[AKGuy]

New as I am to reloading, I took some time the other day and fired two handloaded rifle rounds into thick riverbank mud from about 24 inches muzzle-to-impact point...and one factory handgun load, too...because...well...just...well...just because it seemed like fun :)

The bullets pictured (if I do this right) are labeled in the pix. Each rifle bullet was fired from its respective caliber BLR. The 44 mag came out of my Taurus Tracker with 4 inch barrel and about 36 inches from muzzle to impact point.

This highly unscientific "study" does seem to reflect pretty well why the Barnes TripleX is my bullet of choice as far as expansion, retained weight, structural integrity. And while I haven't made any comparison (pseudo)studies for 44 mag bullets yet, I'm guessing that what I "got" with the JHP factory load represents a decent result, too.

Yes, I know that there are all kinds of variables to be accounted for--barrel length, colloidal/composition of ballistic medium, etc...but this was just one of those "spur of the moment, I wonder what will happen if..." moments.

The 44mag blew the biggest impact hole in the mud, but was only about 8-10 inches deep into the mud. The 308 was about 12-14 inches deep, and the 358 was about 14-16 inches deep. The 308 was the hardest to find and seemed to create the least disruption along its path (ie the mud seemed pretty hard packed all around the path). The 358 was easy-as-pie to find because the track into the mud was easy to follow with my fingers/hands, all loosened up as it was. My fingers were pretty darn cold by the time I dug out the 44mag bullet, but I'd say it was about as disruptive as the 358, maybe a little less.

Just an amateur "study" from a newbie that resulted in a pretty wicked looking Barnes Triple X result...!

(I never found the Barnes bullet that I took my brown bear with several weeks ago--it entered obliquely behind one shoulder, tore through mediastinal chest tissue and the heart, and came out the front of the chest, maybe having bounced off the opposite outboard shoulder/leg (I ain't no pathology expert)....

[Ridgerunner665]

Yep...its hard to beat those Barnes bullets.

I've fired them through everything from water to concrete....the only thing that ever tore the petals off was glass...the rest of them looked just like the one in your pic.

My "tests" were conducted with 223, 243, and 308.

[qajaq59]

When you do that you want to be real sure there isn't a big rock buried 2 inches in that mud.

But otherwise, it sure looks like it gave you results you were looking for.

[AKGuy]

...ya probe the target mudslick first with yer walking pole (or stick if one's nearby)...i may be dumb but i ain't stupid ;)...not to mention the fact that if you "knew" this riverbank you'd be as surprised as I would be if your walking stick hit anything in the mudsludge as it's somewhere between pudding and tar in consistency...and loaded with gold flakes, too, as i learned when digging 'em out, which prompted me to return later with a couple of buckets and officially start panning for gold at home...got a third of an ounce of gold dust so far, and that's just outta about 2 gallons of mud...rather a serendipitous day if you ask me...:) (and other than the chugach region, NO i'm not telling you where i'm at!)