards.

I'd also like to know if they are tumbling after impact.

Do you have a specific impact velocity you want tested? I need to know whether to use the Red Ryder or step up to the heavy artillery and go with the multi-pump.

Thanks to BLRman for the 212 and 210 30 calibers to shoot, as well as the inspirational note . And thanks to Bullblaster for sending me a bag of bullets that I'll have to take a pair of calipers and a digital scale to just to figure out what they are.


I've got a thread going on Long Range Hunting  as well and a couple of guys over there are sending bullets too. I'll get a count this weekend of all the different stuff I have to test. I'm going to make a bullet board with one of each bullet from the testing.

[BULLBLASTER]

Didn't see it on your list but have you tested any Berger 230gr .30cal or 208 Amax?  Can send you a few more if you'd like to test them.

I don't have either of those yet. As always, if you can spare a few I'll try them!

I have a bunch of old BB's you can test.

I'd like data at 10ft 50ft 25yds and a 100yards.

I'd also like to know if they are tumbling after impact.

Do you have a specific impact velocity you want tested? I need to know whether to use the Red Ryder or step up to the heavy artillery and go with the multi-pump.

Thanks to BLRman for the 212 and 210 30 calibers to shoot, as well as the inspirational note . And thanks to Bullblaster for sending me a bag of bullets that I'll have to take a pair of calipers and a digital scale to just to figure out what they are.

Glad I could help!  ziplock baggies are hard to come by!
 there's only 4 different bullets there.
Solid red tips are 7mm translucent (sp?) red tips are 6.5.
Besides I know you like fondling bullets as much as the rest of us.

[yorketransport]

Alright, I had planned to get a lot more testing done this weekend but work, weather and sick kids are getting in the way. For this round of testing I tried changing my medium a bit by adding water and just throwing in the leather instead of layering it like I had in the past. I did see a change in penetration but no discernible change in expansion with the bullets tested. The biggest issue with the new method is that it's early impossible to get a good measurement on penetration since I can't really remove the leather in layers like I did before. Here's the setup I used yesterday.


My testing got cut short after a the snow rolled in and I couldn't see the target at 100 yards any more. I did get 7 new bullets tested though out of the 26 that I have to test at the moment. Yesterday's test guns included the Ruger 77 300 Win Mag, 338/375 Ruger Savage Striker and to test the 270 bullets, I used a 270 AR. For those not familiar with it it's a wildcat formed from shortened 6.5x47 Lapua brass with a case capacity of 43.2gr.


Like previous tests, 2 shots were fired at 100 yards with each load. Because of the different style of testing used this time out I won't include the penetration. I'm not confident that I was able to get good measurements on any of the bullets this time around. I will note that the shank of the Hammer bullets Sledgehammers made it almost completely through the test medium.

270 AR
-130gr Swift Scirocco II
- Muzzle velocity 2571 fps

Retained velocity at impact is approximately 2400 fps with retained weights of 125.5gr and 126.8. This would be similar to the impact velocity from a 270 Win at 400 yards.


-130gr Nosler E-Tip
- Muzzle velocity 2565 fps

Retained velocity on impact is approximately 2400 fps with retained weights of 129.1 and 129.3 grains. These bullets showed the second best penetration of the loads tested. Again, this impact velocity is similar to a 270 Win at 400 yards. This is a bullet that I have on hand and will likely test some more. The mild load I used for this test shot under 1 MOA and would perform very well as a 300 yard hunting load from the AR with a muzzle velocity of about 2700 fps.


-135gr Sierra MK
- Muzzle velocity 2580 fps

Retained velocity on impact is approximately 2425 fps. Retained weight would be considered zero in my mind. The cores completely separated from the jackets after very little penetration. This result is dramatically different than my experience with the 300gr SMK in this test.



338/375 Ruger
- 224gr Sledgehammer
- Muzzle velocity 2160 fps

Retained velocity on impact is approximately 1975 fps. Retained weight of the bullet shanks after petal separation are 186.2 and 186.3 grains. Impact velocity was calculated using a BC of .3 due to the relatively large HP and blunt profile of these bullets. As stated earlier, these bullets out penetrated everything else tested yesterday by a considerable margin.


- 250gr Sierra MK
- Muzzle velocity 2610 FPS

Retained velocity on impact is approximately 2440 fps. Retained weight of the bullets is again what I would consider zero. The jacket and cores completely separated very quickly after impact and penetrated only a few inches. This impact velocity would be similar to a 338 Lapua/338 RUM at 400 yards.



300 Win Mag
- 210 Nosler ABLR
- Muzzle velocity 2620

Retained velocity on impact is approximately 2500 fps with retained weights of 160.4gr and 128.3gr. This load ended up with a higher muzzle velocity than I wanted so I will likely retest these with a muzzle velocity closer to 2200 fps.


- 242 SXRH
- Muzzle velocity 2065 fps

Retained velocity on impact is likely in the 1975 range. Retained weight would be what I consider zero. These penetrated approximately 3" and did massive damage, but retained very little weight. This is a bullet that a guy over on Long Range Hunting makes and I believe is intended for low velocity impacts. I think I'll need to move to a longer range to get better low velocity impact data on this one. If I run the muzzle velocity any lower I don't think it well be adequately stabilized.


I started this just to play around since I've always been a bullet scrounge since I started shooting as a kid. Over the years I started to move towards either mono-metal or bonded bullets for all of my hunting guns and so far these tests have pretty much confirmed what I always believed. The most consistent results I'm seeing are from the Accubonds and the solid copper bullets. Accubonds have always worked well for me and other folks I know but there's talk of moving to lead free ammo here in WA so I started moving over to the solid coppers. I've run a lot of Barnes bullets over the years and I've never been disappointed with how they perform. Last year I started to move over towards the Hammer Hunter bullets to replace my Accubonds and I'm really happy with how they're preforming in all these tests too.

I still have a ton of bullets to get to! This is the line up of stuff I wanted to get done this weekend.


143 ELDX, 147 ELDM, 150 Matrix, 162 ELDX, 180 SP, 210 ABLR, 212 ELDX, 215 Berger, 242 SXRH, 250 Berger


135 SMK, 130 E-tip, 130 Scirocco II, 225 SGK, 200 TTSX, 225 TSX, 260 AB, 300 SGK, 350 SMK


88gr HH, 130 SH, 181 HH, 185 SH, 224 SH, 255 SH, 283 SH

A huge thanks (I think:D) to everyone who's sent bullets and helped me out. Keep the feedback coming if there's a way you guy's would like to see this improved.

Andrew

[carpsniperg2]

Great stuff I have used the etip on a few hunts for thicker game bear and boar. I have been very impressed with weight retention and penetration. I will for sure be using them when I get to Africa some day. I love me some accubond but with the weight retention and penetration the etips are great for heavy game.

[j_h_nimrod]

Would you want to try some legacy bullet testing?  I have a couple (have to check how many flavors) bullets dating back to the 50s-60s. I know it is not very practical (impossible to find most now) to use these bullets but it may interest some to compare performance of past n present.

[yorketransport]

Would you want to try some legacy bullet testing?  I have a couple (have to check how many flavors) bullets dating back to the 50s-60s. I know it is not very practical (impossible to find most now) to use these bullets but it may interest some to compare performance of past n present.

I'm all for it! The 250gr Barnes original that I tested in the 300 did incredibly well!

[yorketransport]

Here's the next round of testing. Conditions were terrible today, driving to my spot was like driving through 9" of Slurpee. This trip out I tested all 6.5mm bullets from a 6.5x47 Lapua named "Shiny" that I built for my daughter (that's why it's left handed) and 6mm bullets were tested from a 6mm BR pistol. I used the same setup as last weekend which makes it hard to get accurate penetration measurements so those aren't included.




6mm BR
- 105 Lapua Scenar
- Muzzle velocity 2630 fps

Impact velocity is approximately 2470 fps with retained weights of 75.9 and 82.8gr. I was very surprised by how well these bullets performed.


- 88gr Hammer Hunter
- Muzzle velocity 2553

Impact velocity is approximately 2310 fps with a retained weight of 58.5gr. Two bullets were recovered but I dropped one of these in the snow and wasn't able to find them. This is a new bullet that I plan to load at a higher velocity as a hunting bullet in the 6mm BR.


6.5x47 Lapua
- 140gr Berger VLD Hunting
- Muzzle velocity 2745

Impact velocity is approximately 2605 fps with a retained weight of 135.8gr. Two bullets were recovered but I dropped one of these in the snow and wasn't able to find it. This bullet performed much better this time than it did in the previous test. This clearly shows the difference between an under stabilized bullet and one which has been properly stabilized. This is the standard load that my daughter shoots in this rifle out to 300 yards and I'll get expansion results at longer range/lower velocity when the conditions are better.


- 147 ELD-M
- Muzzle velocity 2090 fps

Impact velocity is approximately 1975 fps with retained weights of 136.5 and 131.9gr. These bullets performed very well at the low impact velocity and would appear to give performance very similar to the Berger VLD Hunting bullet.


-150gr Matrix VLD
- Muzzle velocity 1945

Impact velocity is approximately 1840 fps with retained weights of 133.4 and 75.9gr. I believe that one of these struck a bullet which was already in the leather and that's what caused the significant weight loss in one bullet. These were both unmodified 150gr Matrix VLDs, I have additional samples with modified nose cavities to test as well in the future.


300 Win Mag
- 212 ELD-x
- Muzzle velocity 2680 fps

Impact velocity is approximately 2555 fps with retained weights of  130.9 and 171.4. These bullets expanded much more than I would have expected them to at this velocity.


- 215 Berger Hybrid
- Muzzle velocity 2686 fps

Impact velocity is approximately 2560 fps with a retained weight of 156.8gr. The second bullet recovered had been struck by a 225gr TTSX and retained weight is not representative of actual performance.


338/375 Ruger
- 225gr TTSX
- Muzzle velocity 2721 fps

Impact velocity is approximately 2560 fps with retained weights of 217.3 and 224.1gr. One of these bullets struck a 215gr Berger Hybrid which was already in the leather, resulting in one petal breaking off and irregular expansion.


- 283gr SledgeHammer
- Muzzle velocity 2044 fps

Impact velocity is approximately 1890 fps with a retained weight of 237.6gr. Due to a limited number of these bullets available I only had 2 samples loaded to test. The first shot went lower than I anticipated so only one bullet was recovered. As is typical of the design, the petals broke of and the shank of the bullet continued on. This bullet penetrated the farthest relative to the other bullets in today's test. It's worth noting that this bullet is relatively short for a heavy mono-metal bullet and fully stabilized even at the low muzzle velocity.


Overall, today's testing didn't go as well as I would have liked but still provided plenty of usable data. Conditions were similar to elk hunting in November, wet and cold with a chance of even wetter and colder! I lost a few bullets, missed the target with another and had a couple bullets collide in the trap giving inaccurate results. Add to this the bad primers (the first bad primers I've had in 12 years!), both of them on my 143gr ELD-x loads and it was a fairly frustrating trip.

The positive results to come from this trip are, like in previous ones, the consistent results I've had from all of the solid copper bullets. I've tested 8 different solid copper bullets from 3 different manufacturers so far and they've all given text book performance. I haven't seen any examples so far of properly stabilized solid copper bullets "penciling" through and not expanding. I'll openly admit my personal bias towards the solid copper bullets for the majority of hunting situations. I've always been a fan of Barnes bullets but the Hammer bullets are proving to offer the same predictable terminal performance with the benefit of being much easier to "tune" in my experience so far. I've also had the opportunity to see the differences between expansion of properly stabilized lead core bullets when compared to under stabilized bullets of a similar design. Not that I ever had a reason to question all of the rifling twist recommendations, but this has proven to me that a properly stabilized bullet not only shoots more accurately and consistently but that it also has better terminal performance.

Andrew

[Magnum_Willys]

Thanks Yorke !  Great stuff.  looks like it was tough conditions for a nice spring day.