Random gun notes.

38-40Ruger-Magnum.html
Hornady 180gr XTP's
(Please note, this was never intended to be an article of any type, just a way of showing a few people results.)

These Hornady 180gr XTP Hollow points were fired at a muzzle velocity of 1450-1470 FPS. The impact media was what we jokingly call the "simu-deer", made up one piece of tanned, hair on deer hide, wet telephone books, 3/4 & 5/8 plywood, and a 10" ball of home made "play-dough". The "play-dough" is a bit soft to simulate muscle, but is a good deal harder than actual lungs, tallow or viscera.

Here are a sample of some of the recovered bullets. Note that the first, fired without the hide and hair expanded more than those that went through the hair and hide.

Retained bullet weights were:
1. 112grs
2. 123 grs
3. 161 grs

All bullets held together, which I did not expect at these velocities. Penetration was in the 12-16 inch range.


A side note. It was interesting to see just how much these would expand, depending on what they impacted first. Along with the "play-dough", wet paper in three degrees of saturation was used. In this sample photo, #1 is the "play-dough", #2 is a thick catalog that was soaking for a few hours. #3 books soaked 30 minutes, while #4 was 10-15 minutes.


Here are four recovered bullets and the order in which the media was laid out.
Bullet #1 was as in the sample photo. #1(Play-dough), followed by papers 2,3,4 order.
Bullet #2 was 2,1,3,4.
Bullet #3 was 3,2,1,4.
Bullet #4 was 4,3,2,1.
I guess it's not really a surprise, the tougher material with less water in it has less hydraulic action to open up the bullets. I think my real surprise was that even though some expanded well down to the base, they all stayed intact, with no ruptures or real fragmentation. Granted, this seems to be stretching the upper envelope for these bullets.

Perhaps I will try hunting with it after all. The load produces 1450FPS and will shoot 1" at 25 yards. I can't ask for much more now that I know the bullets should hold together. I need to do one more test and see how they will hold up to big bones (something harder than an inch plus of plywood.)

As of late we've been playing with a 200 grain cast semi wadcutter, and have been getting really good results with it.
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