.480 Water jug penetration test

[contender]

Quite a while back, David had discussed & showed water jug penetration testing. I had done this before, using my Ruger .480 Bisley. But I didn't fully record the details. So, I re-did the testing.
I aligned 18 milk jugs of water, with a larger jug at the back. Here's the alignment set up.



And here's the gun with a bullet. The bullet is a Lee .400 grn one I cast kinda hard. I was using 19.0 grns of IMR 4227. Win primers to light it off.



I sat back about 15 yds, & squeezed one off, and it penetrated 15 jugs before stopping. This pic shows the result. I recall the first time I did this test,, I had it penetrate 16 jugs.



And lastly, here's the recovered slug. These bullets were cast before I started powder coating my cast bullets.

[jwp475]

400 grain bullets penetrate a long way.

[Joe S.]

Did all the jugs stay on the barrels???

I shot a buck a few years ago that was quartering away and the 400 gr cast hollow point entered at the left hind quarter and i found it under the skin of the front shoulder. That 480 don’t like to stop when it gets moving.

[iwsbull]

Nice, about what was your velocity? I know the big heavy bullets take awhile to get tired and stop.

[contender]

The first couple of jugs blew up & flew off the barrels. But that slug just punches a LONG way before stopping for sure. A Nd stays fairly straight. I also did some testing using my .357 Maxi with (2) bullets. It has a big tendency to have the slugs go to the right, every time. More on that one later.

I'll have to look up the velocity. I don't recall what it was when I tested it. I load for accuracy, and this one is accurate.

[sixshot]

I shot a bull moose with a similar load to Tyrone's, 20 grs of 4227 & a 370 gr cast & it was doing about 1050 fps. Complete penetration.

Dick

[pacecars]

I love that bullet. I use it at 1000 FPS in my Bisley

[mart]

That's a great bullet. I use the same one in my 480. And the same load. Hard to beat.

[pacecars]

I have not found a deer or pig that has stopped one yet

[contender]

"I have not found a deer or pig that has stopped one yet"

Gee,, ya think? That slug just seems to keep on going. The first time I tried that test,, I only had 12 jugs up. All were toast. That slug went into the berm, gone. So, the next time, I put up 20 jugs, and caught it in #16. I still have that slug on my shelf. So, this most recent test,, I figured 18 plus one,, should work, and it did. A thin skinned deer, or even the smaller bodied hogs, (although tougher,) would have a hard time stopping one.

When Ruger came out with the .480,,, I personally, at the time didn't get too excited,, thinking; "I don't NEED a caliber that big." Well, it was a few years later & I shot a few,, and found the .480 to be quite manageable & fun to shoot,, but still wanted the SA design. Yet,, a Ruger DA came to me quite cheaply,, and I began to play. It was equipped with the 7-1/2" bbl. Impressive accuracy,, and not punishing to shoot. Then, another one came along with the 9-1/2" bbl,, and it too was priced too cheaply to pass up. Finally,, the Bisley Super was introduced,, and I jumped like a bullfrog on a june bug. I immediately snagged one. Not one single regret either. While I can easily take game with other calibers,, that caliber & it's accuracy & all,,, may still not be necessary,, but then again,, we do have black bears in my area that top 700 lbs. Who knows,, maybe I'll get lucky & try it on one of those big boys,, and see if it'll stop that big old slug!

[bradshaw]

Tyrone.... thank you for your fine report. And a quick way to ruin water jugs. May be time to POWDER COAT your .480 bullets. Setting out after a big, soft skin animal, I would prefer the softening anneal POWDER COAT provides.
David Bradshaw

[callshot]

Years ago, sixshot did a test like that with only one jug and wanted me to video it. His idea was to make it splash water all over me. IT DID!

[dougader]

Sept 30, 2021 17:46:33 GMT -5 callshot said:

Years ago, sixshot did a test like that with only one jug and wanted me to video it. His idea was to make it splash water all over me. IT DID!

Sounds about right.....

[contender]

David,, yep,, I've already cast & PCed a bunch of other 480 slugs. I was just enjoying older ammo, and re-creating the previous test,, keeping better notes this time.


Gee callshot,, you actually fell for that one?

[pleadthe2nd]

Very impressive results there, not trying to hi-jack here, but I just did a water jug test with my 5 1/2" super blackhawk 44 mag, 245 gn kieth style bullet and 19.5 gn AA #9, all I had room for on my setup was for 10 jugs, blew through all 10, tried it again, same thing, bullets never recovered, hardcast just doesn't want to stop.