Last time when I was at an outdoor shooting range I put up a wooden board
(1 inch thick, 5 ft long 2 ft wide) as a target. It rested in sticky, muddy ground. Then I started to shoot it from 30 yards with my .50 caliber 9.5 inch barrel Buckhunter pistol. I used 60 grains of FFG blackpowder and 175 gr roundballs + 300 gr conicals. Both penetrated completely, but now comes the interesting part: the 300 gr conical wouldn't even "shake" the board, while the lighter roundball consistently knocked the board down. What is happening here?
(1 inch thick, 5 ft long 2 ft wide) as a target. It rested in sticky, muddy ground. Then I started to shoot it from 30 yards with my .50 caliber 9.5 inch barrel Buckhunter pistol. I used 60 grains of FFG blackpowder and 175 gr roundballs + 300 gr conicals. Both penetrated completely, but now comes the interesting part: the 300 gr conical wouldn't even "shake" the board, while the lighter roundball consistently knocked the board down. What is happening here?