Ammunition Performance from Short Pistol Barrels

25 May 08

Ammunition tests:

At a Course in PA this weekend, Mike Shovel from Cor-Bon was on hand, once more, with blocks of gelatin for ballistic testing.

I was curious about the performance of my 45ACP carry-load, 185gr DPX, launched from my Kahr PM45, Kahr's smallest 45ACP pistol. I fired six rounds in rapid succession. All six penetrated four layers of denim, then thirteen inches of gelatin, all stopping, fully expanded (to ninety-caliber) withina inch of each other. I was concerned about expansion of the DPX bullet through such a short barrel. Not any more! Velocity was just over 1,000 f/s

Similar result with 9mm, 115 gr, DPX, launched from my Rohrbaugh R9 pistol. Twelve inches of penetration, with full expansion. The R9's short barrel, even when combined with denim, did not denigrate performance. Velocity was just over 1,100 f/s

One final note: A student shooting a G29 (10mm) was interested in the performance of his carry-load, a "high-performance" conventional brass/lead hollow-point. It chronographed at only 970 f/s, and then failed to expand at all after plugging up with denim. The bullet subsequently penetrated twenty-six inches of gelatin and kept going! Profoundly poor performance from a round that I, and the shooter, thought would do much better. Not impressive! He consumed the balance of his inventory of the stuff in training, getting rid of it all.

/John