OT-What not to use as ballistic test media

Jason_W · Post by **Jason_W** » Mon May 12, 2008 10:22 am

Modelling clay.

I've been looking for a cheap reusable medium in which to test my handloads. Since my mom is an art teacher and had about 30 pounds of modelling clay no longer fit for art use, I decided to give that a try.

FAIL!!

I hit it at about 15 feet with a 158gn Gold Dot Bullet from my .357 mag carbine and had little bits of clay raining down on my head. Cavitation in the medium was exagerrated to say the least. I'm guessing a higher energy round would have sent clay all over a 1 mile radius

It was also a little tougher on the bullet than ballistic gel, water, or wax media. The Gold Dot only retained about 66% of its weight.
I'll post pics of the aftermath when I get home.

Looks like I'll have to front the money for a commercially made media. Water and wet paper just aren't practical for the project I have planned.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:37 am

That 15 foot distance mighta had an impact! Yep, pun intended!

Jason_W · Post by **Jason_W** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:43 am

Griff wrote:That 15 foot distance mighta had an impact! Yep, pun intended!

that's possible. But I think that if I had hit it with something like an '06, even at 100 yards, ther wouldn't have been much left.

I'm trying to decide on whether to go with ballistic test tubes or Corbin's Sim-Test. The Corbin stuff is a little cheaper, but likely won't last as long as the wax.

i would just use wet paper, but I have dozens of loads I want to test and I just don't want to have to dispose of that much pulp.

Leverluver · Post by **Leverluver** » Mon May 12, 2008 8:05 pm

Been down that road also; but I did it indoors in a contained tank, and a well known gun writer was doing the shooting, with a 40 caliber rifle. To say the result was mind expanding would be an understatement

. Clay blew back through the 4" entrance hole, back through the chrono (yes it did register and negative number), back through the slit in the acoustic door that the barrel stuck through. The writer started sputtering and he had specks of clay all over his face. The rifle barrel had a wad of clay hanging from the muzzle end that looked like a dog had taken a dump on the barrel. The hole in the clay looked like it had been shot with a 16" naval shell. With a face ful of clay, good thing he had a good sense of humor. Yup clay sucks for test media

iceman · Post by **iceman** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:23 pm

whitetail deer