Substitute for ballistic gel

[RetiredUSNChief]

The problem with water setups, especially if you don't live on the shooting property, is sourcing and carrying all that water in the first place.

Water is cheap, yes. But in the quantities needed, it's bulky and heavy.

A 5 gallon bucket weighs in at about 40 pounds. Setting up a water trap of some sort to shoot into is going to require a few gallons of water right off the bat. Shoot it full of holes, now you've just lost all that water and need to refill. Refill a couple times and suddenly you're talking hundreds of pounds of water.

Not to mention whether or not your water trap needs repairing in the process.

Making some form of ballistics gel at least has a few other things going for it. It can be sized to suit your needs, you can prefabricate several blocks, and you can get several shots per block.

Now, if it were me, I'd design my own water trap to capture nearly all the water drained from it so it could be reused repeatedly. It wouldn't be difficult, but it would add some complexity and weight to the setup.

 

[USBP379]

Have you looked into gel from Clear Ballistics?

We've been messing around with this and have generally been happy wih it. It remelts easily and can be used time and time again.

Keep the temps fairly low while melting. Also you'll probably want to put a melting oven or crock pot in the garage. You can use the kitchen oven but melting takes awhile and it does have some odor.

Is it true Kind and Knox ballistic gel? No. Apparently there are some performance differences between the synthetic gel and the real stuff. But I bet any difference you'll see is largely academic.

Initial purchase isn't cheap but the stuff apparently lasts quite awhile. We have two blocks we have used half a dozen times. They are dirty and discolored but still seem to be working okay. We're still seeing predicted and repeatable results.

https://www.clearballistics.com

 

[LiveLife]

How about Jell-O/gelatin mixed thick to form firm blocks?

2 lbs of gelatin powder for $15 - https://www.amazon.com/Orange-Gelat...8&qid=1483919814&sr=1-2&keywords=bulk+gelatin

http://survivaldefenselab.com/2014/09/diy-ballistics-gel-the-easiest-method

 

[Leatherstocking]

I've done this with plastic milk jugs. Lined a bunch up on a 2x8 set on 2 inverted 5 gallon buckets. The Barnes TSX bullets looked just like their ads. 4 "petals", 100% weight retention. Varmit Grenades turned to dust and a few flakes of jacket.
Rodney James in "ABCs of Reloading" recommends paper milk cartons.
You can recycle the plastic jugs after you shoot them.

 

[the Black Spot]

A barrel with replaceable lids, layed on its side on some saw horses. Shoot through lid into barrel. Water drains into catch basin underneath. Retrieve bullet. Fill with water, attach new lid. Repeat.
Two five gallon buckets with bottoms cut out and then sealed together would make a long enough "tube"
You could probably gorilla tape the back side of the lid with hole and it would hold water long enough for another test.