Test for boolit expansion anyone?

J

jeager106

Moderator
Just to demonstrate how anal I can get I test h.p. handgun bullets
for expansion from my various revovlers & pistols.
Back in the day h.p. bullets often would not expand at all until
Super Vel came out with lighter & faster handgun loads.
Today it's hard to find h.p. bullets that won't expand quite well.
A notable exception being some .40 S&W bullets made by Previ that I foudn at Wallmart. They acted like hardball.
I used to go to the trouble of brewing up b-gel but it got
expensive, messy, & a lot of trouble to make.
I was shooting the bull with Mass about that several years ago & he told me of a young copper that compared b-gel medium to plastic gallon jugs of water and determined there is no real difference between the 2 mediums.

I've been shooting water filled gallon pastic jugs ever since.
I do this mostly for the heck of it & found that almost all
of today's h.p. handgun bullets do a nice job.
If I ever get into a fight with a gallon jug I feel confident I might win.:D
 
You should look into Clear Ballistic Gel.
It is not very expensive, much easier to use, and is reusable. I have been using it almost a year and it is still working great.
I do agree today's JHPs are much more reliable than years ago and the PPU I have tested did not expand at all either.
 
Before the development of expanding bullets, jugs of water was the usual test medium, but for testing penetration.
More was always better.
The more jugs the bullet went through, the better they were.
Ideas have sure changed about all this.
 
The best part if b-gel testing is that you can see exactly where the bullet stops.
I'd love to get the new clear gel, might peek my interest in testing again besides water jugs which work o.k. enough.
I've found most handgun bullets that expand penetrate 2 gallon jugs & stay inside #3.
More than that is too much in my opinion.
I've even tested hunting loads by lining up water jugs at 100 yards & shooting with my 45-70.
THAT was a bear to do.:D
 
Thank you g.willikers
Sadly injuries inflicted by criminals have taken a large toll on me & I can't do squat anymore in the mornings thus limiting what I can do.
It's way hard for me to clean house, fix meals, take care of the woods, be a dad to my youngest, a 14 yr old son, etc.
I oughta get me one of them things most guys have???
What is that?????
A wife, yeah that's it.:D:D or :eek::eek:
Everytime I learn of one that hunts, shoots, cuts bait, cleans fish, she's
undereducated and phatt!......but if she owned a nice boat................:D
I digress again.
I get moving after up 3 or 4 hours I walk upright, not like a gorilla, I get around o.k. enough so might get the b-gel & play again.
I love shooting sports & my young son is becoming a very good shot.
Crap the kid is 14 & already six foot one! Polite, generous, smart, & best of all an NRA memeber & good, safe, gun person. (being conservative bent is good too!)
You ever use the clear b-gel?
It photographs nicely from what I've seen.
Over at rimfirecentral is posted a TON of test on EVERY .22 l.r. h.p. I could lay hands on.
A lot of .22 h.ps including ultra hi vel, hi vel, subsonic h.p., etc.
Tested at 25 & 50 yards. took me weeks to complete & I posted all at RFC including pics. chrono results, accuracy, etc.
Determined ALL .22 l.r. h.p. bullets expanded nicely at 25 & 50 except one.
The Remington .22 subsonic h.p. just will not expand at all.
It isn't as accurate as many others.
Rem. bulk Golden Bullets did expand well, were fairly accurate in a good rifle.
 
Taffin Test

Like JT, I shoot the dirt at my feet.

Recovered bullets display expansion capability.



Not joking; really works.
 
I repurpose the 5 liter wine boxes. Its a bit nicer than a gallon jug & bigger so I can safely & reliably test at greater distances.
They are easier to transport because they stack & I can tape multiples together for varying penetration depths.

Oh & they're free as we buy the wine anyway. Way, way lower than the "economical *splutter, coff, koff* 287 bucks a set!:cool:

If you want to make some just pop out the valve, (Its a friction fit) rinse to stop rancid wine smells, fill with tap water & push the tap back in again.

DSCF8324_zps0433e6bc.jpg
 
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I make a 165 grain .40 cal HP made by Erik as well. I have a very particular blend of alloys I use that gives PERFECT expansion at around 950 fps with almost 330 foot pounds and a power factor of 157. In the last few weeks I've been mimicking the FBI's ballistic gel test through particular barriers they specify in a kit I built. I've made it relatively cost efficient for myself to have definitive results just as the commercial bullet companies do. I want to start marketing this kit but I'm not sure if the investment to make a few and sell them is even something people would be interested in. I have a few ideas: Make the kit to be sold and used by the purchaser, use my own kit and meet people at the range to test bullets themselves with my equipment, or allow people to ship me their bullets to be tested and I will video record it and send back the results and specs. I am an avid caster and reloader and I'm going back to school to become an RN so I'm hoping to make a few bucks to cover some of the $42,000 bill. Do you think anyone would even care to have their bullets tested at the degree a manufacturer would? To ensure their bullets live up to the expected standard in which they use them for?
 
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I have heard muzzle loaders talk of "boolits", I suppose they're being "in character" for a mountain man or some such. They are always referring to cast lead, not jacketed.

Me, I'm a character, but not that kind of a character, so I'll just say bullets, or maybe, slugs...

Actually, I think "boolit" sounds more childish than "my bad", ;)
 
Its partly an "in" internet joke.
Many posters mis-spell & so "Boolitts" pops up occasionally, along with several more common errors like "Teh" instead of "the", "Rifle" instead of "rifle", & "Bibel" instead of "Bible".
 
I believe "boolit" is to distinguish between a lead cast projectile and a manufactures projectile.. aka bullet. Or a renown spelling error making its way into the English language.
 
Correct. Boolit is what dedicated casters call their home made projectiles. Bullets are what you buy from stores.
 
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