Bullet testing, again....

I forgot about my bonus footage of hitting a small 4"x4"x10" gel block with the 117gr Hammer at a little over 3800 fps.


Diy1j5C.jpg
 
I do have some 124gr and 180gr Hammer Hunters that I'm going to test out of the 300 RUM. I'll also mention that the guys at Hammer Bullets were a huge help and sent me sample boxes of one light and one heavier bullet in 6.5mm, 7mm, 270, and 308 to test. The goal is to compare the results of a light for caliber bullet and a more conventional weight bullet. All of the Hammer bullets I've tested so far (and a few more coming up) are styles that I already shoot in my guns, I'll get to the 30 caliber ones soon, I just need to free up some brass for the 300 RUM. I never shoot that rifle so I only have like 40 pieces of brass sitting around for it! LOL

If you (or anyone else) wanted to help with the tests, I'm always open to folks sending me a handful of whatever bullet they'd like to see tested. I switched most of my hunting guns over the Hammers a few years back and burned through a lot of my other odds and ends for plinking ammo over the years. Bergers are a bullet everyone likes to see, but the only Berger I still shoot is the 300gr OTM! If you have a bullet you'd like to see tested and can spare 10 or so of them, I'll get them added to the list.
I have some Berger 6.5mm 140 hybrids I would like to send you. I wish I had the Kevin Cram (Montour Co Rifles) meplat uniformer so we could see the difference from as made Berger's, tips cleaned out with a hand drill and the meplats opened up. Are you open to some PayPal funds to aid on this experiment?
 
If Hammer markets a .452 revolver bullet that performs like the 10mm Jack Hammer bullet yorke-1 tested, I'd have to get some for bear defense loads in my Ruger .454 Casull.
 
If Hammer markets a .452 revolver bullet that performs like the 10mm Jack Hammer bullet yorke-1 tested, I'd have to get some for bear defense loads in my Ruger .454 Casull.
Il second that. I'd like some 452s for my SRH Alaskan as well.

Nice work Yorke

If you need some .30 cal hammer 124s, 214s, or Berger 215s, 220s, 230s, and 245s for testing soon I'd be happy to contribute.
 
I have some Berger 6.5mm 140 hybrids I would like to send you. I wish I had the Kevin Cram (Montour Co Rifles) meplat uniformer so we could see the difference from as made Berger's, tips cleaned out with a hand drill and the meplats opened up. Are you open to some PayPal funds to aid on this experiment?

Some of the tests I did a few years ago included some of 6.5mm Matrix bullets (very similar to Bergers) Elkaholic sent me to test and he opened up the tips on some of those. I'll see if I can find my data from those tests. I know that cleaning up the HP and the meplat made a noticeable difference in how they performed. On the 117gr Hammer, yes it exited the block. The block actually went almost 4 feet up in the air and landed nearly 15 feet away.

As far as a donation, it's not necessary. I've hit a point in shooting where I've gotten pretty bored with a lot of aspects of shooting and hunting and this is how I spend (waste?) my time now. I've done BR competitions, played with big bore rifles like the Rigby, various 375s and big 458s, did the LR and ELR thing for a few years, designed and built a few wildcats, played with big bore revolvers, and did the specialty pistol thing. My work schedule doesn't line up with most hunting seasons here in WA, so testing different bullets is just how I waste my time now.
 
If Hammer markets a .452 revolver bullet that performs like the 10mm Jack Hammer bullet yorke-1 tested, I'd have to get some for bear defense loads in my Ruger .454 Casull.
It only took a few years to get the 10mm bullet done, so there's still hope! LOL

Il second that. I'd like some 452s for my SRH Alaskan as well.

Nice work Yorke

If you need some .30 cal hammer 124s, 214s, or Berger 215s, 220s, 230s, and 245s for testing soon I'd be happy to contribute.
I have some 124gr HH that Steve sent me to test and I don't have a fast enough twist to try the 214s. If you can spare some of the other .30 cal bullets though, that'd be great! I'm a little limited by the 1-10" twist on my 300 RUM.

I've actually been thinking about ordering fast twist barrel blanks in a couple more calibers so I can test more stuff. I even kicked around the idea of just ordering a bunch of different Encore barrels with fast twists to throw on my frame. I can order a complete Encore barrel for only a little more than a decent quality barrel blank. I'd save a fortune over having barrels threaded and chambered for one of the bolt actions. Or I just need to break down and buy a lathe to do my own barrels at the house. You know, spend $10K now so I can save money in the long run...... LOL
 
I will PM you. The encore barrels might be the way to go for now, much more cost efficient for the mean time. I my self have had a hard time not giving in and just buying a lathe. It would be interesting though to see what some of the heavys do in the ballistic gel out of a slower twist.
 
I had plans to get a round of testing done with some 6.5mm bullets yesterday, but completely spaced and left my ammo box at the house, 90 minutes away! LOL I did have my muzzleloader kit with me so I sent a couple of rounds into the gel anyways. The gun is a Knight .52cal Bighorn using 120gr of Triple 7 powder for both loads.

Here's the video and still shots from the gel test.


275gr Bloodline
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405gr Rem
luWHPWa.jpg


The still photo of the 405gr bullet isn't as impressive since it hit on the far side of the block, but you can still make out the wound cavity. The video of the 405's impact is pretty impressive though.

275gr Knight Bloodline. This is the top-down view.
ngAdm3p.jpg

FxDo2Iz.jpg

pzyMkLD.jpg

I was amazed that the bullet exited the second block, that's 32" of penetration before exiting. I fired a 275gr copper HP from a 45-70 into the gel blocks with a similar impact velocity and it barely made it through the first block. All of the petals exited the first block by about the 8" mark. This is consistent with what I saw on a deer I shot with this same load last season; I saw exit holes in the hide from the petals. The entrance hole looks like it was cut with a cookie cutter!

405gr Rem FP. I use these for plinking and when somebody else wants to shoot the muzzleloader.
gSnX0Pl.jpg

5zzZKa4.jpg

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This bullet curved up and to the left, exiting the second gel block after 22" of penetration. I found one fragment of the jacket and small bits of lead through the bullet's path, so the bullet did expand.

The initial damage done by the Bloodline in the first 8" of penetration was pretty spectacular and the remaining shank left a good wound cavity. The 405gr jacketed bullet just left a very consistent wound cavity the full length of penetration, similar to what I see from hard cast lead bullets from a handgun.

Codyadams sent me some of the Super Buldozer bullets to test and CA48 sent me some 30 cal Bergers, so I'll get to those in the next few trips out. I also picked up some of the 175gr Sierra Gamechangers for the 270 that I'll get tested as well. And I still have a bunch of Hammer bullets to test too.

As long as folks stay interested, I'll keep doing the tests. I have another 2 blocks of gel on the way, so I'll have a total of 7 to work with now.
 
Yorke--any chance you done any tests with the impact speed being @ 1800 fps? And if so, did the bullets stay in or exit?
 
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