Penetration

[flamenblaster]

I tried a test on old phone books this weekend..got 2 inches measured with .454 ball over 30 gr. pyrodex p. Then i did the same thing with my marlin 22 with 40 gr solids..got just slightly less. The ball didnt seem to expand..just was broken in several twisted pieces. The 22 was all in one piece with a lil mushroom for what had been the tip. Is this fairly typical? Where i shoot there are several old appliances laying around..one of them i cant really identify as it has been shot to pieces..the 22 puts holes in it while the balls just splatter and dent it..its a decently heavy steel frame box...an old oven maybe. Only thing i can figure is the higher velocity and harder bullet (1255 fps it sais on remington box) of the 22's make the difference on the steel. Anyone else do penetration tests on their c&b's???

[flamenblaster]

oh..i know this has nuthin to do with my first post above..just didnt wanna post another new topic..finaly got the sights filed in :grin:  shot a 1.5" group at 30 feet and it shoots to point of aim! :grin:  :grin: This took me awhgile to do and for a lil while i felt like giving up on this gun (1860 pietta) and just point shooting with it. It came with a triangular brass front sight and shot way high (<<edit: high not low like i first typed) and left. Put a huge gob of jb weld on it filed it down to a colt peacmaker style front sight..then it shot low and still way left..put another gob of jb weld and filed it so it now centers left of where it did before..putting impact to the right..and a lil lower. Then filed it down while out shooting a lil bit at a time..brought the thickness down and final shaped it..took 4 cylinders..cleaning barrel each time..to get it just right. It now shoots where the sights point..and im really feeling good about it now..its really fun being able to actually put em there and not just guess :grin:

[wild willy]

Be careful shooting anything that has a round drum in it shot into a metal burn barrel with a .22 once bullet went in along the side slid half way around and came right back at me just missed

[Mark whiz]

The only penetration test I've done with my 1858 was on a 125lb boar.  A 180gr conical with 30gr of 3fg Goex, from about 15yds away, went completely thru the shoulder at a downward angle, exited the lower chest on the opposite side, then when thru the opposing front leg and then into the ground somewhere.

Dropped Porky on the spot - pretty impressive. :grin:

[simonkenton]

That is an interesting penetration test you did with the phone books and applicances.
The .22 outperformed the cap and ball, big time.
I have done penetration tests on boards. With my .44 Colt and 30 grains fffg, I go through a 2 inch pine board easily. The bullet dents, but will not stick in the 1 inch pine board behind that.
The balls get deformed a little in these tests.
That round ball has a lot more energy than the .22, but it has so much more surface area it will not penetrate as well.
Combat usage shows that the cap and ball pistols are well proven mankillers.
Still, it wouldn't take much of a bulletproof vest to stop these round balls.
Think I will try some cloth penetration tests, to see how thick of a coat it would take to stop the ball.

[ribbonstone]

HArd target penetration seems more related to the energy per square inch than in total energy.  The .22 has a lot less square inches, so even with less energy total, the energy at the point of impact is higher.

Can eat through steel targets with a .223...shoot the same mild steel target with a  warm loaded.45-70 and it (1) bends it (2) craters it (3) picks it up and moves it but it doesn't hole it.


How about you put a thick hard block of wood on a skate board...shoot the block with a .22...shoot the block with the .45 ball...see which one makes the skate roll the farthest.