Hornady 45 ACP -170 gr XTP wetpack test

[475/480]

I figured that would get your attention. No Hornady does not make a 170 gr XTP BUT .........
I have done wetpack tests on the 185 gr XTP and expansion was non existent. The cavity on a .45-185gr XTP is so shallow as to be  USELESS.
I took a 185gr XTP and a 3/16" drill and drilled the cavity to a depth of .300" and loaded them to 1100 fps. The bullet weighs a consistent 170 gr's.
At least the bullet expanded in wetpack and weight retention is decent at 91%.
L--.R
154.0gr - Diameter .865 x .730" Depth of penetration = 7.0"
155.6gr - Diameter .879 x .716"  DOP = 7.0"
157.7gr - Diameter .842 x .715"  DOP = 7.0"

[The_Shadow]

That's cool, for years people modified their bullets to have better impact effects.  They cut X's and drilled out the the noses.
Not to mention many other experiments.

[blastfact]

Wet pack test are useless. 

[475/480]

Thanks for your very knowledgeble response.

Sean

Wet pack test are useless. 

[sqlbullet]

Wet pack test are useless. 

useless....

Yeah, about that.  I do not think it means what you think it means.

Well, if you had said that wet-pack doesn't accurately approximate actual human flesh and bone, then I doubt you would have much angst directed your way.

Wet pack is far from useless.  It provides a consistent foundation comparative analysis between rounds.  In that regard it is far, far better than nothing, and the barrier to entry for this type of testing is VERY low.

While it is not an approximation for flesh and bone, and while it has been superseded by better mediums in professional internal ballistics testing, it is also far from useless.

[krafcheck]

trigger time is never useless.

i did that once with a 45 from a G30 and taurus 38 special snub nose. both using speer hp. 

45 had much bigger hole but the 38 was still impressive and penetrated deeper. i guess due to less surface area for resistance/friction. might as well make use of thick books of paper before you drop it off at the recycling bin or trash bin. 

and old milk jugs are just fun period. 

[Yondering]

I took a 185gr XTP and a 3/16" drill and drilled the cavity to a depth of .300" and loaded them to 1100 fps. The bullet weighs a consistent 170 gr's.

Cool stuff, thanks for sharing. Have you loaded those any hotter? I load the 200 XTP's to 1100 fps from my 5" 1911 (really good accuracy with that load BTW), but haven't tried the 185's. I did drill some of my 200's for better expansion too, although that one does give some expansion as-is.

Another option for making the hollow points bigger, since your a cast bullet guy too - put them in your luber-sizer press, and use a pointed top punch to open up the hollow point. I do this a lot with Montana Gold bullets, since their hollow points are not generally very impressive. You can use different shapes of top punches too, to make all kinds of cool hollow points.

Here are some of the punches I use for this: