Penetration in fir post comparison. aka "winter boredom"

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Casefull

Casefull

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Some clarification: Bullets shot into end of post and traveled lengthwise in post.
Entry point is at 16 inch position of tape measure. Wood is dry fir post.
Wolf soft point 7.62 39 expanded more than I thought, 2400 fps. aprox.6 inches.

5.56 round at 3000fps, 55g fmj. bullet flipped 180 degrees. Aprox. 9 inches

7.62 51, 147g fmj 2700fps, bullet went through 15 inches and embedded sideway
in hardwood. Bullet is quite flattened as last photo shows. It did not go through
large void in post so was honest 15 plus inches thru post at slight diagonal.

I think the 7.62 39 would have been close to 5.56 in penetration if I had used a
fmj bullet.

ar 15s with 16inch barrel and ar10 with 18inch barrel.









 
Casefull said:
Some clarification: Bullets shot into end of post and traveled lengthwise in post.
Entry point is at 16 inch position of tape measure. Wood is dry fir post.
Wolf soft point 7.62 39 expanded more than I thought, 2400 fps. aprox.6 inches.

5.56 round at 3000fps, 55g fmj. bullet flipped 180 degrees. Aprox. 9 inches

7.62 51, 147g fmj 2700fps, bullet went through 15 inches and embedded sideway
in hardwood. Bullet is quite flattened as last photo shows. It did not go through
large void in post so was honest 15 plus inches thru post at slight diagonal.

I think the 7.62 39 would have been close to 5.56 in penetration if I had used a
fmj bullet.

ar 15s with 16inch barrel and ar10 with 18inch barrel.









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I'm not sure as I've never compared the two sidexside but I think the 7.62 even in fmj may not have faired better than the .224 bullet, you've got more weight for momentum, but a quite a bit larger frontal mass to be slowed down sooner, and you started slower too. I think the x51 properly illustrates that if you want retained energy to penetrate, you need energy to start with. You didn't specify distance shots were from wood, but if they were all equal, that 147 at 2700 is packing more wallop than the 120ish weights at 2400, your .224 is much lighter but FAST and has less frontal surface to be slowed down, if it hadn't tumbled as they often do, I'd bet that it would have gone quite a bit further.
 
Casefull said:
I agree. There's lots of friction in the dry wood. Not trying to prove anything just experimenting.
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Yup I do it quite often myself ;) I like the fir test, definitely shows more expansion properties, I'm usually using cross shots on elm stumps haha! Doesn't tell much but it's fun to track em through!
 
Dog Soldier said:
Horsey, Do you suppose that was how Deadwood, SD got it's named? People shooting the trees? :rofl:
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Hahahaha!!!!!!! Although I know the real answer to that, I have to say, since wild Bill's eyesight was already failing when he got to the gulch that makes quite a bit of sense!!!!! They used to say that putting your back to a 1" pine wall wouldn't save your life......****e now I gotta break out the black powders and test some pine stumps to see how much tree you need to save your life in the gulch!!
 
Yep, Horsey is that old chair still hanging over the door in the Old Number 10 Saloon? It had a bullet hole in the head rest? I expect it was a fake. Well I have been Half Shot where Wild Bill was shot dead.:rofl:
 
I went to college in Rapid City in the early 70s we used to ski at Terry Peak by deadwood. Brings back memories.
 
Well maybe we passed each other like ships in the night. I was in RC during the 1970s. We had a Project at the 4,400 foot level down in the Home stake Gold Mine in Lead. The wall temp was 130 degrees and the surface air turned to a constant rain. Humm? for some reason I remember that job?:(
 
Dog Soldier said:
Yep, Horsey is that old chair still hanging over the door in the Old Number 10 Saloon? It had a bullet hole in the head rest? I expect it was a fake. Well I have been Half Shot where Wild Bill was shot dead.:rofl:
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They sold the old 10 awhile back couldn't tell you if they kept it or not, I'm sorry, and I'm sure that authentic or not, the atmosphere would've suffered without it!
Casefull said:
I went to college in Rapid City in the early 70s we used to ski at Terry Peak by deadwood. Brings back memories.
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Lots of friends still run up to Terry peak, it sure is a pretty place to get away to!
 
I have not been in Deadwood since I retired. I remember "Gov. Sinner" of South Dakota complaining about the "Cat Houses" in Deadwood. I always wondered how he got his name?:p
 
Dog Soldier said:
I have not been in Deadwood since I retired. I remember "Gov. Sinner" of South Dakota complaining about the "Cat Houses" in Deadwood. I always wondered how he got his name?:p
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Obviously taking the Lord's name in vain at those cat houses!
@Casefull
Doing your boredom tests, have you ever stacked/folded hides or wrapped over soft targets with intermittent wood barriers?
 
No, But we used to test bullets on game scraps. After hunting season there is always some where they dump hides bones etc. We would especially shoot the frozen rib cages. It was always interesting seeing the effect of bullets on these elk side boards.
 
Dog Soldier said:
No, But we used to test bullets on game scraps. After hunting season there is always some where they dump hides bones etc. We would especially shoot the frozen rib cages. It was always interesting seeing the effect of bullets on these elk side boards.
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Sounds like how my brother and I used old cow bones, granted some of the over bleached ones were too fragile but it was still interesting!
 
The last few years I put some concrete blocks in the back of my car for traction, and when the snow finally melted I would take them up into the hills and do some testing of my own.

Heres my results:
A 45-70 will break a 4 inch thick concrete block in half.

Still makes for a fun afternoon. Thank you for your testing
 
DownDark, How is Winter up in the "Big Sky"? The old Market hunters could not waste hides and meat. That cost them money. The big slow moving .45 and .50 calibers are being revisited by many hunters. Yep! they work and you can eat right up to the bullet hole.:thumbup:
 
Yup some times boredom does take it's toll. I decided one time to try some penetration tests on the highly overrated "shield" on a hog. I took this section off of an old boar and hung it up to play with, with cardboard behind it to show if the bullets came through. Started with 44's and ended up with .22 shorts....everything went through with no problem. Sort of a greasy mess to clean up and a waste of time....but it was something to play with at the time. 013.JPG
 
That's amazing dog soldier. I had a classmate that worked in that mine and helped set blasting charges. He was always talking about how hot it was.
 
Stony said:
Yup some times boredom does take it's toll. I decided one time to try some penetration tests on the highly overrated "shield" on a hog. I took this section off of an old boar and hung it up to play with, with cardboard behind it to show if the bullets came through. Started with 44's and ended up with .22 shorts....everything went through with no problem. Sort of a greasy mess to clean up and a waste of time....but it was something to play with at the time. View attachment 228237
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Never a waste of time to learn something new about your quarry and/or cartridge capabilities! I am quite intrigued by that one, did you try any high velocity cartridges? Did they start to open up any better than the others?????? I love "wasting my time" on such projects!
 
Nah...everything I shot at that chunk of pork just went straight through and you couldn't even tell any difference in the size of the holes through that fat. It just blew fat all over the cardboard around the holes in it. Maybe if I had left a hog attached to that chunk it would have been a better testing medium. Below was the donor hog... 009.JPG
 
Dog Soldier said:
DownDark, How is Winter up in the "Big Sky"? The old Market hunters could not waste hides and meat. That cost them money. The big slow moving .45 and .50 calibers are being revisited by many hunters. Yep! they work and you can eat right up to the bullet hole.:thumbup:
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Winters here have been pretty mild the last few years. This year it started a little late but is on par for the cold. Hopefully we keep getting cold winters, it keeps the Californians away.
 
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