{"id":3487,"date":"2020-01-17T10:02:53","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T10:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/labs\/?p=3487"},"modified":"2021-06-07T14:51:57","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T14:51:57","slug":"pocket-pistol-caliber-gel-test-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/labs\/pocket-pistol-caliber-gel-test-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Pocket Pistol Caliber Ballistic Gel Tests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shortcuts<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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  1. .22 LR<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. .22 Magnum<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. .25 ACP<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. .32 ACP<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. 9mm Makarov<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. .380 ACP<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. .32 S&W Long<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. .32 H&R Magnum<\/a><\/li>\n
  9. .327 Federal Magnum<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

    Project Overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Since the very beginning of the series on pocket pistols<\/a> that we started running on the Lounge (as well as YouTube) in late 2018, I have promising to add some of the smaller handgun calibers to our ballistic gelatin test project. Today, we are happy to finally be able to share the results from eight more calibers that we recently tested.<\/p>\n

    These new calibers fall into three categories below. For rimfire calibers, we tested .22 LR and .22 Magnum (aka .22 WMR).<\/p>\n

    The centerfire semi-auto cartridges were .25 ACP, .32 ACP, and 9mm Makarov. We could also have included .380 ACP in this category, but we already tested that caliber<\/a> in our original batch of gel testing (and we’ve added a few newer .380 loads since that initial test).<\/p>\n

    Finally, we have the centerfire revolver calibers: .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R Magnum, and .327 Federal Magnum. Again, we could have included other calibers like .38 Special and .357 Magnum, but we’ve tested those previously<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Test Procedure (The Short Version)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    For this batch of testing, we followed the same basic protocol we’ve used in all of our tests (outlined in painstaking detail back in our first gel test article<\/a>). The short version is that we fired five rounds of each load into blocks of Clear Ballistics synthetic gelatin from a distance of 10 feet. A four-layer heavy clothing barrier was placed in front of the gel for each test. For most of these calibers, we used two test guns with different barrel lengths: one pocket pistol or snub nose revolver and one mid-size or compact test gun.<\/p>\n

    After each test, we measured the penetration depth of every bullet, then extracted the bullets from the gel to measure their weight and expanded width. We also took velocity readings of each load with a chronograph. All this information appears in the data charts below. If you click on the penetration section of the chart, you can see photographs of the actual bullets in the gelatin. Clicking on the thumbnails of the expanded bullets will give you a magnified view. And if you still want more info, you can click on the name of the load to go to its product page where we’ve published a detailed breakdown of the data and a high speed video of that load as it impacts the gel block.<\/p>\n

    Rimfire Pocket Pistol Calibers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    .22 LR (.22 Long Rifle)
    \n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    The two test guns we used for .22 LR<\/a> were a Smith & Wesson 43C snub nose<\/a> revolver with a 1.9-inch barrel and a Ruger Mark IV<\/a> with a 4.4-inch barrel (rounded to 2″ and 4″ respectively on the chart below). We suspect the inclusion of a rifle-length barrel would also have yielded some interesting results. That’s something we would like to test in the future, but we decided to stick with handgun barrels for this batch of testing.<\/p>\n

    \".22<\/a><\/p>\n

    Using a .22 LR handgun for self-defense purposes is a controversial subject, and not one we’re going to cover here (check out this installment of the Pocket Pistol Series<\/a> for more on that debate). Regardless of whether it’s a good idea, if one were to go this route, ammo selection should be based on achieving as much penetration as possible. Bullet expansion is unlikely and if it does occur, penetration will almost certainly suffer.<\/p>\n

    The size of the pistol also plays an important role. In our tests, even with the small jump in barrel length between the S&W snubby and the Ruger Mark IV, there was significant improvement in bullet performance in the gel. On average, the 4.4-inch barrel yielded a velocity increase of 126 fps over the 1.9-inch snubby barrel. It’s worth noting, however, that the loads with the highest velocity did not necessarily result in the best penetration.<\/p>\n\n\t\t

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    .22 Long Rifle (LR) Ballistic Test Results<\/h2>\n\t\n