Did you personally prepare the gelatin, and was it prepared per IWBA guidelines?
Did you personally do the testing?
Did you personally write the .PDF report?
Winchester Supreme XX 2 3/4" 12-pellet 00 Buck uses 2.5% antimony... and I know Winchester Ranger shot is harder than that, but I cannot specifically recall what % it is. I wouldn't consider 3% truly 'hardened' shot. Does the #4 Buckshot load you tested have a good shotcup design and buffering? If this is good data, it surprises me!!!
I could see no anomalies with Brassfetcher's calibration data that might explain the deeper penetration. Close examination of Brassfetcher's photos revealed very little deformation of the shot. Pellet deformation increases surface area and decreases sectional density, both of which would cause decreased penetration. I looked up MacPherson's Lead Alloy Sphere Penetration Depth data and discovered that MacPherson indicated that #4 Buckshot, propelled at 1250 fps, would theoretically penetrate about 14 inches in properly prepared and calibrated ordnance gelatin, provided the shot does not deform. Brassfetcher's results seem to validate MacPherson's theory. Whereas Fackler's wound profile appears to depict unhardened #4 buckshot, which were substantially deformed by acceleration and impact forces.
Shawn Dodson
Shawn is right on the money--with adequately hardened, possibly plated shot and good buffering, a #4 buckshot load might work adequately. Of course, a properly designed, LE oriented reduced recoil #1 buckshot would also be very good.
The buckshot that I have is very round (remington, I have noted buck from them is usually "nicer" than Federal or Winchester), and I belive it is 3% antimony (although--and this is VERY unscientific--when I dropped a weight on the pellets of Hornady (6%) and Remington (3%), they deformed about the same amount.). It has a granulated buffer that appears to be some type of polymer.
Does this sound adequate? It really seems to me that #4 buck is a superior choice IF! no barriers or things like leather jackets are going to be involved.
Still, 14" penetration in a handgun is "optimal", so I have a very hard time condeming buckshot that penetrates 14" as "sub-standard".
Last edited by WS6; 05-12-10 at 12:20.
Doc,
Agree with your comment about #1 Buck... this was brought up years ago in the Wound Ballistics Review. I am amazed that the manufacturers didn't jump on that right away, but obviously LE didn't ask for it in great numbers, either. Bottom line: manufacturers look were the $$$ is unless there is a big enough demand for something new to be made.
WS6,
I have noticed that smaller pellet loads typically recoil more heavily. Unless lower pellet counts are used, the smaller pellet loads have less air space beween each pellet, so the result is a heavier payload... in my experiences. Lighter weight pellets seem to not do nearly as well against things that are not homogenous when compared to heavier pellets.
Last edited by Glock17JHP; 05-14-10 at 19:54.
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