Combat-wombat
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- Joined
- Jan 2, 2003
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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?
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?