homemade ballistic gelatin

On 2001-04-14 10:13, mike357 wrote:
does anyone have a way to make ballistic gelatin?

Click to expand...

Sorry I missed this Mike. Most ballistic gellatin is made from Kind & Knox gelatin, I think it is their #250 and there is a precise formula and tempreture range but it can be done at home if you can shoot it relatively quickly or keep it cool.

Simpler and just as informative is to use newspaper (not phone books, magazines or other paper) and soak them for at least 24 and preferably 48 hours.

Acording to an article in the IWBA Journal the wet newsprint (especially if you calibrate the water content with a press) is almost exactly 1 to 1 on penetration on average (oddly enough a bullet typically penetrates about 1.8 times more in ballistic gelatin) and the writer of the article tested it using data from animals shot even with 30-06 and .375 H&H.

Of course the hole in the paper is irrelevant much as the temporary cavity in the gelatin is irrelevant. You just measure the bullet and how deep it went.

Hope this helps
Jim Higginbotham

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jim Higginbotham on 2001-04-20 12:32 ]</font>

Where do you guys meet up with lethal threats from jello or Hearst newspapers?
If you want to REALLY see what your rounds will do, go to the meat market, buy some spare ribs and some liver and kidneys, wrap them in a sweat shirt and a leather jacket, head for the range, fire at 25 feet, first at the bundle directly, then at the bundle behind a piece of sheet metal such as found in a cardoor, and then back to the internet to look for a bullet that REALLY works in a real life shooting scenario.(I have never known a shooter not to express amazement at this "real life" simulation's results.)
I know, I know, nobody ever listened to Elmer Keith. However, if you compare your expanding magic bullets to a copper plated H&G 68 from Rainier traveling at near sound barrier speed, you'll get the message, and fast. Leave the jello tests to bullet makers who make astounding claims anf then point to contact wounds such as suicides as "proof" for their bullet design.
In 1929, Elmer said.... Go ahead, break your primary rule of keeping your head with the ostrich.
Check back with us on your test results.

Sorry Guys,
I just happened into this section, first time for anything right?

Anyhow, I stopped using K&K gelatin due to the high costs they were charging.
No, it is not really that expensive but I ahve had several hundred pounds (literally) that I screwed up and would not pass the BB calibration test.

Vyse is in my opinion as good as if not better than K&K and much cheaper.

http://www.vyse.com/

Also,
Wet newsprint does work well, but only if it is very wet.
Shooting processed meat is not as realistic, as you will not see the same elasticity and particuarly the petechial hemmoraging and macrovascular retraction "fraying" along the wound edges that "live" tissue and muscle exhibit.
Also, if you need to test in this manner the meat should remain covered with skin. If you use skinless meat you will not be able to detail the cavitation patterns or gross radial splits in the skin.