Okay, maybe I wasn't clear enough. Most folks testing their ammo out on phone books/newspaper are doing so to test penetration--not expansion. Yes, I understand how JHP's rely on fluid dynamics to expand and ballistic gelatin is a great media to determine how a bullet will expand--in ballistic gelatin. I assumed that COHIBA was testing penetration. I also understand that different bullets will expand in a different manner but two bullets of the same type (i.e. two Speer Gold Dots of the same caliber but of different weights) should expand uniformly enough for all practical purposes. When testing sheer penetrating ability, phone books and newspaper are fine. Ballistic gelatin holds no greater value in that case. If one bullet goes through four phone books and another bullet goes through five phone books it really doesn't matter if the two bullets are of like type. The one that went through five phone books is going to have the energy to push it further through an obstacle.
Regarding potential bullet performance, I still take issue with those that feel ballistic gelatin is a good media with which to test such properties. It's geletin--not flesh. It has no bones, and it has no variations like your body does of various muscle/flesh mass.
I know several court-room subject matter experts that are called upon to testify in several major cities regarding cases involving defensive shooting incidents. The certifiable experts with whom I converse take issue with ballistic gelatin and its over-glorified properties for bullet performance testing. Ballistic gelatin is nothing more than a pretty format that allows for easy photography of the entire path of the bullet and the bullet's terminal condition. It's window dressing. I love the gun magazines and I've even purchased a Kimber based on what I read in one of them. However, ballistic gelatin just makes for a good platform to take pictures for gun magazines so that ammo manufacturers can WOW the consumer. I'll reconsider my opinion after they figure out how to get ballistic gelatin to grow a rib cage.
In a defensive situation, a bullet often has to pass through more than just one obstacle before getting to the boiler room of the assailant. If your assailant has a gun and is pointing it at you or has a knife and is pointing it at you, where are his hands? They're in front of him covering his center-of-mass which is where you are most likely to shoot. Ballistic gelatin can't reproduce the path of a bullet through someone's hand AND THEN their ribcage.
P.S. Great show today GUNTALK. I'm still getting free calendars from Gunsite after they were offered as a limited GUNTALK offer (50 calendars) last year.
Regarding potential bullet performance, I still take issue with those that feel ballistic gelatin is a good media with which to test such properties. It's geletin--not flesh. It has no bones, and it has no variations like your body does of various muscle/flesh mass.
I know several court-room subject matter experts that are called upon to testify in several major cities regarding cases involving defensive shooting incidents. The certifiable experts with whom I converse take issue with ballistic gelatin and its over-glorified properties for bullet performance testing. Ballistic gelatin is nothing more than a pretty format that allows for easy photography of the entire path of the bullet and the bullet's terminal condition. It's window dressing. I love the gun magazines and I've even purchased a Kimber based on what I read in one of them. However, ballistic gelatin just makes for a good platform to take pictures for gun magazines so that ammo manufacturers can WOW the consumer. I'll reconsider my opinion after they figure out how to get ballistic gelatin to grow a rib cage.
In a defensive situation, a bullet often has to pass through more than just one obstacle before getting to the boiler room of the assailant. If your assailant has a gun and is pointing it at you or has a knife and is pointing it at you, where are his hands? They're in front of him covering his center-of-mass which is where you are most likely to shoot. Ballistic gelatin can't reproduce the path of a bullet through someone's hand AND THEN their ribcage.
P.S. Great show today GUNTALK. I'm still getting free calendars from Gunsite after they were offered as a limited GUNTALK offer (50 calendars) last year.