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Author Topic: muzzleloader bullets in ballistic gel  (Read 2898 times)

Offline yorketransport

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muzzleloader bullets in ballistic gel
« on: July 11, 2021, 09:57:59 PM »
I've been working on a long term project testing a variety of rifle bullets in ballistic gel and I had a chance today to fire a few shots from the muzzleloader into the gel at 75 yards. The rifle is a Knight Bighorn .52 cal and both bullets were shot with 130gr Triple 7.

275gr Knight Bloodline. This is the top-down view.



I was amazed that the bullet exited the second block, that's 32" of penetration before exiting. I fired a 275gr copper HP from a 45-70 into the gel blocks with a similar impact velocity and it barely made it through the first block. All of the petals exited the first block by about the 8" mark. This is consistent with what I saw on a deer I shot with this same load last season; I saw exit holes in the hide from the petals. The entrance hole looks like it was cut with a cookie cutter!

405gr Rem FP. I use these for plinking and when somebody else wants to shoot the muzzleloader.



This bullet curved up and to the left, exiting the second gel block after 22" of penetration. I found one fragment of the jacket and small bits of lead through the bullet's path, so the bullet did expand.

The initial damage done by the Bloodline in the first 8" of penetration was pretty spectacular and the remaining shank left a good wound cavity. The 405gr jacketed bullet just left a very consistent wound cavity the full length of penetration, similar to what I see from hard cast lead bullets from a handgun.

I plan on testing more bullets whenever I have time during the other testing. If anybody has a specific bullet they want me to test, let me know. I have .458 and .475 sabots on hand, so I'm going to run through whatever other bullets I have on hand. It might be hard to beat that Bloodline though!

Offline Dan-o

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Re: muzzleloader bullets in ballistic gel
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2021, 10:12:40 PM »
That is crazy penetration.

It always amazes me how big my muzzy wound channels are on elk, mostly with full pass thru's.

Are you up for testing some 400 grain Harvester Hard Cast Lead?
I am in total awe of the  wound channel they leave.
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Offline Jpmiller

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Re: muzzleloader bullets in ballistic gel
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2021, 06:34:03 AM »
Man is that cool. You better be careful though posting those results, you're emboldening the Texas heart shot crowd  :chuckle:

Offline Scruffy

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Re: muzzleloader bullets in ballistic gel
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2021, 07:44:02 AM »
That is some awesome stuff, cool to see the cavity it creates.  Just makes me shiver thinking about the Civil War.  Men lining up a couple hundred yards apart and lobbing lead at each other.  With even larger calipers like 69 caliper.  All you had to do was hit a leg or an arm and it was gone.  Those were some brave men back then and the musket was quite the weapon for it's time.
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Offline yorketransport

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Re: muzzleloader bullets in ballistic gel
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2021, 08:08:48 PM »
That is crazy penetration.

It always amazes me how big my muzzy wound channels are on elk, mostly with full pass thru's.

Are you up for testing some 400 grain Harvester Hard Cast Lead?
I am in total awe of the  wound channel they leave.

I love that muzzleloaders just behave like a big bore handgun. They just poke a big hole in stuff and keep on going!

Are the 400gr bullets .452 or .458? I actually don't know if it would make a big difference. Getting those .458's started is enough of a workout that I imagine a .452 in the same sabot would still give a good seal.

Here's the video and still shots from the gel test.

Bloodline


405gr Rem


The still photo of the 405gr bullet isn't as impressive since it hit on the far side of the block, but you can still make out the wound cavity. The video of the 405's impact is pretty impressive though.

Offline Dan-o

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Re: muzzleloader bullets in ballistic gel
« Reply #5 on: July 12, 2021, 11:10:15 PM »
That is crazy penetration.

It always amazes me how big my muzzy wound channels are on elk, mostly with full pass thru's.

Are you up for testing some 400 grain Harvester Hard Cast Lead?
I am in total awe of the  wound channel they leave.

I love that muzzleloaders just behave like a big bore handgun. They just poke a big hole in stuff and keep on going!

Are the 400gr bullets .452 or .458? I actually don't know if it would make a big difference. Getting those .458's started is enough of a workout that I imagine a .452 in the same sabot would still give a good seal.

Here's the video and still shots from the gel test.

Bloodline


405gr Rem


The still photo of the 405gr bullet isn't as impressive since it hit on the far side of the block, but you can still make out the wound cavity. The video of the 405's impact is pretty impressive though.

Well, it says they are 451.

I'm happy to ship you some if you tell me how many you want.
Member:   Yakstrakgutp (or whatever we are)
I love the BFRO!!!
I wonder how many people will touch their nose to their screen trying to read this...

 


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