Shot My Phone Book

[Remander]

I had an old phone book, 2 1/4" thick.

Propped it up about 10 yds away and popped it with various handguns.

.22 Aguila HP fired from a Ruger Mark II made it most of the way through. I was surprised at how far the little .22 penetrated. That would really sting.

.38 Special 130 grain from a Ruger GP100 4" punched through and tore a great exit hole, though the entry hole was not much more noticeable than the .22.

9mm Blazer 115 grain from a Glock 19 did about the same as the .38, though the exit was alittle more spectacular, with a tornado looking spiral of paper sticking out the back.

.357 Magnum 110 grain Winchester from the GP 100 punched a clean circle in the front, by far the most noticeable entry, and left an exit like a small fist punched through it!

So what did I learn from this non-scientific exercise? That even a little .22 or cheap practice ammo has awesome potential to do damage, and the .357 is still one bad mother!

 

[4v50 Gary]

I'll remember not to "harden" my car with telephone books.

 

[stans]

I printed a copy of this and taped it to my phone book. I don't think my phone book is going to give me any more problems now that it has read what happened to one of its colleagues.

 

[Smoke]

Well I have seen and read alot about people testing loads on their phone books. So I decided after reading this thread it was time to give it a try.

I was overwhelmingly disappointed. I started with a .22lr (Blazer) fired from a Ruger 22/45. Penetration was through and through. All further testing was discontinued as being moot.

Intrance hole:

Exit hole:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rogerwparks/Pbook2.jpg

Maybe I need to move to a bigger town....


Smoke



P.S. My apologies to the gut-shot lawyer.

 

[carpettbaggerr]

Aren't you supposed to soak them in water first?

 

[stans]

Yes, that way they are heavy, bloated, and can't run as fast.

Seriously, wet newsprint (phone books) will usually make bullets expand faster than dry phone books.

 

[Gunrunner]

For the most part when I've tested bullets I've soaked several phone books and lined them up, one behind the other. It really gets the bullets to mushroom. Put some wood behind the books and you can often recover the bullets. Lots of fun to experiment with that stuff.

 

[countertop]

I regularly do this - once or twice a year.

I usually take the old DC and Northern Virginia Phone Books (each about 4 inches thick, and we get 2-3 of each from different phone companies) wrap em with duct tape (to make sure they survive the journey (I've had too many fall apart on me before shooting) and then soak em for 4-5 days to get em nice and juciy.


The shooting is good and most handgun rounds can't penetrate all the way through at 25 yards - though you get wonderful examples of bullet expansion to take home.

 

[fedlaw]

When I turned 18 (a lotta yrs. ago), I just had to test fire my new Smith .38. Being clever, I waited until my parents were out for the day and took a Chicago directory into the basement. I also propped it up about 10 yds away (give or take) and gave it my best. I don't remember how far the bullet penetrated, but I do remember the following: 1) It sure made a lot of smoke; 2) It took me hours to clear the smell (thus saving my life); 3) I was relieved when my hearing returned (there's nothing like smooth concrete to soak up the sound.)
Steve

 

[Gordy Wesen]

Shooting a phone book from the Norwegian capitol of Texas: Clifton.
Uf DA.
Population 3500.

Smoke gets in yer eyes.