Ballistic gelatin test results : .45-70GOV >DERRINGER<

Special thanks to J.K. for funding this test in full.

Cartridge : Federal 300 grain SP (Speer Hot-Cor SP)

Firearm : American Derringer Model 4 (.45-70GOV) with 1.5" effective barrel length

Block calibration : All depths corrected (From 11.2cm @ 586 ft/sec (Block 1) and 8.6cm @ 588 ft/sec (Stopper block))

Single shot fired from 6" distance. Bullet impacted at unknown velocity, penetrated to 26.3" and expanded to 0.614" average diameter. Bullet recovered at 287.0gr weight.

If you look close at pic #1, you can see the grains of unburnt propellant in the wound track and on the front face of the block.

- oh no... I used a vise. The owner of the gun was good enough to let me put it in a vise... so the wooden grips are ruined, but my hand is still in one piece.

The noise from firing was fantastic. It was probably the loudest gun I have ever heard and I was 30 feet away from the muzzle, using a steel cable to pull the trigger!

J.K., the gent who funded the test and sent me the gun, actually fired it once by hand. I think he said it was akin to holding out your hand, and having someone hit it with a hammer. His hand hurt for a week, he said.

The thing was gnarly in the vise too ... I purposefully clamped it hard enough to indent the wood, hoping that it would not move. It actually moved back about 4" in the jaws of the vise, before coming to a stop and rotating the gun skyward. Luckily for me, the barrel rotated into a support structure on the vise, which stopped the guns motion. I should have videotaped it!

JE

I'm game for that.

I'll have to get back with the pictures of the actual gun used in the test, but here is a stock photo from AD :

http://www.amderringer.com/m4.html

The actual gun traveled a few inches in the vice jaws upon recoiling, so the wooden grips are heavily damaged... I'll get that photo out in a short while.