Planning 9mm home protection ammo tests

[martywinston]

For some editorial reviews I'm planning, I intend to do some January-February tests of 9mm (Luger/Parabellum) ammunition intended for home protection. My reports are more qualitative than quantitative and somewhat informal, but I do hinge them on some observable factor.

My intention for these tests is to place 5 canvas bags (so 10 layers of canvas) between fore and aft targets and compare the holes. That's simple for me to set up and execute and I have a zillion canvas bags.

My focus is on how much stopping power can survive layers of clothing.

Is there some modification to this set-up that I should consider that might be more informative? I'm doing my tests at a range (with special permission) so whatever I do has to pretty much hang from their target clamp; I'll probably prep the target sandwiches to include a top-side coat hanger.

ALl shooting will be done from a full-size 9mm pistol.

Beyond Hornady Critical Defense/Critical Duty and Federal Guard Dog (and half a dozen others I won't mention here), are there specific cartridges you'd recommend for these tests?

I'm looking at multiple sometimes-conflicting factors: the ability to stop a guy wearing heavy clothing, the ability to still get him if he ducks behind a wall and the ability to use a cartridge that stops before it calls on the neighbors.

You've all been generous with your advice before and I hope I'm not being presumtuous to ask it again.

 

[WV_Ray]

Heavy denim jacket and Leather jacket should each be included in test. Looking forward to seeing your results.

 

[SGB]

"Stopping Power" is a myth and while these home brewed "tests" can be entertaining they provided no information of any real value.

 

[Turkules77]

Id be curious what frangible ammo would do. If you add that in to your tests, let me know.

 

[martywinston]

Is there any specific frangible ammo you would suggest?

 

[Bighouse Doc]

Just make sure you properly calibrate the gel-block so the results are valid for comparison with other testing.

-Doc

 

[mncarrydude]

For frangible ammo look at/for Extreme Shock.

 

[PAcarrier]

What about MagSafe for frangible?

 

[martywinston]

Guys - I need to clarify.

I'm not doing a quantitative depth-in-the-gel/diameter of the tunnel kind of testing.

I'm shooting through 10 layers of canvas - a fair approximation of heavy clothing.

I'm not doing thicknesses of drywall either.

Paper target -> 10 layers of canvas -> paper target

I can compare the entry and exit holes. That's about it. I can't capture the rounds. I can't tell anything about what happens when they exit the back target. It's a dirt-simple test for a single factor (penetration through cloth layers).

Will the round muchroom? Will it simply jet through? I'll know that by comparing the front and back targets.

And if any of these rounds don't make it all the way through the canvas, that will tell me something too.

 

[martywinston]

I'll get in touch with MagSafe.

 

[Bighouse Doc]

Simply penetrating a barrier proves little since even some rimfire ammo could possibly penetrate your material.

A projectile must, after penetrating the barrier, still reach the "Off Buttons" inside.

You may be incurring expense with no worthwhile data coming out of it.

-Doc

 

[martywinston]

I dropped Extreme Shock a note - thanks.

 

[martywinston]

Doc -

Let me take the flip side of that:

Not even penetrating a barrier might disqualify some ammunition from consideration by all those newcomers to gun ownership who have yet to fire a round even though their guns are now a year or two old.

If my test shows a small hole up front and a bigger hole in back, I can surmise that some stopping power remains.

If it shows a small hole up front and no hole in the back, I can surmise that the bullet didn't make it through the canvas.

If it shows a small hole up front and a small hole in back, since I'm not dealing with through-and-through FMJ rounds, I can surmise that any significant stopping effects inherent to the bullet design are not prematurely engaged.

For novices who bought who-knows-what to go with their guns, this can at least head them in some good directions.

By the way (buried this deep in a reply this deep in a thread, I doubt anybody will notice), I had a preliminary discussion yesterday about a half-hour TV show that would run nationally and be about all the products that gun owners may want to consider using. (Zero politics, nothing about constitutional rights or Wild West criminality, just an acknoledgment that ownership is growing and there are cool products to make that more interesting, more effective, more fun and maybe even safer).

 

[Bighouse Doc]

Exit/entry size ratios have little to do with the mythical "Stopping Power." Perhaps the projectile destabilized and what you see has to do with impact induced yaw?

Put a slab of brisket behind your barrier and describe the wound. Does the bullet remain intact or fragment? Does the projectile exit the slab? This is much more useful data.

Of course, shooting things is fun and if that is all this is about...Enjoy!

-Doc

 

[martywinston]

It is all about doing reasonable things with the grace of the owners of a range that isn't mine.