Michael Tinker Pearce
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- Joined
- Oct 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1,578
After all of the .32 S&W long and 9mm tests the Clear Ballistics gel block was looking pretty sad, and as I was contemplating this it occurred to me to wonder what kind of results I would get if I shot it with Mini-Mouse. This is the miniature .22 Short derringer I made in June. I use CCI Low-Noise Subsonic ammo in it, because ballistically it's a pretty good analog of the original black-powder .22 Rimfire introduced by S&W in the 1850's.
Normally I shoot over a chronograph into gel covered with four layers of denim, but frankly if I was far enough away to use the chronograph I wasn't sure I could hit the 4x4 end of the gel block; with a 1-3/8" barrel and no sights accuracy isn't this gun's strong suit. Pointing at the denim-covered block from about one foot away I cocked the hammer and squeezed the trigger.
The bullet penetrated 6-3/4" and tumbled twice, once in the middle of the wound track and once just before coming to rest. Dangerous, even potentially deadly, but not something you'd want to bet your life on. That's OK, this tiny gun was made for fun and as a curiosity.
This got me thinking. How would a mouse-gun actually intended for self-defense perform? I happen to have some lying around, and some ammo of different types, so why not give it a try? I rounded up the usual suspects and gave it a go.
These are the Colt Junior in .25 ACP, the Seecamp LWS32 in .32 ACP, the S&W Escort in .22LR and the aforementioned Mini-Mouse.
First up was Linda's Colt Junior in .25 ACP. The load I had come up with is a 58gr. hard-cast flat point from Rim Rock. OK, it's supposed to be a 55gr., but every one I have weighed has been right around 58, so I'm gonna call it what it is. These were loaded over 1.1gr of Red Dot with a CCI300 primer. The load clocked 646 fps. for 54 ft./lbs, and penetrated a solid 12-1/2". Not bad at all. The bullet did rotate 180 degrees and came to rest base-first, which may be what caused the slight curve in the wound-track.
The Seecamp was next, and it only uses hollow-point ammunition, not because they will expand, but because Winchester Silvertips was the only commercial ammo short enough for the magazine when this gun was designed. The load I use is a 60gr. XTP over 2.6gr. Universal with a Federal #100 Primer . From this gun's 2″ barrel this is good for an average of 727fps. and 70 ft./lbs. The bullet is not expected to expand, and it didn't. It did penetrate 11" of gel before stopping right at the edge of the gel on the bottom.
Last was the S&W Escort, a weird gun based on a Belgian .380 pocket pistol from 1908. Kinda' large for a mouse gun, and holds only five rounds of .22 LR in it's magazine... but it's hilariously accurate and fun to shoot. I can get decent groups at 25 yards with this thing, and close range mag-dumps are a hoot. The ammo used was Sears House Brand ammunition made in the 1970's. I inherited bricks of this stuff when my Uncle Jim passed a few years back, and it has proven ultra-reliable and very accurate.
I fired this from ten feet over the chronograph and four layers of denim over the block of gel. Unfortunately I did not get a velocity reading. There were so many wound tracks crisscrossing the block at this point the only way I could locate the bullet was to literally tear the bock into sections until I found the bullet, then reassemble the block to see how deep it went. That turned out to be right about 8-3/8", and the bullet came to rest backwards.
High-velocity ammo would no doubt fare better, but the only HV ammo I had on hand were some CCI Stingers. This gun doesn't like those, so I just stuck with the standard-velocity stuff.
So there you have it, for what it's worth. Perhaps this will be helpful in estimating the performance of your own mouse-guns. Anyway, it was fun. Now it's time to wash the block, tear it into tiny pieces and melt it down to re-cast it. Mybe next time I'll try some factory FMC bullets in the .25 and some HV stuff in the .22... if I don't shoot the block up pursuing the next wild hare that goes racing through my brain...
Normally I shoot over a chronograph into gel covered with four layers of denim, but frankly if I was far enough away to use the chronograph I wasn't sure I could hit the 4x4 end of the gel block; with a 1-3/8" barrel and no sights accuracy isn't this gun's strong suit. Pointing at the denim-covered block from about one foot away I cocked the hammer and squeezed the trigger.
The bullet penetrated 6-3/4" and tumbled twice, once in the middle of the wound track and once just before coming to rest. Dangerous, even potentially deadly, but not something you'd want to bet your life on. That's OK, this tiny gun was made for fun and as a curiosity.
This got me thinking. How would a mouse-gun actually intended for self-defense perform? I happen to have some lying around, and some ammo of different types, so why not give it a try? I rounded up the usual suspects and gave it a go.
These are the Colt Junior in .25 ACP, the Seecamp LWS32 in .32 ACP, the S&W Escort in .22LR and the aforementioned Mini-Mouse.
First up was Linda's Colt Junior in .25 ACP. The load I had come up with is a 58gr. hard-cast flat point from Rim Rock. OK, it's supposed to be a 55gr., but every one I have weighed has been right around 58, so I'm gonna call it what it is. These were loaded over 1.1gr of Red Dot with a CCI300 primer. The load clocked 646 fps. for 54 ft./lbs, and penetrated a solid 12-1/2". Not bad at all. The bullet did rotate 180 degrees and came to rest base-first, which may be what caused the slight curve in the wound-track.
The Seecamp was next, and it only uses hollow-point ammunition, not because they will expand, but because Winchester Silvertips was the only commercial ammo short enough for the magazine when this gun was designed. The load I use is a 60gr. XTP over 2.6gr. Universal with a Federal #100 Primer . From this gun's 2″ barrel this is good for an average of 727fps. and 70 ft./lbs. The bullet is not expected to expand, and it didn't. It did penetrate 11" of gel before stopping right at the edge of the gel on the bottom.
Last was the S&W Escort, a weird gun based on a Belgian .380 pocket pistol from 1908. Kinda' large for a mouse gun, and holds only five rounds of .22 LR in it's magazine... but it's hilariously accurate and fun to shoot. I can get decent groups at 25 yards with this thing, and close range mag-dumps are a hoot. The ammo used was Sears House Brand ammunition made in the 1970's. I inherited bricks of this stuff when my Uncle Jim passed a few years back, and it has proven ultra-reliable and very accurate.
I fired this from ten feet over the chronograph and four layers of denim over the block of gel. Unfortunately I did not get a velocity reading. There were so many wound tracks crisscrossing the block at this point the only way I could locate the bullet was to literally tear the bock into sections until I found the bullet, then reassemble the block to see how deep it went. That turned out to be right about 8-3/8", and the bullet came to rest backwards.
High-velocity ammo would no doubt fare better, but the only HV ammo I had on hand were some CCI Stingers. This gun doesn't like those, so I just stuck with the standard-velocity stuff.
So there you have it, for what it's worth. Perhaps this will be helpful in estimating the performance of your own mouse-guns. Anyway, it was fun. Now it's time to wash the block, tear it into tiny pieces and melt it down to re-cast it. Mybe next time I'll try some factory FMC bullets in the .25 and some HV stuff in the .22... if I don't shoot the block up pursuing the next wild hare that goes racing through my brain...
