Berry's 124gr HHP 9mm Bullet Gel Test

[Wreck-n-Crew]

I read to understand they were penetrating to deep & not opening fast enough.

Not the 124 gr from the first test

Anyway, this is the 124gr loaded with a +P charge of Ramshot Silhouette. Seated length of 1.145" with a Federal primer. Chrono'ed average from 10ft is right at 1,150fps from a SIG P320 Carry.

Here are some photos of the bullet. Penetration was just at 10" and the bullet appears to have expanded within the first 1.5" of gel. The one missing petal broke off at the 2" mark.

I should have quoted the first post.

 

[USBP379]

I have another small batch of 124's loaded with a standard charge of Winchester Auto Comp. I can probably chronograph and/or shoot into gel this afternoon.

 

[USBP379]

Here is probably my last post relating to the 124 HHP.

I loaded up a small handful of these with 5.1gr of Winchester Auto Comp. Chronograph showed these just a tad under 1,000 fps. The same load with a SiG/Sierra 125gr V Crown chrono'ed at about 1,050 fps.

The slower HHP penetrated 11in in bare gel and expanded fully. No loss of material. Through the four layers of material the bullet punched through one block and well into the second with zero expansion.

For comparison, the V Crown in bare gel punched fully through the one block and just kissed into the second yielding just over 16in. Through clothing the V Crown punched fully through both blocks. I fired another bullet through clothing and had another pass through. I did manage to find one of these pass through bullets on the ground behind the blocks.

Here's the bare gel HHP. Note the other "wound tracks" in the first block.

Here's the V Crown in bare gel.

Here's the HHP after heavy clothing.

And all four bullets for comparison. HHPs on top. SiGs on the bottom.

Recovered diameters.

HHP

V Crown

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Though better results with slower velocity as I suspected with the HHP, the characteristics of many HP bullets of the clogged tip and failure to expand showed its ugly face. Bones are the same way as in their effect on HP tips and clogging. As close as the breastplate and ribcage are to the skin in many cases, many HP can clog, pass through deflect and just fail to perform in real world vs gelatin.

I use to test on old hogs I acquired from a farmer when one died unexpectedly and spoiled the meat possibilities. back then bullet technology was still not what it is today. I had the best result with a .357 using SJHP and SJWC rounds.

Appreciate the share! Some have thought might think it's silly slowing it down to get more penetration but in some cases is a round expands too fast the energy is dumped in a short span. In the end it all depends on the make of the bullet itself.

Lately I've seen some of the best results from the Federal HST's and Hornady Critical Defense. Shooting the bull channel on YouTube does the Ammoquest where he test several rounds and has covered most of the 9mm ammo. Check it out!

 

[USBP379]

I have shot some 180gr 40 HST's into the gel with and without the clothing barrier. Penetration into bare gel, from what I remember, was about 14in and bumped to about 18in after the clothing. Expansion in both cases was uniform.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

I have shot some 180gr 40 HST's into the gel with and without the clothing barrier. Penetration into bare gel, from what I remember, was about 14in and bumped to about 18in after the clothing. Expansion in both cases was uniform.

Sounds about ideal! I saw some test in short barrel compacts coming in pretty good as well. seems velocity was close to a full length barrel from the chrono results. I think they are using a fast powder.

 

[USBP379]

I was fortunate enough to find a partial box of Speer 147 Gold Dots as components and loaded them up with 5.2gr of Silhouette. This was what I have been using with the 147 HHP's.

The bullet fired into bare gel had an impact velocity of 1,025 fps and penetrated 15.5in. It is pictured on the left. I then fired two bullets through the four layers of clothing. One bullet penetrated 16.5in and the other went 17in. These are the middle and right bullet. The middle bullet gave a velocity of 1,026. The chrono missed the third bullet.