.410 revolver penetration/velocity data

[Doggieman]

wow well thanks for that informative post. One thing to keep in mind is that lead shot will deform rather rapidly, sometimes even in the barrel. But I'm not going to argue that a .36" sphere (especially one weighing about half of a 38 spl bullet) is as effective a tissue crusher as a .45 HP. And that's an interesting point you make.

I'd still like to see the chrono/penetration tests of the things though

 

[brett30030]

Doggieman

Why don't you get some newspaper, water, a ruler and do a wet test, or are you looking for someone else to do the heavy lifting?

 

[Doggieman]

uh, I'm looking for someone who actually owns one of these revolvers, as I do not.

 

[halvey]

I talked to a guy this weekend about this issue and he owns a Taurus. Says he's sure a friend of his has a 6" Taurus that is beat to heck on the outside, but the bore should be ok he says. Not sure if the 2" versions are shortened or not. Not sure if the barrel is rifled or not.

Seems to be an interest in getting some solid results, but not sure what he'd want for the Taurus.

 

[RyanM]

If the barrel is rifled all the way through, no legal problems. If it's only rifled at the muzzle end, forget it. Don't even think about it. Never post where you live, or the BATFE will nuke the whole state and sow the glass crater with salt.

 

[Doggieman]

wonder if you went in there and scored some crap "rifling" yourself if that would qualify as a "rifled" barrel?

 

[WC145]

I'm a deputy sheriff in Maine. I just bought a Taurus 4410 a week ago for use as a house and "out in the back field" gun and I'm very happy with it. It is a blued 3" model (yes, the barrels are rifled all the way through). It is not particularly heavy at 29ozs. It carries well in a generic nylon holster that I had lying around the house, the holster was originally for a 4" medium frame revolver.

I've tried it with 3 different shotshells (7 1/2's, 6's, 4's), 000 buckshot, and 2 different 45LC loads (250gr flat nose @ 825fps and 250gr XTP HP @ 925fps). Everything seems to shoot pretty close to point of aim, although my impromptu "test" target was a knot in a 1" thick 15" wide hardwood plank so I haven't tested for any real bullseye type accuracy. I can tell you that from 6yds all of the shotshells patterned decently, covering about an 18" section of the board. Only the 4's had the power to completely penetrate. The buckshot patterned in a triangle with the bottom 2 pellets about 9" apart and the 3rd one centered about 6" above. I also fired the buckshot at 7 feet, all 3 pellets landed in about 4" in a line angling up to the left. The buckshot penetrated the plank easily and then went deep into the pine tree it was leaning on. The .45LC loads hit at point of aim also. Recoil was stout but easily managed.

I'm very happy with it so far, I'll be shooting it more when the weather improves. It is now my new night stand gun and I keep it loaded with a #4 shotshell, 2 000 buck shells, and 2 45LC HP's. I keep a speed loader with 5 more .45's with it as well. It turns out the .44 speed loaders for my Bulldog work perfectly with this gun and the .45's.

I hope this info is useful to you all.

 

[dragongoddess]

Looks like I need to get a morning paper and take it to the range. What distance is the request for.

 

[M2 Carbine]

I've done some tests using my 7 inch .410 barrel TC and 5 ball Sellier & Bellot 410 buckshot shells.

Any gun that might be considered for use as a defense gun should at least go through a wood 2 inch board, agreed?

At two different times I shot a couple 2x6 boards and 1 inch plywood with the 410 buck.
Distance about 6 yards.

The DEEPEST any balls penetrated the boards was 1 inch. The balls would not penetrate a good piece of plywood but did penetrate a weathered piece of plywood and dented the board behind.
I don't know wood but the boards are just the typical wood you use in house construction.

As a compareson. Bullets from my Beretta Minx 22 Short would also not go completely through the 2 inch board but penetrated deeper than the 410 buckshot.

My chronograph shows the buckshot doing 786fps average, with a high of 961fps and a low of 783fps.

The spread was such that only 1 to 3 balls hit a 6 inch board from 6 yards.
But that's determined by the gun more than the buckshot.

Personally, I would not consider a short barrel 410 in any defense roll except shooting snakes.


BTW, I have a range in the back yard. If there's any test of the (7 inch barrel) 410 you would like to see, if I'm able I'll do it for you.

 

[cpileri]

nice

M2 Carbine-
Actually, yours is the first real data i have EVER seen on the velocity drop with a short barrel 410bore! Thanks!

So from a 7-in bbl, the buckshot load was around 786 fps. yes?

So S&B 5-pellet 00B lists at 1190fps from their test barrel ( ??? 24??26?/ i cant find it inches long); so the drop is ~400fps over whatever length it is.
Thanks again!
C-

 

[M2 Carbine]

The brand is 5 ball Sellier & Bellot. As far as I know it's of normal .410 power.

I don't have the box handy. Don't know if the velocity is shown on the box but it would be taken from probably about a 20 inch or longer barrel anyhow.

Yes my TC .410 barrel is 7 inches but three inches is chamber.

It has a effective choke that works good for shot but is removed for buckshot.
(I once ran 23 straight hits on clay birds with it )

 

[lbmii]

Ryan,

We are sort of diverting this thread but your numbers would give less tissue crush by semiwaddcutters than by round nose bullets. I do not see this as being correct. Are you sure of these numbers?

 

[Doggieman]

I'm wondering if you can do a wet phone book test with some heavy buck and with any other handguns you have that you would consider for elf defense .. 45? 38? 9mm? That would be wonderful, and thanks to the above posters also for reporting their findings.

 

[RyanM]

Any gun that might be considered for use as a defense gun should at least go through a wood 2 inch board, agreed?

Actually, about 3-4" is a closer equivalent to 12" gelatin or tissue.

-------

Ryan,

We are sort of diverting this thread but your numbers would give less tissue crush by semiwaddcutters than by round nose bullets. I do not see this as being correct. Are you sure of these numbers?

Conventional wisdom is that semi-wadcutters and truncated cone bullets crush more tissue than roundnose bullets. However, MacPherson's tests showed that the particular roundnose bullets he used were more efficient crushers than the particular semi-wadcutters and truncated cone bullets which were tested. IIRC, the meplat diameter was approximately half the caliber, for both.

A very wide flatnosed bullet would probably do better than .55, and a semi-spitzer roundnose would probably do worse than .57, but I don't have any other hard figures.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Doggieman
I'm wondering if you can do a wet phone book test with some heavy buck and with any other handguns you have that you would consider for elf defense .. 45? 38? 9mm? That would be wonderful, and thanks to the above posters also for reporting their findings.

Wet phone books are a heck of a bullet stopper.
This is a test I did with 45ACP defense loads and the FN 5.7. The 5.7 penetrated quite far but the 45ACP was stopped quickly when it mushroomed.

First chance I get I'll try the .410 in WPB.