38 Special 130gr +P HST Tested in Gel
Here's something you will be interested in. At least all y'all who carry a 38SPL for defense.
There have been a few tests of this particular load in Clear Gel but, so far as I know, mine is the first test in 10% organic gel. I've used Clear Gel previously but have only recently started messing with making true organic gel. I've tried a couple different blocks with grocery store gel but have decided to start using VYSE gel since it is the correct stuff. It is supposedly favored over other options for its consistency and I've found it easy to work with.
The organic gel block used here was made last weekend and has been under refrigeration for a week. I took it out of the fridge this morning and immediately put it into a Coleman cooler for transport for the hills. Total time in the cooler was about 35 minutes from fridge door to range setup.
Three .177 BBs were used to validate the block. Chrono data was only captured for one BB. This showed a muzzle velocity of 579 fps. All three BBs fell within millimeters of the 8.5cm calibration.
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Next up was one round of the 38 HST +P fired into bare gel. The firearm used was a Ruger LCR with a 1.87" barrel.
The recorded muzzle velocity was 854 fps. This bullet penetrated to a depth of 11.25 inches.
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Next was a round through FBI spec heavy clothing. The heavy clothing sample was bought from Clear Ballistics and is two pieces of cotton fabric covered by a layer of insulation and topped with a sheet of denim.
The first bullet through clothing had a recorded velocity of 825 fps and punched to 11.75 inches in the block.
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The 3rd and final round fired through clothing penetrated right to the 12" mark with a velocity of 860 fps.
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Just for comparison I also fired one round of Winchester 110gr +P+ through clothing into the block. This bullet showed 1,015 fps for velocity and penetrated to 10.25 inches.
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All shooting was done from 10 feet. The chronograph was set up directly in front of the gel.
In gel the HST bullets all lost at least one petal. But the part(s) that broke off are small pieces of the lead core. None of the jacket material appears to have been lost. The small pieces all broke off between about five and eight inches in the gel.
Here are the three HST bullets on the left. The Winchester 110gr JHP bullet is on the right and is included for comparison.
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The HST bullets all lost a few grains of mass but it probably wasn't enough to radically change the outcome.
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The Winchester bullet's weight wasn't photographed but it was 109.6 grains.
And here are the expanded diameters. All three bullets show a jacket that's peeled back against the shank of the bullets. The exception is one petal on one bullet. It didn't roll back fully but rather sticks out just a bit.
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And here's the Winchester bullet. Again just for comparison.
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Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
