12 gauge ammo tests...gelatin & patterning

BrobeeBiter

New member
Hi there folks!

So about 10 years ago (before my kids came!), some of you may remember when I had a website where I chronicled a big ballistic gelatin shooting extravaganza I'd spent a winter doing. I tested in ballistics gel pretty much everything from #9 shot all the way through the various buckshots and even a handful of different slugs. I also did a whole bunch of .223 and .308 rounds. Not only did I have a tonne of fun in the process, but I also learned a whole lot.

Then for various reasons, several years ago I took down the website where all the results were catalogued. I've allowed some of the photographs to survive over in one of the stickied forums at shotgunworld.com, and they occasionally get referenced in other forums (such as thehighroad.org) when folks ask about the performance/suitability of a paticular shot size for a paticular application.

In fact, on another forum in a similarly themed thread my old ballistics gel tests came up again and it got me a bit nostalgic as I remembered how much fun it had been to do all the testing. It also got me thinking about how much better it could be in today's world of HD cameras and YouTube!

That was pretty much it then....I knew what my next project would be and I got busy!

In addition to better video equipment and better media delivery mechanisms, there were other improvements to make. The first was in the actual preparation of the gelatin. Previously, I had been constrained to winter gelatin testing only, as I was using my unheated garage as the source of refrigeration required to make and store the gelatin blocks. I would have to wait until it was cold outside, then use a small space heater to keep my garage at 5 degrees C. I only had one gelatin mold, so it would take me a while to make enough gelatin, and then I would have to wait until the weather was 5 degrees outside so that I could move the gelatin to the range, get setup, and then shoot it while was still the proper temperature. Talk about a pain!

This time around I wanted the freedom to make/store gelatin at any time of the year, so I set out to make a poor-boy refrigerator that I could tow anywhere. It is pretty much a chest framed with 2x4s and lined with 4 inches of rigid board insulation. It sits on my utility trailer (so I can tow it anywhere), and is powered by a room air conditioner I've redneck-engineered to maintain 4 degrees celsius inside the chest.

Inbetween bouts of building the refrigerated chest, I got on the phone and ordered up 50 lbs of ballistics gelatin, some dimethylpolysiloxane (de-foamer), and propionic acid (mold & fungus inhibitor). I also had a local sheet meta fabricator make me two 8.5x10x18 gelatin molds from 18 gauge stainless. The last of the materials arrived last week, and this past weekend I set up to cast the first blocks....I was thrilled when the first block slid out of the mold!

gel_fridge_a.jpg



gel_fridge_b.jpg



gel_fridge_c.jpg



gel_fridge_d.jpg


Now a week later my refrigerated chest was pretty much full, and I spent the long weekend at my little farm for a big bout of shotgun ballistics gelatin shooting! I started out with a good selection of steel and lead BB, BBB, and #4 buckshot (both plated and unplaced, some with flight control wads and others with conventional wads)m and now have a pile of video to to edit. I'll do this over the next bunch of weeks, and post each episode up on youtube as I get it done.

Here's the first one:

Federal's Premium Black Cloud BB:



As I have raw footage for more than a dozen more, I'd sure appreciate comments on format and content!

I've also done Federal's black cloud BBB as well as Hornady's heavy Mag Coyote BB with their Versawad (same thing as Federal's flight control wad). The black cloud BBB is really really interesting; I've got some coyote hunting lined up shortly where I'll be trying it out. Videos of that hopefully too, but I might save them for my website at www.coyotecanada.ca.

Anyway, more ammo reviews to come as I get them edited...:)

Cheers,

Brobee
 
Here's another; Winchester's BlindSide Elite Hex Steel BB:



Would not recommend this one for coyotes due to significantly reduced penetration.

Cheers,

Brobee
 
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Lastly - I have planned in my next outing to do some longer range gelatin penetration tests with the black cloud, the hornady, and some #4 buck loads. Will post them after I finish my general BB series as per the above format!

Cheers,

Brobee
 
This is going to be very interesting. thanks for all your effort. Maybe some fur in front of the gelatin to simulate the denim test ??
 
Your video was great! Fantastic editing and great narration. I would like to see tighter constriction chokes tested.

I look forward to seeing your other videos and I already shared your video with two of my goose-addicted acquaintances. Keep up the good work.

I will have to check out your website when I get home from work because it is blocked here due to "weapons."
 
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Celsius is essentially same as centigrade.
To convert *f to *c multiply the *f x 1.8 and add 32*

Not familliar w/tonne.

Edit to add:
Welcome to the forum, BrobeeBiter; very informative thread, looking forward to future posts. Thanks for sharing!

Regards,
hm
 
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Originally Posted By: ChupathingyThanks for the hard work!

Is a "Tonne" 2000 kilos? And what is a "Celsius"?

Sorry, I don't speak Canadian.

Chupa

A metric tonne is 1000kg, the same thing as 2200lbs.

Degrees Celsius: water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

Tf = (9/5)*Tc+32

Tc = (5/9)*(Tf-32)


 
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Just finished editing another...

Hornady's Heavy Magnum Nickel Plated Lead BB:



Have a couple more BB episodes left to edit, then I'll move on to some #4 buck and 00 buck!

Cheers,

Brobee
 
Great info and tests Brobee. I commend you for doing tests that the manufactures themselves should be doing and releasing to the public.
I hate to request anything more from you than you have already provided but is there any way you could shoot the ballistics gel, at say, 40 yards. I really think this may expose some misconceptions about ammo. In particular I'd love to see that black cloud against the magnum coyote.
 
Originally Posted By: BrobeeBiterJust finished editing another...

Hornady's Heavy Magnum Nickel Plated Lead BB:



Have a couple more BB episodes left to edit, then I'll move on to some #4 buck and 00 buck!

Cheers,

Brobee


Really enjoying the series especially this one with the Hornady BB loads as i've done some testing with these aswell. Hoping to hopefully see the hevi-shot dead coyote loads in the future. Great work though and real through and well thought out testing, really appreciate the hard work.
 
It would be great if you would add your testing to our big sticky thread at the top of this page. It would add some data to that big file for future reference for those beginning their own search for suitable loads, ect.
 
Yeah, that's good stuff right there. Thanks for putting that together. Looking forward to seeing what else you have in mind.
 
Originally Posted By: coyotekillerNEGreat info and tests Brobee. I commend you for doing tests that the manufactures themselves should be doing and releasing to the public.
I hate to request anything more from you than you have already provided but is there any way you could shoot the ballistics gel, at say, 40 yards. I really think this may expose some misconceptions about ammo. In particular I'd love to see that black cloud against the magnum coyote.

+1 that's really interesting the black cloud which is steel, penetrated a little deeper then the heavy magnum coyote which is lead
 
Originally Posted By: coyotekillerNEI hate to request anything more from you than you have already provided but is there any way you could shoot the ballistics gel, at say, 40 yards. I really think this may expose some misconceptions about ammo. In particular I'd love to see that black cloud against the magnum coyote.

That's a great idea! I've got a range day planned for not too long form now, and am currently building up my gelatin block stores.....seems like that would be a great way to test some buckshot too!

Rather than 40 yards though, I think I might go for 25 or 30 instead as it is a bit more manageable in getting more pellets in the gelatin.

The format would be:

-
  • a single gun, either my 870 Police or my chop-job 11-87.
  • gelatin block at 5 yards (as per what I've been doing)
  • 2 x pattern board at 25 yards (or maybe one at 12.5 and the other at 25 yards)
  • 1 x gelatin block at 25 yards, propped up on a wooden stand I don't mind shooting.
  • load 5 rounds into shotgun
  • one into the block
  • one into each pattern board
  • two into the gelatin block at 25 yards

    I have the following sitting on my shelf right now, and could do:

    - black steel BBB
    - Hornady Heavy Magnum Coyote Lead BB
    - Hornady Varmint Express #4 Buck
    - Federal Premium Flight Control 00 Buck

    It would likely consume 9 blocks (2 each for the bb & #4 buck loads = 6 total, plus 3 for the 00 buck (anticipated penetration from each 00 test: 1.5 blocks))

    What I don't have is some Tungsten-Iron Federal Premium Heavyweight Coyote. I've got a case ordered, but it will likely take 6 months or so (crappy international border stuff!)....it would be super-interesting to compare the 3 materials in a BB sized load.

    A good use of gelatin? Or would you prefer to see more tests in the current format? (ie: one round into gelatin at 5 yards + multi-gun pattern test)

    Cheers!

    Brobee
 
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Sounds great Brobee. I'm sure whatever format you decide will be very informative. A 25-30 yard gel test would really give myself and other members great perspective when choosing ammo. I bought several boxes of Hornady magnum coyote myself and thus far I'm loving the patterns I'm getting. Again, thank you and keep up the good work.
 
Please forgive my ignorance.

Besides watching your videos in this thread, I have been watching other ballistic gelatin shotgun test videos, on youtube, lately.

Here's my question...and again, please forgive my ignorance...but why are most of these tests performed at a distance of 15-25 feet?
While they are very interesting to watch, do these tests give a reasonable comparison to what penetration would be on an animal at 30-40 yards?

Or is the shorter distance used because of the size of the gelatin molds?
 
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