Ballistic gelatin test results : 12 gauge 3" magnum 1.25 ounce rifled slug

[Brass Fetcher]

Enjoy. The pictures are pretty large - it would be best if you right clicked on them and saved them to your computer. Then open them up with your regular image viewing software.


=====
Brass Fetcher Ballistic Testing

Test # 12 gauge 11

Cartridge : 12 gauge Federal Power-Shok 3" magnum 1.25 ounce rifled slug

Test Parameters : Nominal 10% ballistic gelatin block. No barriers present. (15.5x9.5x9.5)” gelatin block


Block calibration velocity : 577.1 ft/sec
Block calibration penetration : 3.3 inch
Block calibration temperature : 41.2 degrees Fahrenheit

Block core temperature : 38.0 degrees Fahrenheit


Bullet impact velocity : 1570 ft/sec

Deepest penetration depth : 15.3 inch

Maximum crack diameter : 8.1 inch

Maximum crack diameter location : 5.4 inch

Cavitation depth : 0-11.7 inch


Weapon - New England Firearms 12 gauge Pardner; 24.0" barrel length, Skeet I choke

Distance from weapon muzzle to impact face of gelatin block : 10.0 feet
Test site conditions : 60 degrees Fahrenheit, 55% relative humidity
Time out of refrigeration prior to shot impact : 4 minutes

Projectile 1 recovered length = 1.520", recovered width = 0.941"
Projectile 2 recovered length = 0.994", recovered width = 0.687"

.

.

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

LOL, I had to size down the images using a firefox addon.

Too big, man.




Other than that, THANKS!

 

[psyopspec]

Excellent pics, sir. I've been thinking hard lately about switching to slugs for HD. The Box O' Truth tests, along with gel tests of Buck v Slug and some anecdotal evidence are driving my thinking.

I wonder if there's a way to resize these to downloadable thumbnails?

 

[Youngster]

Nice work as always.

Anyways I'm not a big fan of 3" Fosters other than their being fun to shoot, IMO they are pushed faster than their construction can often handle.

 

[SnakeLogan]

Thanks Brassfetcher! Always love your tests.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

The work is nice, but the presentation is terrible. Could you at least scale down the photos to maybe no more than 14" wide? I have a 24" monitor and I figure the image was at least 3 times at large.

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Tell me how.

 

[mgkdrgn]

Tell me how.

Just about any graphics program has an image resizer in it, included Microsoft Picture Manager (part of MSOffice).

There are also other tools:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/learnmore/tips/eschelman2.mspx

http://www.vso-software.fr/products/image_resizer/

http://picasa.google.com/

just to name a few.


As for the testing ... I'm surprised that the gel block wasn't split or knocked off the test stand. Was it restrained/contained in any way?

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

Open pictures in MsPaint.


Select image attributes > stretch and skew image.



stretch the image to 20% or so.

 

[jon_in_wv]

With Firefox you can simply press "CTRL and + or -" to zoom in or out on the page. I think that is the simplest just to view an image.

 

[SnakeLogan]

Brassfetcher, are you planning on testing more 12 gauge buckshot rounds?

 

[proud2deviate]

In firefox, you can drag the pics to a blank tab. They should be sized automatically. Additionally, you can right click and choose "view image".

 

[proud2deviate]

In firefox, you can drag the pics to a blank tab. They should be sized automatically. Additionally, you can right click and choose "view image".

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Most definitely.

The 12 gauge slug is just part of an on-going study into 12 gauge terminal effects (that will include more buckshot tests). What I've done here is to post a sample of these tests, so that people don't have to wait for the report to come out, in order to make use of some of the data.

As far as resizing the pictures - I would rather spend the time gathering data and posting it, for people to use. The final product is always an Excel file, with the full quality, resized, images embedded in the spreadsheet.

 

[SnakeLogan]

Most definitely.

The 12 gauge slug is just part of an on-going study into 12 gauge terminal effects (that will include more buckshot tests).

That's awesome news! Any chance you'll test Winchester 3 inch 00 buck in bare gel? I've been considering that as a HD round.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

Tis but a flesh wound.

 

[Lou McGopher]

Tell me how.

http://www.getpaint.net/


Pretty decent editing software, free.

Picasa is okay, but mainly geared toward photo organization.
There's also Gimp, but I've never been too fond of this one.

 

[Lou McGopher]

What about testing with a couple layers of clothing over the impact surface? As foolish as they may be, most assailants are not nude when they attack.

Also, you may want to squirt some water+food coloring into that cavity, to make it more visible (about a dozen drops per quart of water ought to do it; apply with a syringe).

Keep up the good work, it's appreciated!

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

I doubt a t-shirt or jeans material makes any difference. But it would be a good test to see.

 

[Brass Fetcher]

I tried both the clothes and the 00 buck once before :

http://www.brassfetcher.com/12gauge2.75inchmag.html

Bottom line so far, is that 12 gauge 00 buck will certainly do the trick, but that it penetrates too far to be optimal for stopping a human attacker.

The heavy clothing in the test above may have made a difference, but IIRC, I only found one piece of buckshot inside the gelatin block - most of the others went the entire 16.0" distance and out the rear of the block.

 

[SnakeLogan]

Brassfetcher, I bought some Super X 2.75 inch 00 buck magnum (12 pellets). Unfortunately, Winchester said they've stopped producing this round (apparently I got a few of the last boxes). Would you expect it to have similar results in ballistic gel to the Remington 2.75 inch 00 buck magnum?

 

[Youngster]

Bottom line so far, is that 12 gauge 00 buck will certainly do the trick, but that it penetrates too far to be optimal for stopping a human attacker.

The heavy clothing in the test above may have made a difference, but IIRC, I only found one piece of buckshot inside the gelatin block - most of the others went the entire 16.0" distance and out the rear of the block.

I'd prefer an extra margin of penetration, in fact I opt to use 000 buck because it seems to smash through bone much more effectively and is bothered by intervening obstacles that much less.

 

[DBR]

This is a free stand alone picture resizer that has worked very well for me.

http://bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm

 

[Kind of Blued]

Thanks for doing the tests! That's much less penetration than I would imagine. I never would have imagined that slugs penetrate less than 00 Buck, but if the slug breaks up a bit, it makes sense.

I resized these (compressed) in Microsoft Picture Manager. I hope you don't mind.

 

[SnakeLogan]

Bottom line so far, is that 12 gauge 00 buck will certainly do the trick, but that it penetrates too far to be optimal for stopping a human attacker.

I'm curious about 3 inch 00 buck (15 pellet) loads because then the pellets have less velocity. Wonder if their penetration would be comprable to a 2.75 inch 00 buck load.