Unofficial 12ga Slug Penetration Comparison

[Brutus]

I too have played with a buck & ball load. But with a BP cartridge in the 10 gauge. Only on paper, but is very acurate at 20 yards. One .50 RB sitting on top of three .375 'buckshot' and full choke damascus SxS.

Nice report here!

 

[Ganderite]

Excellent test. Thank you. I like the simplicity of your bullet catcher.

 

[be2man]

Interesting that the nylon ball is still stuck in the truball slug. I wonder if that improved penetration and decreased the deformation of the slug? My understanding is that the ball is in there to keep the slug aligned travelling down a smooth bore barrel. They drop away on exit and I've seen them bouncing down the range shooting at 100 yards. At 8 yards they must still be together.

 

[Bluedevil25]

Anyone try the 3" Hevi-Shot Bear Defense Slugs?

 

[0faustus0]

-- Bird Shot Penetration --

Adding this ….

I was curious as to how far bird shot would penetrate if it was shot from a very close range …. And I mean very close …. muzzle touching close. There is a controversy if bird shot could kill a bear … and how “bird shot” would behave when discharged at very very very close distances ….

In order to find out … I was using my setup with 1.5 inches thick spruce boards.

I fired one shot of 12ga Federal 1 1/8oz Heavy Field load with #6 shot (1255 fps)…. and the muzzle of my gun was only 20cm (20 centimeters) from the target. Gun was an H&R 12ga Pardner single shot with fixed modified choke.

Here is the result …..

Front:

Back:

Close up of the stuck projectile:

In conclusion, that bird shot load at very close range (20 cm) nearly penetrated 3 boards of 1.5 inches thick spruce boards .... and it behaved very much like a slug. All the pellets stayed together. Buckshot on the other hand at 20 meters was not able to penetrate 2 boards.

Compared to the slugs that I tested, this bird shot load had around the penetrating power of a “sports slug” or a normal low recoil slug.

Now, could this load kill a bear? I let you decide ….

p.s.: For reference here the link to the buckshot test:

Penetration Test II - Buckshot
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1724640-Penetration-Test-II-Buckshot

 

[Butcherbill]

If you compare that to the challenger that went to the 7th board I think the answer is clear, if you’re trying to put something down that is.

 

[0faustus0]

If you compare that to the challenger that went to the 7th board I think the answer is clear, if you’re trying to put something down that is.

Butcherbill, the Challenger is the clear winner of my tests so far .... and yes that is what I carry "just in case".
But you might be facing a situation where you don't have the time to load that slug into your gun ... :-(

If you are out grouse hunting ... and a bear is charging you and you only have 2 -3 seconds to react ... I know I would not be able to reload my gun with a slug ... that I am pretty sure of. I once met a grizzly at around 15 meters in the Rockies and the adrenaline kicked in instantaneously ... and my heart and mind were racing. Luckily that bear was as afraid as I was ... and he ran away .... In the event of a charge I would have never been able to reload my gun with a slug.

But should this situation happen again, ... and if I have a gun in my hands loaded with bird shot .... and based on my test ... I know what I would do. I came to my conclusion of what I would do in this situation! And everyone should come to theirs ....

 

[blasted_saber]

Did you ever use the Rackmasters in a penetration test?

 

[0faustus0]

Did you ever use the Rackmasters in a penetration test?

No I did not ....
I intended to test them ... and in my first test the Rackmaster went easily through 4 boards ....
But then I did not re-test them with the 8 board setup ... :-(

The Rackmaster has the weight of the Challenger and the velocity is a bit faster .... and the construction of those Rackmasters seems solid ... so I would assume that penetration would be around 6 to 7 boards .... or even more ... but I don't know for sure.

 

[Butcherbill]

Oh for sure, if you can’t load a slug quick enough use what you got and hope for the best. I only have pump shotguns and when out grouse hunting it’s 2+1 with shot, I usually load one in the chamber and one in the tube. That gives me the option of quickly loading a slug in the tube, if I had the time that is.

The reality of the situation is pretty slim you’ll have a bear attack, any bear I’ve encountered here couldn’t get away from me quick enough. I know a handful of people that work in the bush year round and they all say the same thing, bears don’t want anything to do with people th majority of the time. Was just chatting with one guy recently, he said in th last 10 yrs working in the bush he’s been bluf charge once.

Am I worried about a bear attack, no not really. Do I go out prepared for it, yeah sure.

 

[0faustus0]

Adding the link to the buckshot penetration results ...

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1724640-Penetration-Test-II-Buckshot

 

[Merovingian]

I'm not up on my importing knowledge, but could a bunch of us do a group buy and have somebody like IRUNGUNS bring in some black magic ammo? I thought I remembered awhile back IRG saying they were importing ammo.

edit- Nvm answered my own question. Brenneke is not on the approved ammo list

 

[pounder]

I got 10 boxes of Black Magic slugs from IRG back in May. Not cheap but that is what we use for our work guns.

 

[Merovingian]

Hmmm

 

[enefgee]

The RWS Brenneke is a better performer than the RIO - something to do with hardening the lead. They're also better than the US Black Magic and Special Forces slugs. They are available from time to time. Every time I see them, I buy everything the store has.

 

[Halifax Bob]

Excellent post. Thanks for sharing

 

[Huntsman]

Awesome effort!!
I really enjoy doing ballistic tests myself- especially with my cast boolts.
I find using wet phone books or catalogs work really well for penetration and performance testing.
As for shotgun slugs they’re one of my more favourites for shooting and hunting with.
2016 I bought a mold from Slugs R Us along with the proprietary wads/sabot to go with them.
With that I am using Rio hulls.
I’ve done plenty accuracy tests and was able to dig the slug from dirt but nothing from wet paper yet.

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[kamlooky]

Sciencetiffignance at it's finest.
Entertaining indeed.

Thanks Fausti for the thread.

 

[0faustus0]

The RWS Brenneke is a better performer than the RIO - something to do with hardening the lead. They're also better than the US Black Magic and Special Forces slugs ...

Enefgee, not that I don't believe you ... but how did you obtain this information? Is there a review out there that compares the RWS Brenneke to the Rio one and the Black Magic?? Just wondering ..... If you could share, that would be appreciated.

I only know that the slug of the Rio Brenneke is actually an original 1 1/8oz Brenneke slug. However, Rio decided to load it to a velocity of 1410 fps ... and that is pretty low compared to other better penetrating slugs ... For example the Challenger slug has the same weight but runs at 1610 fps ...

Here two pictures of the Rio Brenneke projectile ... it has "Original Brenneke" embossed on top and at the bottom ....

 

[The Outsider]

great info buddy!