bullet test media, "bullet tube"

Status
Not open for further replies.
It appears that the media is contained within a tube. This may make it clean and handy, but I would think that it would not allow the media to react naturally by flowing out away from the impact. Although it may make a repeatable test, I think it would be hard to develop any corolation factor to other balistic gel or any other test.
 
Personally I think the product sounds pretty usefull more in terms of examining/comparing bullet expansion or other general effects on the bullet (jacket separation, etc.) than for wound cavity. In that case, though, the single shot idea sounds like more of a hassle than any benefit. I think I'd prefer something like this as just buying the gel and then building your own form to put it in. Would be a WHOLE lot more useful if it were more transparent.
 
I'm pretty sure it's just some kind of wax. The "wound cavity" is basically just a temporary cavity (albeit smaller than in gelatin), so it'd have no bearing on actual wound cavity in an animal.

What looks a lot more interesting is kraton in white paraffin oil "gel candles." http://www.travma.org.tr/pdfs/9.2/TJTES.9.2.5.pdf
 
I'm perfectly happy with the play dough I've been using for several years now. Kept in a sealed 5 gallon paint bucket, I don't see this stuff ever going bad and the bullet expansion this medium yields is nearly identical to the photos of those fired into ballistic gelatin (though penetration is relative only to other tests using the same medium).
This is a very interesting product that I believe some might be in the market for, however I do believe I'll stick to my "still-fresh-after-7-years-shot-hundreds-of-times" play dough and save myself $70. Making the four or five 6"x6" cubes isn't all that hard anyway.

Thanks for the link, though. New bullet-expansion stuff is always a welcome addition to our available options.

f65c6510.jpg


Typical picture-perfect results
f914289a.jpg
 
Thanks for the replies. I have tried duct seal, sort of a greasey play dough, but I was limited to small blocks so didn't consider it succesful. I might try casting and shooting a wax block. It will not be that bright green color, but then again it won't cost $70 either. If I do I will post the results here.
 
griz,
Different waxes will react differently. Paraffin waxes tend to fracture rather than flex. Keep that in mind.

I saw some sort of reusable shooting medium in a recent Cabelas catalog. You could also buy a crock-pot type heater to re-melt it. Ah, found it.
 
Plain old modeling clay (the wax/oil based stuff that never hardens) isn't a bad idea, though it's rather temperature-sensitive. You can get Plast-Econ modeling clay for $1.67 per pound. 13 pounds is enough to make a 4" x 4" x 15" block, or 30 pounds to make a 6" x 6" x 16" one. http://www.hobbycast.net/products/plasteconmodelingclay.htm Just keep in mind that all you can measure is relative penetration between different rounds.
 
If you have a chest freezer, your own gelatin isn't so far out. Though that would take a lot of jell-o!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top