Hornady 300BLK 190gr Sub-X in Gel

[Tokarev]

This morning I loaded everything up and headed for the hills to try out the new Hornady 190gr Sub-X 300BLK in organic ballistic gel. I wanted to try the new bullet through FBI spec clothing as well as through auto glass.

I used VYSE gel that was calibrated with a BB traveling 581fps. The BB penetrated right where it was supposed to so I didn't take any additional BB gun shots.



The ammo used was actually the TAP version of the new Sub-X load. But I called Hornday Customer Service and the fellow I spoke with told me the TAP load is the same as the civilian stuff.

Now before I get too far I want to warn you that my windshield test probably isn't going to be up to FBI standard. I used a windshield from the junk yard and leaned it back at a 45° angle but didn't turn it at 15° as is called for. The windshield was already curved across its face so I just shot it straight on as best as I could. Was I shooting at 15 degrees? I'm not sure.

Also, given the height of the windshield and the little table I had to set my gel on, I wasn't able to chronograph the windshield shots. I did chronograph the shots through clothing however. More on that in just a minute.

I fired two rounds through auto glass at the block that was covered with layer of cotton t-shirt as well as cotton shirt--FBI light clothing. The gel and clothing layer was set 18" back from the target area of the glass. One bullet was recovered without issue and stayed in the block. The other went low and exited out the bottom corner of the block. It was not recovered.

Here is the bullet recovered from the glass test. It mushroomed well but lost about 30 grains of weight. Penetration was 11.75 inches.



Next up were two rounds through denim covered by insulation and two layers of cotton--the FBI heavy clothing spec. I did chronograph the shots through clothing but only was able to capture velocity for one bullet. That reading was 1,096 fps.

One bullet through clothing sort of tore rather than mushroomed. It lost about 30 grains of weight and penetrated to 17.25 inches.



The other bullet through clothing shed most of its nose and lost quite a bit of weight. As a result the penetration was only 14 inches.



Here are both bullets recovered from the clothing test. The bullet that shed the most weight is on the bottom.



Misc crap from the wound tracks.



The bullet that shed its nose has a small "finger" on one side. Not counting that little wing, the bullet has a diameter of .331 inch.

The bullet that penetrated the deepest and retained more weight is .529" at its widest.



And, finally, I tried to chrono an additional four rounds to get at least some sense of the average velocities. I only caught one additional reading. That was 1,077 fps.

The rifle used was a Ruger SR556TD. 1X7 twist 16" barrel with my AAC 762-SDN-6 attached. Distance from the muzzle to target was 10 feet.

Overall, a slightly frustrating experiment. I am disappointed with my lack of chronograph data. Also, I wish I'd have been able to recover that other bullet from the glass test. Maybe I'll try the test again next weeekend.

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