Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Lucky Gunner's extensive test results...

It was good to see how well .40 S&W Ranger and Ranger T Series did in both 165 grain and 180 grain. 71 caliber expansion, and right in middle of the FBI depth penetration range.

No, I did not miss reading that. If you will read carefully what I wrote about concerning some manufacturers statements often found printed on their cartridge boxes, they will claim the cartridges contained within will produce muzzle velocities of "x". They usually fail to mention that this was accomplished by firing the load in a maybe 10 or 12 inch test barrel. Not to say that no such pistol barrels have never been made in that length, but obviously such is uncommon at best. To compound the probable inaccuracy of any such claim is if the cartridge in question should be commonly used in a revolver which would have a cylinder gap to factor into the equation. Some manufacturers will state realistic figures, such as derived from testing with common 4 or 5 inch barrels, etc. What I actually said was if it is not specifically stated how the velocity was determined by the manufacturer, what is printed on the box may not be accurate in the real world. I did not say anything about the test velocities stated in the Lucky Gunner report, which I respect very much. I also did not say that no JHP bullet would expand if velocity was under 1000 FPS. Of course some will. For instance the huge hollow point loads I usually carry in my 2 inch barrel J frame .38s that run about 775 FPS (over a chronograph) will reliably expand, I assure you. However, these are not common JHPs. I thought I made it clear that that this 1000 FPS (actual) figure was a good rule of thumb for JHP bullets. Of course there are several potential factors in play here. If the bullet is fired into a hard surface, such as an iron plate, concrete, tempered glass, etc., it will most likely expand. If it strikes ballistic gel or flesh is a much different matter. Maybe, maybe not. As I noted originally, this is my opinion, based on my experience. Someone else's experience may vary.

Very interesting information, especially if one anticipates being attacked by a block of gel.

I hear ya. I remember this velocity claim issue being very common, but I haven't noticed it for quite some time. Maybe that's more of an indication of what brands I'm not even looking at, but what I see now is either realistic claims or no velocity claim at all. I mean, the claims I see are close to what I'm measuring from my own 4-5" guns. But I never assume it will measure the same with a shorter barrel, although I'm sometimes pleasantly surprised.

I suspect manufacturers are aware that a lot of us own chronographs these days, and we're quick to report BS claims in the Internet. But yeah... there's always going to be those guys, I guess.

I don't expect any bargain ammo to expand from a handgun, until I've tested it myself on live game - and that includes my own cheapo handloads.