bullet did not mushroom

[Michigunner]

I shot my full-size Kimber 45 into the end of a very hard piece of firewood, but the three recovered bullets did not expand.

The Golden Saber 230 and Hydra-Shok 230 looked rather unused.

Have you had something like this happen?

Maybe it has to travel further, rather than coming to such a quick stop.

Bill

[riffraff]

Just a guess but these bullets are designed to expand when traveling through tissue.  This might be the issue.

Mike

[flyandscuba]

Soak a few old thick phone books in water -- or 14" or so of news print, and fire into that while it's wet...

You should see the bullets mushroom nicely.

The "wetpack" method is discussed in some threads here:

http://www.mouseguns.com/amball.htm

http://www.ktrange.com/articles/a10/a10.html

[Richard S]

Bill:

Flyandscuba and OG have done some very valuable wet-pack testing of various types of ammunition. We're fortunate that they have generously shared their collected data.

Treatises have been written on the subject of bullet design and performance. One of the more comprehensive is Bullet Penetration: Modeling the Dynamics and the Incapacitation Resulting from Wound Trauma by Duncan MacPherson (2005, Second Printing), which can be ordered here: http://www.firearmstactical.com/bulletpenetration.htm

Also, if you have the patience to wade through them, the following links may be of interest. The first link is to the Handgun Ammunition Specification Package of the International Wound Ballistics Association (IWBA). (Note the discussion of performance through hard barriers.)  The next two links are to test reports for Federal HydraShok and Remington Golden Saber .45 ACP ammunition.

Happy New Year up there in the "Cold North," my friend!

http://www.firearmstactical.com/iwba.htm

http://www.firearmstactical.com/test_data/45acp/fed45-230hs-g30.htm

http://www.firearmstactical.com/test_data/45acp/rem45-185gs+p-g30.htm
  

[Michigunner]

Thanks for the guidance.

My logic must have short-circuited.  Somehow, it seemed that extreme mushrooming would occur in the hardwood.

Now it's clear that bullets must be appropriate for tissue, in most cases.

Bill

[riffraff]

Machingunner,

Your experience makes me all the more impressed with modern bullet technology.  I keep thinking, how do they do that?

Mike

[Michigunner]

Mike, I agree.  

It sure sounds like it should flatten out after hitting something very hard.  I would guess that one bullet stopped about 4-5 inches into the hardwood.

I'm saving my newspapers.    

Bill

[logical]

Next time you want to split firewood, use something sharp like an axe or a .22-250.