Ballistic Gelatin source?

[1911user]

A hunter at work asked if I knew where to purchase ballistic gelatin. I don't know of a source but thought someone here might. Any source and cost info is appreciated.

The (perceived) need for ballistic gelatin comes from a hunter who lost a trophy deer last week to a Hornady XTP that didn't expand (saboted from BP rifle). He suspected lack of expansion in previous years, but the shots were very well placed so he didn't lose the deer. This winter, he wants to do some testing with different bullets and see that they actually expand then worry about accuracy.

 

[Bob R]

Here is a site that can help answer all those pesky questions about how and where.

http://www.steyrscout.org/gelatin.htm

And this will help also, it mentions plain old Knox Gelatin.

http://www.customcartridge.com/pdfs/BallisticGel.pdf

bob

 

[RyanM]

It's something like $150 for one block. Each block is good for 3 to 5 handgun shots, or one longarm shot. For many bullets, a row of 1 gallon milk jugs will work fairly well, though the expanded diameter may be a bit smaller since the plastic can smash the expanded portion flat against the bullet shank. Half gallon cardboard containers may work better, but you'd want to set them up in rows of 3 to make sure the bullet and all fragments stay in the jugs.

Penetration in water is anywhere from 1.6 to 2.0 times as much the penetration in gelatin.

 

[standles]

I actually contacted the company that produces the ballistic geletain. They would not sell the powder in less that 25 gallon bbls. It is a pain to mix as well as keep cool , cure etc etc.

If he wants to see differences in expansion of different bullets then as long as the medum is consistent across the tests the comparisons will be valid. It WILL NOT correlate directly to a wound analysis in flesh and bone but WILL determine which has better expansion properties.

That being said My daughter did a science experiment on wound channel investigations on different types of ammo. We purchased 5 or 6 5# tubs of plumbers putty at the Home depot and used that for testing .357mag loads.

We combined it all into a big block of putty and put sides on it to hold it semi block shape. Fired the round in it and then took dental floss to half the block along the wound channel. The bullet was retrieveable for viewing and the channel could be measured for lenght and diameter.

Have fun.

Steven

 

[RyanM]

If he wants to see differences in expansion of different bullets then as long as the medum is consistent across the tests the comparisons will be valid. It WILL NOT correlate directly to a wound analysis in flesh and bone but WILL determine which has better expansion properties.

It will if you actually calibrate the gelatin like you're supposed to, and keep it at 4 degrees C like you're supposed to.

.177 steel bbs at 590 fps in anesthetized swine tissue penetrated 8.8 +- 1.6cm; in gelatin, penetration was 8.5 +- 0.4 cm. That's the calibration standard, 8.5 cm.

Winchester 9mm 147 gr JHPs fired into actual people, on shots which hit soft tissues only (no bones), had an average penetration of 13 inches and an extreme spread of 10 to 17", for 27 different shootings. In calibrated ballistic gelatin, average penetration was also 13", but with a smaller extreme spread of 12 to 14"

I'd say that's great correlation.

 

[standles]

Ryan..


The part of my discussion which you quoted was for the plumbers putty substitute. I had already dismissed the geletain idea as expensive and requiring alot of effort. The alternate was where I was saying keep the media consistent for comparison sake but the putty would not be accurate in representation of a wound channel in flesh.

Steven

 

[3rdpig]

I've found that standard Knox unflavored gelatin from the grocery store works pretty well. Mix it up according the instructions on the box then treat it exactly as if it's the real Knox Ordnance gelatin. I've used it, mixed up in bread pans, kept cool in an ice chest, and gotten results that were, for my amatuer testing methods, surprisingly close to what the same bullet/load did in Ordnance gelatin, and at about 1/10 the cost. It was also lots of fun!

 

[1911user]

thanks for the info. I'll pass it on to him.

 

[JohnMc]

Try these guys:

http://www.vyse.com/

They have a recipe for ballistic gelatin.

I've bought gelatin from a chemical company way cheaper than Knox ($15 for 1/2 or 1 kilo, I forget which). It must be even cheaper yet from a manufacturer.

 

[answerguy]

That being said My daughter did a science experiment on wound channel investigations on different types of ammo. We purchased 5 or 6 5# tubs of plumbers putty at the Home depot and used that for testing .357mag loads.



Steven

What school system did your daughter attend prior to getting expelled for that experiment?