Stopping power/science project

[Combat-wombat]

Today I did the ballistic testing part of my school science project. (see http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66699 and http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=67190 )
I tested 3 brands of .45 ammunition out of a standard 5" 1911 barrel:
1. Federal 165 gr. Hydra-Shoks
2. Cor-Bon 165 gr. +p JHPs
3. Speer Gold Dot (I can't remember the weight, and I'm too lazy to check right now)
...fired into a row of 4 big cubes (around 6", as was suggested to me in the other thread) of play-dough. None of the rounds penetrated more than 2 blocks

The Federal Hydra-Shoks I tested were pretty unimpressive. Not a great wound channel, and there was lots of fragmentation. It went well into the second block.

The Corbon +p rounds were so powerful and fragmented so much that it was hard to tell what was the main mass of the bullet and what was a fragment. the main mass was extremely flattened out. They had a great wound channel. Actually, you couldn't tell it was a wound channel, because the block of play-dough exploded. The round hit the center of the 6-inch block, and it blew the whole thing apart into small pieces. Very powerful, and the round did not penetrate into the second block.

The Gold Dots did not fragment at all. They formed a perfect mushroom shape. Their wound channel was quite impressive, but definitely not to the extent of the Corbons. They penetrated only a tiny bit into the second block. These expanded to the largest diameter, as well (a little over 3/4 of an inch)


My question is... Which would be best for home defense? I would obviously not pick Hydra-Shoks, so it is between Gold Dots and Cor-Bons. Which is better, very good shocking power and great expansion (Gold Dot) or extreme shocking power, but also with extreme fragmentation?

Which would you consider to have the most "stopping power", also considering that the wound channel in the playdough would be temporary (only lasting a fraction of a second) on a living target?

 

[winstonsmith]

Wow, cool science project. If I did that at my school, I'd probably be carted away in chains. Imagine a liberal arts high school, in san francisco, in california.

I say, trust your own results. Corbon!

 

[dukeofurl]

You didnt test rangers?

 

[clubsoda22]

You have to think about what fragmentation means when it comes to penetration. The fragmented corbon may have looked the coolest, but it by no means would have done the most terminal damage. Becouse of its fragmentation, the corbon lacks the penetration to reach vital organs. It looks cool in play dough because in play dough, you can't see the difference between the permanent and temporary cavity. when you use actual ballistics gelatin, you'll find that the corbon looks far less impressive. YOu'll see a few shards of bullet penetrating at most 7 or so inches of gelatin. This means it can penetrate as little as 3.5" in an actual human body. You'll notice that the gold dot in ballistic gelatin penetrates more than twice the distance of the corbon. This is because the bullet is heavier and has less of a tendency to break apart due to the jacket being bonded to the core, something which is lacking in corbon loads.

The key to neutralizing an opponent ss causing a lot of surface damage and a big temporary cavity. The key is causing a big deep permanent cavity that destroys organs and disrupts the central nervous system.

The short of it is, fragmentation is not a good thing in defensive handgun loads. Hollowpoints that open up wide and penetrate deeply will have the best neutralizing effect.

Go to www.ammolab.com and look up the loads you tested in .45

 

[artherd]

Honestly, any of the 3 will likely do just fine. Clay/Dough tests are non-elastic, you'd be better served by making your own ballistic gelatin. (though it's a PITA.)

Shot placement will be the important factor.

 

[PCRCCW]

I like the play dough testing better than Gelatin......maybe not as scientific but hey, what the hell! Gelatin isnt a rule but closer than most for a "sudo human body" to test on.

Hydras are hit and miss for expansion IMO......Ive done ham testing on them and they did the same thing. Hams are more like the Human Body than Gelatin....IMO anyway. Meat is Meat!

Corbons are excellent round. The trick is you had the lightest bullet going the fastest velocity.........thus fragmentation. If you have a heavier bullet you would have similar results to the G Dots..............

Dots are always a good choice. Just a good bullet design....not dependent on speed to expand and accurate as hell.

Shoot well and good science test..............

 

[BluesBear]

Meat is Meat

Yes and No.

Aged, Cured or Cooked meat is a lot different than Living Tissue.

 

[Chip Dixon]

Try the 185g corbon .45 acp +p JHPs, and you'll see why their my carry ammo

Not to mention, they're damn accurate out of my 5" SA Stainless milspec 1911.