Ballistic gelatin test results : .22lr Aguila Colibri

[Brass Fetcher]

Ammunition : Aguila Colibri 20gr powderless pointed .22lr cartridge

Rifle : Ruger 10/22

Calibration : 12.1cm @ 593ft/sec

Single shot fired into the gelatin block, penetrated to 4.3". Please note that the block was quite a bit less 'tough' than an ideal block - so penetration is magnified from what it would be in a living medium. Firing this round was really a neat experience - the shot was fired from 15' from the face of the block. Because of the lack of muzzle noise, I got to hear the round hit the gelatin block. Made a loud 'thhwack' noise.

Bullet recovered at 0.220" average diameter, no deformation or flipping of the bullet occurred.

 

[Jackal]

Well, thats more than I would have guessed. I have fired those in a Ruger 10/22 and they got stuck in the barrel over and over again. If they don't even have the punch to exit the barrel on my rifle, then I really dont think they will penetrate more than a couple inches of living tissue. In fact, at a distance over 25 yards, I bet they would bounce off skin. I know at that distance, they will just thud into a 2 litre bottle and fall to the ground. I'm kinda curious about those new Gamo air rifles that shoot at 1600 fps with raptor pellets.

 

[Ad Astra]

Interesting.

If you shoot a soda can filled with water with that same Colibri, it gets an impressive split in the front, and a small hole out the back, which seems odd.

Hit that same can with a Stinger or equivalent and it gets a normal HP effect, the reverse of above. Not sure I understand why the Colibri performs that way.

 

[kungfuhippie]

so it's the perfect defense round for all afraid of overpenetration

Or just use it as intended, quiet, varmant round...

 

[Brass Fetcher]

I like your idea! Could this ammo be considered for Tacticool usage? I mean, why go through the hoops of getting a suppressor - impress your friends with the 'ammo with a silencer built in the case'!

Seriously though, this will be my last ballistic gelatin test. I want to thank all of the great people that make THR for supporting me in my testing and website. Last week, I did a Google search for "brassfetcher.com" and came up with something like 70 mentions of my website on various different websites and forums. When I first started posting ballistic gelatin tests to The Firing Line and KTOG.org, I may have gotten 100 people viewing my test results and maybe 50 new persons a month to my website. My average for the last 8 months has been 42 new viewers daily to my website.

That means a lot to me and I am happy if my results helped you out in any way. Thank you all.

Good luck and best wishes.

John Ervin

 

[hqmhqm]

There is a huge difference if you fire these things in a bolt or lever gun or in a semi-auto. A lot of the energy that would normally propel the bullet forwards is absorbed by the bolt recoil in a semi-auto.

I shot a couple of hundred of these from a lever action Browning BL-22. and they haven't got stuck in the barrel yet. I also shot them from a AR15 with a .22 conversion. That didn't work particularly well at all

The most fun is shooting these in my daughter's single shot Henry .22 youth bolt rifle, in the basement into a backstop of telephone books.

 

[Bwana John]

The regular "Colibri" round got stuck in the barrel of my target 77/22, and never exited the barrel.

 

[Shear_stress]

Thanks for another neat test, JE223. Any chance you could check the penetration of the Colibri when fired from a pistol? I wonder if a short barrel might actually improve velocity in a cartridge like this.

 

[ScottsGT]

I shot a few out of my Single Six to see how loud they were out of a revolver. Not quite as loud as a firecracker, but too loud to plink in the back yard

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

Where would one go about aquiring such rounds?

They sound like fun...How exactly do they work if there is no powder?

 

[Jackal]

They can be had most anywhere that sells Aguila brand ammo. They are propelled by the power of the primer only, no gunpowder.

 

[slzy]

JE223,may i please request a similar test using a rws45 or something similar?

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Seriously though, this will be my last ballistic gelatin test. I want to thank all of the great people that make THR for supporting me in my testing and website.

Sorry, I'm out of powder for the gelatin blocks.

 

[MechAg94]

Interesting.

If you shoot a soda can filled with water with that same Colibri, it gets an impressive split in the front, and a small hole out the back, which seems odd.

Hit that same can with a Stinger or equivalent and it gets a normal HP effect, the reverse of above. Not sure I understand why the Colibri performs that way.

That is a little different. The near incompressibility of water and hydrostatic pressure make it behave different. I would guess the fast moving stinger might make a bigger hole out the back before the pressure has a change to break up the can and helps carry the water out behind it. Just speculation though. I have shot regular .22 LR at water filled cans and had them completely come apart almost into a sheet of aluminum.

 

[Davo]

I wonder how a calibration BB would have done in that same block.

 

[MechAg94]

It seems like I have seen .22 gellatin tests before that showed good penetration, but that is pretty good for the collibri.

 

[SniperStraz]

They can also be bought from cheaperthandirt.com.

 

[Brass Fetcher]

I've had one dud from 150 rounds of this ammunition. I had to knock it loose with a cleaning rod. Not a big deal, but I think that it would behoove a shooter to pay attention to the recoil/sound of any gun they are shooting. I had centerfire bullet almost fail to clear the barrel (my estimation based on recoil - something was waay wrong with the situation), as well as a few rimfires.

The calibration BB penetration ... well... I listed that in the first post.

 

[Soybomb]

I think this is my favorite test so far.

The glaser safety slug, now with as much penetration as .22 colibri!

(yes yes I saw the gel was soft...)

 

[MS .45]

I just got some of these from cheaperthandirt. I got them to shoot them out of my Taurus 94. I like them, but they are a little too loud out of the revolver to shoot in the back yard.

 

[270Win]

Interesting! What about CB Longs?

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Interesting that you ask...

I might be looking at an airgun test in the near future - this might be an appropriate round to fit in to the test.

 

[mp510]

I mean, why go through the hoops of getting a suppressor - impress your friends with the 'ammo with a silencer built in the case'!

As long as you don't need a follow up shot in an autoloader. They won't cycle the action.

 

[rangerruck]

I shot those out of a 2 nch snubby revolver, at a target 7 meters away, target sheet on a pressboard backing. i kept seeing something going past my right side of my head, thought it was a fly. turned out it was the rounds, rebounding of the target.

 

[stevelyn]

I did my own penetration tests with them also and discovered they'ed penetrate the skull of a tundra squill and the bodies of winged vermin.