Testing of defense ammo in Taurus and Kahr

[Dean1818]

As part of my son's science project, we tested penetration and expansion for

Speer Gold Dot 9mm +P 124 Gr
Speer Gold Dot 9mm +P !24 Gr Short Barrel
Ranger HST 147gr
Cor Bon DPX 115g +p

We used the Kahr K-9 and the Taurus

To test the data we recreated a test done by a fine gentleman from Tennessee (you should subscribe to his videos) on youtube, who did an excellent job. (Its an easy search)

What I wanted to do is check the results with a pistol that is less than 4inches long (The Taurus and the Kahr) to see if the lesser barrel would create a change in bullet performance

Here are a few pictures of the setup.

I used milk jugs full of wet newspaper and on the front of the first jug, used 4 layers of denim









Results Kahr K-9

Expansion Penetration

Speer Gold Dots 124 +P .625 10"

Speer Gold Dots 124 +P Short Barrel .625 11.5"

Ranger HST 147g .625 14"

Corbon DPX 115g +P .688 15"



Results Taurus 9m

Expansion Penetration

Speer Gold Dots 124 +P .565 16"

Speer Gold Dots 124 +P Short Barrel .565 16.5"

Ranger HST 147g .625 14"

Corbon DPX 115g +P .688 16"




Overall, the Corbon has become my choice for CCW for my Kahr after seeing these tests, and the tests done on youtube.

(The Taurus is borrowed, but it surprised me how well it did with its short barrel)

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Corbon penetrates deeper because it crushes a smaller diameter permanent cavity than the others. Notice the wide gaps between the expanded petals. There's no free lunch in physics.

No need stuff the milk jugs with newspaper. It adds inconsistency to the test medium. Just fill 'em with water. Also as a general rule, penetration performance of handgun bullets is less in water soaked newspaper because it presents greater shear force resistance to penetration.