Standardising on all the variable parameters is not practical or applicable to a real situation. In reality, varying the shape of a bullet brings other implications that are attached to the variation. No hunting bullet manufacturer makes bullets from depleted uranium or other exotic alloys that will strip the rifling from a barrel in ten shots.

A test that bears resemblance to reality would be to make a series of bullets at a particular weight and vary the shaft length to compensate for a hollow base or different nose shapes. That is what happens in real life and is what matters.

At the end of a test, which will be the better conclusion? "A flat nosed copper/brass/bronze solid of 500grains is worse than / is better than / equals the performance of a 500gr round nose bullet made from unobtanium1 / unobtanium2 / unobtanium3." or: "A flat nosed copper/brass/bronze solid of 500grains is worse than / is better than / equals the performance of a 500gr round nose bullet made from copper/brass/bronze." The same goes for hollow base experiments.

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quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I just made a few phone calls looking for paraffin wax.

Minimum order quantity is a 20 foot container!!??

I am sure I will be able to find a re-seller. Apparently they sell them in bags of 50 Kgs.

Anyone has any idea of how much of this we might need?

Why not use boards of plywood? I have used them to test various bullets and all expanded,penetrated and were recovered.You can see how much and when they expanded from the size of the round hole on each board.I tested cheap quick expanding bullets to the failsafe super penetrating bullets and none have ever tumbled.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I just made a few phone calls looking for paraffin wax.

Minimum order quantity is a 20 foot container!!??

I am sure I will be able to find a re-seller. Apparently they sell them in bags of 50 Kgs.

Anyone has any idea of how much of this we might need?

Why not use boards of plywood? I have used them to test various bullets and all expanded,penetrated and were recovered.You can see how much and when they expanded from the size of the round hole on each board.I tested cheap quick expanding bullets to the failsafe super penetrating bullets and none have ever tumbled.

Would not expect them to tumble in wood,next time try some wet newspaper and watch the round nose solids tip.........

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Test medium recommended by Mike Brady of North Fork:

"Corbin SIM-TEST ballistic test media is a stable, animal-protein based "simulated tissue" for consistent bullet performance tests. The material is a very close match to muscle tissue in density and consistency, 1.3gm/cc (Density can be adjusted by controlling water content)."

http://www.bulletswage.com/sim-test.htm

Bookbinder's glue from dead horse rendering?

Get 240 pounds of it (60 pound carton is $129.00) a little over $500 for a batch adequate for sporting rifle solid catching.

It is a glue that is protein-and-water-based (not wax-based)
and can be melted down, moulded, reused, and I assume have some extra water added if it dries out, will last for 50 or 60 remelts if not over heated. Used at room temperature, no refrigeration needed. Can take 4 shots per row of 6-inch square blocks (one shot in each quadrant).

I have been meaning to get some of this. Just too busy with too many different things.

A man of wealth and leisure, unlike me, might more easily find time to do it ... sure beats dipping pond water and sawing boards.

First of all some sort of test medium must be accepted. Nothing is perfect. Then worry about the nuances of the darts.

It would a consistent comparison of penetration in the specified medium, of the particular darts, and would provide endless opportunity for argument over the results.

Alf will no doubt insist on standardizing each block to a particular penetration by a BB at specified velocity and standard temperature.

Why not just shoot two FN darts and two RN darts (4 shots) into the 4 quadrants of the same stack, and see which wins over, repeating the test several times after reconstituting the batch each time?

Wax? Really Wax?

To melt, Wax needs about halve or so Joule as Water (A lot).

Wax insulates about half as well as Styrofoam (very good).

So to heat a Waxblock of say 30 x 30 x 200 cm you need hours. Heat will exchange by Convection through the melted fluid moveing Wax from the outside kind of well.

Now comes the Problem: To cool down takes Days! Why? Well the Wax freezes on the Outside first and then You have there a wonderful Insulator, barring any Convection and Heat transfer. While You might have melted the Block within Hours, You will need aproxximately three Days do fully freeze it again.

So Saaed’s Idea to buy a 20 Foot Container Wax is not bad, if he plans to shoot a few Shots consecutively and still have Targets available. With one Block You just shoot twice a Week.

Forget Wax!

Lutz M

p.s. Gelatinated White oil develops no Crystal structure as Wax, but need higher Temperatures and, if mistreated, might burn. Again, no Option!

One can also soak the plywood with a hose or submerge it in water for a while so you get a hydrostatic effect.