Hollow Point Pellets — Tests for Expansion and Penetration

[Hsing-ee]

You have way too much time on your hands

I think buying a .22 LR or .22 magnum rimfire or keeping hunting ranges short might be an alternate approach.

[Kuyajonathan]

You have way too much time on your hands

Maybe, but thank you JungleShooter for useful comparison / reference info

[JungleShooter]

I think buying a .22 LR or .22 magnum rimfire or keeping hunting ranges short might be an alternate approach.

Yes, for rural shooting scenarios or the woods, and in countries where owning a firearm is not regulated by ridiculously strict anti-gun laws, yes, that is indeed an alternative.

Alas, not all shooting scenarios nor all countries permit this.
Hence, airguns!

Matthias

[JungleShooter]

Pellet Test PT070

[JungleShooter]

PT040

[JungleShooter]

PT011

By Bob Sterne (GTA and HardAir Magazine)

[JungleShooter]

PT090

[angrybear]

Expansion tests are only of any value if the range is quoted and is "typical hunting range".

Shooting in to jell 30cm from the muzzle gives a false result,
if you shoot prey at 50m, you need to know how they act at 50m.

[JungleShooter]

angrybear,

that is an excellent observation!

In the end, what truly determines expansion is not the muzzle velocity, but the impact velocity! But that was rarely if ever given in the test results.


When I began collecting HP expansion results it was quite frustrating when the the testers used a great variety of ranges, 1ft to 30 yards, and it was complicated to compare the results with each other.

How will I know a gun WITH MY POWER LEVEL will perform AT MY typical ranges...?!?



That's when I began calculating the impact velocities for all tests. This way anybody can use the test results with any power level and any hunting range...:

Simply plug the numbers into any ballistic calculator and it will tell you for your power level how far your range from the quarry can be while still getting the impact velocity used in the expansion test.

Or the other way around: Plug in the numbers and calculate to what power level you need to turn your gun so that you can still achieve the impact velocity of said expansion test at say, 13 yards or 25 yards range.



Note that I have not limited the tests to sub-12 power levels, as many UK shooters have FAC, and as this forum has many international readers who are not under those power restrictions.
I'm sorry for all my UK shooting brothers/sisters who have to suffer from such excessive restrictions by their law.

Matthias

[angrybear]

The UK has very limited Prey that is legal to shoot with an air rifle, so our rules aren't really "excessively restricted"
It's ample for what we are going to shoot.

[JungleShooter]

angrybear,

according to your screen name I would have thought you might be more angry with the legal situation for airguns in the UK.

So, I'm glad for you that you see the situation as you do!

And the UK shooters have shown the world what they can do with only 12FPE! More power to you!!

Matthias