Expansion testing plains game/Dangerous Game rounds?

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Anyone here ever do/try it? Planning on doing it......my expansion material will be water soaked telephone books (their cheap and readily available)......I'm just wondering what/if there is a 'standard' range for testing loads....either for PG or DG.....50 yards? 1oo yards? farther?
Also, does anyone have any other suggestions for testing media? I know ballistic gel would be the standard, but I'm thinking that that would get kind of pricey.......I've tested handgun/rimfire loads in the past using water soaked surgical sponges packed in gallon water jugs......works pretty well.
Thanks for looking and I appreciate any information/experiences you may wish to pass along.

 

[IronCowboy]

The reusable meltable gel isn't bad to work with. It's pricey to get up front, but it's reusable, and seems to keep life well. I love shooting arrows into it, even more fun than bullets!

I don't like water filled stuff in general because it has a tendency to cause bullet failures, especially peeling back jackets in ways that don't seem to happen with real game. I've killed a bunch of deer with Hornady 325grn FTX 45-70 and 44mag 225grn FTX, I get jacket/core separations on milk jugs, but never have had that happen on live game - ever.

I like to do testing at field ranges. How my bullet expands at 10ft doesn't mean squat for a rifle I might use on game at 600yrds. As a recent example, I have a 357/44mag that crushes certain bullets at 50-100yrds or less, but after about 100yrds, gives very reliable expansion. Alternatively, other bullets that survive its high speed at 50-100yrds don't expand worth a dang at 150yrds when they start slowing down.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Anyone here ever do/try it? .............

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/bullet-penetration-test.2136/

 

[Velo Dog]

Forget about shooting wet paper, jello and all that sort of thing.
Skip that stuff and just hunt with Swift A-Frame bullets in the first place.
You will thank me later.

 

[mdbrowne]

well said, Velo Dog. Agree!

 

[IronCowboy]

Forget about shooting wet paper, jello and all that sort of thing.
Skip that stuff and just hunt with Swift A-Frame bullets in the first place.
You will thank me later.

Other than the cost, it's pretty hard to argue with that logic! The A-Frame (and the N. Partition and Barnes or other expanding monometals) are basically a fail safe design - they retain weight really well so they penetrate like crazy even when they expand, or even when they FAIL, so it's pretty hard to find an application where they won't perform well. They might not be pretty when you dig them out, usually out of the ground behind the game, but the game will be dead.

 

[Heym 88]

I hope they shoot well in my M70 375's because I really want to use them.

 

[kathy]

I use a 55 gallon of water, get a 10' step ladder ,stand on top step and shoot into the water.
get the bullet, examine and weigh .
may not be a 100 yard test ,but will sure tell you how a bullet will hold up. Forrest

 

[Velo Dog]

I hope they shoot well in my M70 375's because I really want to use them.

Excellent point Heym 88.
They must be reasonably accurate enough for the species hunted and the conditions where you plan to hunt.
Not necessarily 1 MOA accurate but reasonably accurate.
Toughest bullet in the world is little good if it misses the vitals.
Fortunately, A-Frames are known to be relatively accurate in many brands of rifles (not an especially difficult bullet to work up loads with).
However, Swift warns it is not safe to use this bullet with any other loading data except theirs.