Interesting difference in "knock-down power"-literally!

[M. Haze]

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?

 

[marcseatac]

I suspect the more aerodynamic conical penetrated the board with less resistence because of its shape.

 

[arcticap]

Greater weight, sectional density and penetration power (inertia) helped it to blast through the board.

See: http://www.chuckhawks.com/sd_beginners.htm

 

[Double J]

knock down power

To add confusion try this, set up two empty one liter plastic pop bottles. Shoot one with the .50 or bigger muzzleloader, shoot the other with a.30 cal. modern high power. You'll notice the exit holes. The big bore has long strands of melted plastic. The greater frontal mass compresses the air inside the bottle to flash point. Seems the oldtimers had something going for them.