Ballistic gelatin test results : .357SIG

[Brass Fetcher]

Special thanks to J.K. for sponsoring this test in full and Shadan7 for setting this up, in the initial stages.

Cartridge : Federal 125gr JHP (Part #P357S1) and Cor-Bon 125gr JHP (Part #SD357SIG125/20)

Firearm : Recoil-operated handgun with 4.0" barrel length

Block calibration : All depths corrected (From 10.8cm @ 609 ft/sec)

Shot 1 - Federal 125gr JHP. Impacted at 1332 ft/sec and penetrated to 11.8". Recovered at 0.664" average diameter and 125.1gr weight.

Shot 2 - Federal 125gr JHP. Impacted at 1333 ft/sec and penetrated to 11.7". Recovered at 0.644" average diameter and 125.1gr weight.

Shot 3 - Cor-Bon 125gr JHP. Impacted at 1381 ft/sec and penetrated to 11.9". Recovered at 0.535" average diameter and 84.2gr weight.

Shot 4 - Federal 125gr JHP, overpenetration evaluation. Impacted at 1330 ft/sec, penetrated to 7.4" in gelatin, penetrated an FBI 'interior wall' fixture and continued on to penetrate 1.5" of gelatin on the other side of the wall. 0.627" average diameter and 125.3gr weight.

Shot 5 - Cor-Bon 125gr JHP, overpenetration evaluation. Impacted at 1376 ft/sec, penetrated to 7.5" in gelatin, penetrated an FBI 'interior wall' fixture and continued on to penetrate 0.9" of gelatin on the other side of the wall. 0.545" average diameter and 89.0gr weight.

 

[Chem Geek]

Thanks!

 

[mdao]

The .357 Sig 125 gr Corbon (11.9" penetration, 0.535" diameter) doesn't do much better than the Silver Bear 9x18 Mak 115gr JHP (12.6" penetration, .513" diameter), even with a ~ 400 fps advantage. That's fairly depressing. Are they losing weight by fragmentation or jacket shedding?

The Federal round is pretty decent though. Same terminal performance as the better 9x19 mm cartridges with a lot better barrier penetration. Not bad at all.

 

[Michael Courtney]

The .357 Sig 125 gr Corbon (11.9" penetration, 0.535" diameter) doesn't do much better than the Silver Bear 9x18 Mak 115gr JHP (12.6" penetration, .513" diameter), even with a ~ 400 fps advantage. That's fairly depressing. Are they losing weight by fragmentation or jacket shedding?

You are mistaken in your assumption that only penetration depth and recovered diameter can contribute to incapacitation. The Cor-Bon load transfers much more energy, fragments, has a much larger temporary cavity, and a much larger pressure wave. In real tissue it's gonna make a much larger hole.

Michael Courtney

 

[Brass Fetcher]

It looks like the Cor-Bon impacts at slightly less than 4% higher velocity than the Federal load.

The kinetic energy that I get for the Cor-Bon load is : 0.5*84.2*1381*1381 = 8.03x10^7 units or 80 291 478 units of energy.

For the Federal load it is : 0.5*125.1*1332*1332 = 1.11x10^8 units or 110 977 711 units of energy...

So, the Federal load, as tested, has 1.38 times the energy of the Cor-Bon load.

Also, I imagine that the stagnation pressure will cause the bullet to expand or fragment at the point where the (velocity) pressure is highest - at the point of initial bullet impact with the block. At that point, I imagine that the bullet will basically travel as the core and whatever fragments may have been produced at the initial instant of impact... I like to look at the parts of the bullet that made it past an (arbitrary) depth ... FWIW.

What I see is the Cor-Bon is a lighter, smaller diameter bullet with less energy, in this instance.

 

[Michael Courtney]

It looks like the Cor-Bon impacts at slightly less than 4% higher velocity than the Federal load.

The kinetic energy that I get for the Cor-Bon load is : 0.5*84.2*1381*1381 = 8.03x10^7 units or 80 291 478 units of energy.

For the Federal load it is : 0.5*125.1*1332*1332 = 1.11x10^8 units or 110 977 711 units of energy...

So, the Federal load, as tested, has 1.38 times the energy of the Cor-Bon load.

You need to use the initial mass and the impact velocity to compute kinetic energy. The Cor-Bon load has 7.5% greater initial energy.

Also, I imagine that the stagnation pressure will cause the bullet to expand or fragment at the point where the (velocity) pressure is highest - at the point of initial bullet impact with the block. At that point, I imagine that the bullet will basically travel as the core and whatever fragments may have been produced at the initial instant of impact... I like to look at the parts of the bullet that made it past an (arbitrary) depth ... FWIW.

We've developped a method to estimate the outward travelling pressure wave more accurately than the stagnation pressure. See:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=275349

The bottom line is that the Cor-Bon load generates an peak pressure wave magnitude about 35% greater than the Federal load.

In addition, the wounding will be enhanced by fragmentation.

Michael Courtney

 

[Gordon]

I was always impressed by the .357 Sig -until now. Maybe it was just the blast and flash. Anyway permanent cavity and more than a foot of penetration is what counts for me. Thank you for the test.