.40 S&W Ballistics Gel Testing

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Moparman485

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Hello all! Below are all of my results for the .40 S&W. Please see the associated card to see the ammo type, velocity, firearm, and penetration information. Please feel free to also add any results you may have had, as this could possibly turn into a library of sorts with multiple contributors to help people pick which ammo to stock up on, and what ammo is all hype. In the case of non-factory ammunition that is tested, please bear in mind that you only use the listed load data at your own risk. Safe in my guns does not mean safe in yours. I am also open to testing any ammunition that you may have (factory or non) but if it is non-factory, I will need a breakdown of your load data/process before I pull the trigger on it. If you have an interest in that, PM me and we can discuss. If nothing else, please enjoy the results, they were certainly fun getting!

Gel data: 20% ballistic gel made from Knox unflavored gelatin (and for the money minded, great value unflavored gelatin powder also works fine), and a few drops of cinnamon oil to help keep mold down and prolong the life of the gel (plus cover the wet dog smell of the melting gel).

Also, I don’t pretend to think that this method is the best, most scientific, or even preferred method, but it felt a bit wasteful to just hold onto the data without sharing it with others. So here it is! Enjoy
 

Moparman485

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140gr Cast/Coated Eggleston
 

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Moparman485

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Just a little bit of recovered bullet findings.

This is totally normal and expected, just wanted to share the findings. So these are .40/10mm Barnes solid copper HP recovered from dry berm at 25yds. These were test loads fired from carbines. These passed through the target board and then impacted the dry dirt behind, where they were recovered. As expected (and as is the norm for Barnes in all calibers I’ve tested) they do not expand at all in dirt, and merely “deform”. In gel/liquid/flesh, they expand due to hydraulic force rather than physical impact. Just kind of a neat thing to recover. Notice the one that managed to fuse a shotgun pellet into the nose upon impact. Will share the updated ballistics gel results for them once I finish development!
 

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