My catalog ballistics test - 44MAG

[Irelander]

Sometimes when I get bored I shoot really thick catalogs with different rounds to see the performance of the round. I get these electronics catalogs that are about 3.5" to 4" thick. Last year I shot a .22LR, .22MAG, 9mm, and .45ACP from about 7 yards away into one of these and was fairly surprised that none of them penetrated. Since I just got a new 629PC and am doing some reduced power reloads and I just got a new huge Newark catalog, I thought I would compare the performance of my reloads vs. factory 44MAG rounds. This isn't really scientific or anything, just having some fun...but it is interesting.

My reloads consist of the following recipe: 180gr Nosler JHP over 5.5gr of Titegroup. It is very pleasant to shoot and is my plinking round. Basically a decent .44SPL load.

The fullpower factory ammo that I am using is a Federal Eagle round with a 240gr JHP. It rocks me pretty good but is not painful to shoot.

So I set up the catalog about 7 yards away and shot one round of my reloads into the top section of the catalog, then one round of the Federal rounds into the bottom section of the catalog.

Here is a pic of the receiving end of the catalog.



Top hole is from my reduced power reloads and the bottom hole is from the Federal load.

Here is a pic of the back of the catalog.



To my surprise, the reduced power reload did not penetrate the catalog. After I shot this round I started to think that no pistol round would penetrate these catalogs. But the Federal round did not disappoint. As you can see it shredded the bottom of the catalog. I need to recover the 180gr bullet that is lodged in the catalog and see how far it penetrated and what the bullet looks like. I did not find any pieces of the 240gr bullet that shredded the bottom.

Needless to say, this backyard test gave me even more respect for the full power 44MAG.

Here is a side pic of the catalog so you can see how thick it is.

[NYlakesider]

I have used old telephone books for decades now. It’s not as good as the pro stuff but it’s reasonably constant. Books are getting harder to get now, but in the old days in the area I lived in I could get a good supply easy.

Years ago I did a bunch of tests of .45 230RN FMJ vs. 230 SWC FMJ and found that the SWC lost a bunch of its penetration (over penetration) compared to its rounder brother.

I was carrying a 1911 and at that time in the winter: .38 .357 .9mmHP ammo had a problem of plugging up on heavy outerwear and not expanding. but .45 RN FMJ over penetrated and made rather neat smooth holes in my testing.

I went to the .45 FMJ SWC and that bad boy plowed right through heavy outerwear and tore up the books quite well. It did a lot of damage but did not penetrate excessively.

I carried that load for quite a while, but Massad Ayoob and his writings on lawyers vs. hand loads convinced me to stay with factory offerings for CCW! I’m not sure if those slugs are available today, but they worked good and for anyone that has a bad feeding .45 those SWC FMJ fed as good as RN FMJ stuff.

[DonD]

Try something that is really .44 Mag power like Garrett's stuff, it will make Federal Eagle look wimpy. Will probably rip two of your catalogs with ease. Don

[CWH44300]

Ha ha... I love it, in all my bullet testing I have found dry paper to be very hard on bullets, nice work , got to love the 44