Pistol Ammo Expansion Testing

[kesava]

I just purchased some K&A .45 acp JHP ammo from the gun show. A bit over priced for reloads, but I had already paid admission - so I wanted to get something . I am very curious about the expansion. What is the easiest way to see the expansion on the bullet?

Call the company and request a photo of an expanded round? They don't have a website.

Also, it is a 185 gr bullet. How well do they fare in 4inch barrel 1911's?

[Kevo]

I read that a poor man's ballistic gelatin can be made by soaking phone books in water for a few days, drying them out a little, and then shooting into a stack of them. Sure wish I lived outside the city limits...

[Will Carry]

I know a lot of shooters who use the 185gr 45acp round. It moves faster than the 230gr 45acp standard pressure round. One great thing about the 45acp. If it doesn't expand it still works well. I use the 45acp as my primary defense weapon for carry and home protection. There are a lot of expansion tests on the internet Mouseguns.com and Chuck Hawks would be a good place to start. The tests don't mean Jack, but they are interesting. I don't use 185gr rounds. I like 230gr JHPs. The bad guys will not know the difference, i know I don't.

[Guest Glock23ForMe]

I've done the "Bullet expansion" two ways.

1) My friend had a box of magazines, I turned it long ways, with the front of the magazines facing me, and shot into the box. I liked this way because you could track the EXACT size and movement of the bullet within the magazines, and one box was good for multiple uses and it didn't go through. The box was about 40 magazines, about 30 pages a magazine, thick though. (Don't turn the box longways, i.e. the spine or edge of the pages facing you, you do not get the resistance and expansion you're looking for, it's not "true to form")

2) Newspaper and water. Take empty gallon milk jugs, and fill them with shredded newspaper. After that, fill them with water and let them sit until the newspaper is extremely saturated. It takes between 3 and 5 of these jugs for ONE bullet, because you have to cut the last one open to get the bullet out. And, they take a little while to make, a lot longer than stacking magazines in a box.

Up to you, good luck... Be safe.

Drew

[Jonsaiga]

If you just want to see how much it will expand and are not worried about measuring depth of travel, just shoot down into a trash can filled with water. For safety sake though, stand high enough on a ladder or something else so that there is no possibility of the round coming through the side of the can and hitting you. You will get wet! Aside from that, if you are also looking to measure penetration depth I second the wet phone books or make your own ballistics gel.

[Guest Tull]

terminal ballistics

Tests all kinds of bullets for expansion.

[bigwakes]

There is a formula on youtube for making ballistic gelatine using Knox gelatine from the supermarket if you want to see the expansion first hand. I have shot into the side of a 5 gallon bucket of water. The round should stay inside or close to the bucket although it will likely expand past actual gelatine expansion. And you cant use the bucket for much when your done.