Shotgun Ballistic Gel and Pattern Testing

Which guns for pattern testing component of test protocol?

  • Rem 870 Marine Mag (cylinder bore) vs Rem 870 Express (modified choke)

    Votes: 11 61.1%
  • Rem 870 Marine Mag (cylinder bore) vs Mossberg 590 Mariner (cylinder bore)

    Votes: 7 38.9%

  • Total voters
    18

Brobee

CGN frequent flyer
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Location
Alberta
Hi there folks!

Long time members might remember when, back in the early days of cgn, I put up a website where I chronicled a big ballistic gelatin shooting extravaganza I'd spent a winter doing. I tested in ballistics gel pretty much everything from #9 shot all the way through the various buckshots and even a handful of different slugs. I also did a whole bunch of .223 and .308 rounds. Not only did I have a tonne of fun in the process, but I also learned a whole lot.

Then for various reasons, several years ago I took down the website where all the results were catalogued. I've allowed the photographs to survive over in one of the stickied forums at shotgunworld.com, and I occasionally post them in threads here on cgn (such as this one: Testing Buckshot effectivness).

In fact, this thread referenced above was last time I posted a reference to my old library and it got me a bit nostalgic as I remembered how much fun it had been to do all the testing. It also got me thinking about how much better it could be in today's world of HD cameras and YouTube!

That was pretty much it then....I knew what my next project would be and I got busy!

In addition to better video equipment and better media delivery mechanisms, there were other improvements to make. The first was in the actual preparation of the gelatin. Previously, I had been constrained to winter gelatin testing only, as I was using my unheated garage as the source of refrigeration required to make and store the gelatin blocks. I would have to wait until it was cold outside, then use a small space heated to keep my garage at 5 degrees C. I only had one gelatin mold, so it would take me a while to make enough gelatin, and then I would have to wait until the weather was 5 degrees outside so that I could move the gelatin to the range, get setup, and then shoot it while was still the proper temperature. Talk about a pain!

This time around I wanted the freedom to make/store gelatin at any time of the year, so I set out to make a poorly refrigerator that I could tow anywhere. It is pretty much a chest framed with 2x4s and lined with 4 inches of rigid board insulation. It sits on my utility trailer (so I can tow it anywhere), and is powered by a room air conditioner I've redneck-engineered to maintain 4 degrees celsius inside the chest.

Inbetween bouts of building the refrigerated chest, I got on the phone and ordered up 50 lbs of ballistics gelatin, some dimethylpolysiloxane (de-foamer), and propionic acid (mold & fungus inhibitor). I also had a local sheet meta fabricator make me two 8.5x10x18 gelatin molds from 18 gauge stainless. The last of the materials arrived last week, and this past weekend I set up to cast the first blocks....I was thrilled when the first block slid out of the mold!

gel_fridge_a.jpg



gel_fridge_b.jpg



gel_fridge_c.jpg



gel_fridge_d.jpg


Now a week later my refrigerated chest is pretty much full, and I'm getting organized for the long weekend to go out to the farm for the first bout of shotgun ballistics gelatin shooting! I'm starting out with a good selection of steel and lead BB, BBB, and #4 buckshot (both plated and unplaced, some with flight control wads and others with conventional wads). My second outing will focus on 00 buckshot and slugs, and I'll also do a session with a large variety of birdshot.

My plan is to do a separate video for each shell I'm testing, and to not only do the gelatin test but also some pattern testing at various ranges, and here's where I'd like feedback from all you folks. For sure one of my test guns will be a cylinder-bored remingtono870 marine magnum, but I'm having some trouble deciding on the second gun. One part of me wants to use an 870 that is threaded for rem chokes - I would set it up with a modified choke and the two gun side by side pattern testing would then illustrate the potential magnitude of pattern difference at various ranges attributable to choke difference. The other option I'm considering is going out and buying a cylinder-bored mossberg 500 mariner. If I went this route, I would have 80% of the cylinder bored crowd covered and as the library build up we would see at least some minor indication of how variable (or consistent) each ammo type would be across the two platforms. It would also be a mini representation of the epic mossy vs Remmy debate...:)

So re test protocol - which protocol did you choose and why?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Cheers,

Brobee
 
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Forgot to add....pattern testing will be at 10 yards, 20 yards, and 30 yards on a 3 foot x 3 foot screen.

Cheers,

Brobee
 
Cool man. That's a great little setup ya got there. IMO redneck engineering is the best kind. I'm also looking forward to seeing the results.
 
I voted for cylinder and modified chokes.

I truly don't believe there is any meaningful difference in a mossberg 18.5" cylinder barrel and a Remington 18.5" cylinder barrel. At least as it relates to patterns. Are there differences in dimensions? Of course. But not enough for a person to decide to buy one cylinder bore gun over another....

Seeing the difference in cylinder vs modified choke is WAY more important information to look at.
 
So I've had two outings on this project so far and now have a monster volume of video to cut/slice/dice together....it's gonna take a while! In the interim, here's a couple of photo teasers:


Cross Section of inches 9 through 11 of the gel block shot with Remington T-Sized Nitro Steel:

Gelatin_ShotCloud_Steel_T_a.jpg


Gelatin_ShotCloud_Steel_T_b.jpg



And here's a patterning teaser, illustrating the magnitude of different pattern performance through the same gun at the same distance:

Pattern_BlackCLoud_BBB_a.jpg


Pattern_Upland_Lead_BB.jpg


Hope you all had a great summer!

Cheers,

Brobee
 
Finally got my first video cut last night!

Federal's Premium Black Cloud Steel BB:


As I'm getting set to cut another dozen or so I've got filmed and ready to edit, I'd sure welcome your comments on format and content!

Cheers,

Brobee
 
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Just finished editing and uploading another...

Hornady 3" Heavy Magnum Coyote Nickel Plated Lead BB:


I've got a couple more BB episodes left to edit, then I'll get to some #4 & 00 buck.

Cheers,

Brobee
 
Great info, enjoyed that.
I like to see a hevishot test,

Me too! I've been looking around for some BB or BBB heavy shot, to no avail though :( !! In the heavier-than-lead department, I've also been searching high and low for some federal v-shok heavyweight coyote tungsten-iron. I'm super curious about how much more penetration it gets, and whether it not its as deformed as all the heavy-shot birdshot I've seen.

If anyone knows of a vendor with some of the federal v-shok, please let me know as I'd test it right away!

Cheers,

Brobee
 
And another...

Remington Hypersonic Steel BB:


Think I'll change the format for buckshot episodes with tight patterns....will do gelatin tests at 5 yards, 20 yards, and 40 yards. Thoughts?

Cheers,

Brobee
 
Excellent work Brobee. Your vids should be taught in class to all youtube reviewers. Short, to the point, and most importantly full of relevant info.
 
Got another one cut and uploaded last night:

Remington's Express Long Range Lead BB:


Will be leaving the BB world for now, next up is Federal's Premium 00 buckshot into gelatin at 5 yards, 20 yards, and 40 yards.

Cheers!

Brobee
 
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