Ballistic Gel Testing

[Doublecluck]

I think the more interesting thing to observe by shooting gel at a distance would be how yaw effects bullet performance.

 

[Forkyfinder]

Hornady's responseView attachment 374415

Barnes Response View attachment 374565

I cant agree that its got no measurable effect.

 

[Nate Eller]

I cant agree that its got no measurable effect.

How it appears and what it's actually doing are two different things. Temp wound cavities are not the same as permanent wound cavities, and clear ballistics gel does a poor job representing actual permanent wound channels, while ordnance gel retains it's shape, and shows if the temporary wound channels actually correlate to wounding. This video looks cool, but is not giving us actual data

 

[Nate Eller]

Federals response

 

[Forkyfinder]

How it appears and what it's actually doing are two different things. Temp wound cavities are not the same as permanent wound cavities, and clear ballistics gel does a poor job representing actual permanent wound channels, while ordnance gel retains it's shape, and shows if the temporary wound channels actually correlate to wounding. This video looks cool, but is not giving us actual data

"In essence, a bullet going through soft tissue has the same effect as dropping a stone into a pail of water ‑ if the stone (bullet) enters the water slowly, the water (tissue) displacement is so gradual that is has little effect on the surrounding molecules. If the stone (bullet) enters the water (tissue) with a lot of momentum, however, the surrounding molecules have to act a lot more quickly and violently, resulting in a splash (temporary cavity). Temporary cavitation is important because it can be a tremendous wounding mechanism."

Terminal Ballistics - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

Terminal Ballistics Video Library...

www.hornady.com

 

[Snailz]

I would be very interested in seeing this sort of channel on YouTube. Simplemindedfella did this exact sort of testing, but hasn’t done gel testing in years. If you basically replicate his methodology, but change your Knox gel formula to how AZAirgunner does his (a little hydrogen peroxide goes a long way) you’d have some excellent content for us terminal ballistics nerds. Having a black backer for the side shot of the gel, ala tools & targets, also helps wound tracks show up. A good slo-mo camera and a radar chrono of some sort would be great too.

Simplemindedfella tested the RPM thing and didn’t see much noticeable effect. It matters at the extremes, but not a lot at moderate RPM.

It’s pretty easy to run the 300 BLK and Grendel/ARC variants for easy to down-load cases, but I think the one caliber that has been neglected is 7mm. You build a custom 7mm BR with a long throat, you’ll be a lot of guys’ hero. A 7mm-08 and H4895 will probably get the job done though. 338 ARC will make a good platform, but far fewer 33 fans than 7mm fans. Muzzleloader projectiles could also use some love.

I have a long list of bullets I’d like to see if you ever need any ideas!