.223 gel test: American Eagle 50 gr JHP fired from 11.5", 14.5", & 19.5" barrels

[AndrewWiggin]

Link to video of test including bonus watermelon explosion




Federal American Eagle 50 gr JHP (part no. AE223G) fired from 11.5", 14.5", and 19.5" barreled AR-15 pattern rifles into calibrated 10% gelatin.

BB: 586.5 fps, 3.6"


11.5" barrel results:

Impact velocity: 2,921 fps
Penetration: 8.7"
Retained weight: 16.7 gr
Max expansion: 0.438"
Min expansion: 0.336"







14.5" barrel results:

Impact velocity: 3,264 fps
Penetration: 8.9"
Retained weight: 14.3 gr
Max expansion: 0.329"
Min expansion: 0.253"







19.5" barrel results:

Impact velocity: 3,394 fps
Penetration: 7.4"
Retained weight: 10.9 gr
Max expansion: 0.419"
Min expansion: 0.235"








Fragments strained from the gel:




Watermelon going critical:

[PKendall317]

Am I reading your results wrong or did it penetrate LESS out of the 19" barrel than the 11.5" and the 14.5"

[platoonDaddy]

Am I reading your results wrong or did it penetrate LESS out of the 19" barrel than the 11.5" and the 14.5"

That is the way I read it.

[PKendall317]

Just a bit surprised is all. I would expect the higher velocity out of the 19" barrel would lead to more penetration, of course the higher velocity may have also caused it to fragment more. Of course I'm not an expert so what do I know?

[markm]

Lower velocity generally leads to more penetration. I remember reading 7.62 military penetration results where Ball ammo penetration on wood, etc. INCREASED as velocity dropped off.... to a point of diminishing returns, naturally.

I was doing water jug tests out back with 77 gr OTMs downloaded to near transonic velocities. And I couldn't get any bullets recovered because the damned lack of frag yielded so much penetration. They just turned sideways and kept on penetrating.

[AndrewWiggin]

Am I reading your results wrong or did it penetrate LESS out of the 19" barrel than the 11.5" and the 14.5"

That is correct. Like MarkM said, increased velocity usually results in greater fragmentation or expansion, which in turn causes lower weight loss and reduced penetration.

[lunchbox]

Thanks for data and keep up the good work!

[BufordTJustice]

Lower velocity generally leads to more penetration. I remember reading 7.62 military penetration results where Ball ammo penetration on wood, etc. INCREASED as velocity dropped off.... to a point of diminishing returns, naturally.

I was doing water jug tests out back with 77 gr OTMs downloaded to near transonic velocities. And I couldn't get any bullets recovered because the damned lack of frag yielded so much penetration. They just turned sideways and kept on penetrating.

Bingo. You'll also see this with shotgun slugs.

I was present for a shooting where an adult male was shot in the upper torso with a 1oz 12g slug rated at 1600 fps. He was shot at a distance of no more than 20 feet. It fragmented and did not exit his body.

I've seen a low recoil 1oz slug, rated at 1300 feet per second, go stem to stern on a 260 pound feral hog and exit the rear.

This is why barrier blind (bonded) designs are preferable because they are usually more stoutly constructed and more tolerant of a wider range of velocities than non bonded designs.