Gelatin test: .38 spl Speer Gold Dot +P 125 & 135 gr

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This is second hand info and you should talk to Speer before considering it gospel...

There was a member of this forum, or maybe another forum, that talked to Speer's Tech. Dept. and was told that the 135 grain Gold Dot has a velocity window where it performs properly.
The Gold Dot in question works between 800 and 1100 fps, too slow and it won't expand, too fast it comes apart.

The guy in the video just was not getting the velocity needed.

I recommend you run a box of Gold Dots through your gun and see where they're at.


From the video in your post:
Speer Gold Dot 125 gr +P and 135 gr +P are fired from a S&W 638 into gelatin with four layers of denim.

BB calibration: 607 fps, 3.4"

135 gr
Impact velocity: 783 fps
Penetration: 13.8"
Retained weight: 133.8 gr

125 gr
Impact velocity: 752 fps
Penetration: 16.5"
Retained weight: 124.4 gr
 
It is my video. Temperature was about 40 degrees or so and I'm sure that contributed to the low velocity but it still seems way low. I'll probably repeat this test to see if this is an anomaly, but it doesn't inspire confidence. This is supposed to be great stuff for a short barrel.
 
The cylinder of a revolver has nothing to do with it's barrel length, never has and never will. The barrel has and always will be measured from just ahead of the cylinder where the forcing cone is, to the muzzle.
 
The cylinder of a revolver has nothing to do with it's barrel length, never has and never will. The barrel has and always will be measured from just ahead of the cylinder where the forcing cone is, to
Absolutely correct, and I never stated otherwise. My point was that a semiauto barrel length comparison relative to a revo needs to address the cylinder length, since semiauto barrel measurements include the chamber in the OAL.
 
Absolutely correct, and I never stated otherwise. My point was that a semiauto barrel length comparison relative to a revo needs to address the cylinder length, since semiauto barrel measurements include the chamber in the OAL.
Wouldn't the barrel/cylinder gap of a revolver negate this? A semiauto doesn't lose pressure from the chamber to the muzzle the way a revolver does due to the gap, no?

If correct, it seems a more accurate comparison would be barrel to barrel.
 
Every other test I've seen with the short barrel 135gr Speer load has shown good penetration and expansion. Is there a reason why the velocities you recorded and shot are so low?
 
Wouldn't the barrel/cylinder gap of a revolver negate this? A semiauto doesn't lose pressure from the chamber to the muzzle the way a revolver does due to the gap, no?
The revolver gap is parasitic to some degree but does not 'negate' the additive nature of the relationship between chamber and barrel. If it did, all bullet acceleration would occur in the chamber and the barrel would be parasitic to velocity (when we can clearly demonstrate in revolvers that it is not).
 
The only explanation I have for the low velocity is the fairly low temperature. It might have just been a slightly undercharged round, too. I don't know. Ironic if this stuff can only develop sufficient velocity for heavy clothing when it's warm enough for people to not wear heavy clothing.
 
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