Winchester 120 gr PDX1 fired from 10.5" Zastava M92 PAP and 16" WASR-10/63 into calibrated 10% gelatin.

BB: 593.5 fps, 3.6"

16" WASR-10/63

Impact velocity: 2,362 fps
Penetration: greater than 22.5"
Retained weight: N/A
Max expansion: N/A
Min expansion: N/A

I shot this portion of the test twice and both times the bullet fragmented dramatically and the remaining portion left the block at an oblique angle.


10.5" M92 PAP

Impact velocity: 2,182 fps
Penetration: 12.9"
Retained weight: 111.4 gr
Max expansion: 1.048"
Min expansion: 0.193"

Please bear in mind that the expansion figures here are not proper. The bullet was completely mangled and there was no real expansion.

I don't often give my opinion in the description but I think this one merits a quick note. It certainly appears that this bullet would be useful for defense. Both tests shown and the one that I omitted indicate that the bullet will meet the minimum penetration requirement while producing substantial stretch cavity and fragmentation. It bothers me that the recovered bullet is so beat up, though. This certainly could be a viable self defense option but I think it bears a lot more testing.

Hi,

I'm interested in this as as WASR owner.  I've had good luck with Winchester Olin ammo in the past, but this performance isn't much different than some of the Russian ammo I fired in the past.  Was the gelatin calibrated?

My observation is that that the 7.62x39 120 grain PDX JHP seems to perform inconsistently, but mostly acceptably.  My current home defense rifle round is the US 30 carbine 110 grain JSP.   The 30 carbine 110 gr. JSP round performs very consistantly, and acceptably routinely doubling its diameter in water tests, penetrating well, and staying together.

Thanks for sharing your results with us, such information is always appreciated.

Best Wishes:

Yes, the gelatin was calibrated. Thanks for asking, that's an important part that a lot of folks leave out. I always put my calibration figures in the description. That's what the "BB: 593.5 fps, 3.6" " part is about.

I tested PPU .30 carbine 110 gr JSP. It's on my channel, if you're interested.

interesting, surprised the veloicity is so low...

The velocity isn't really that low, considering 7.62x39 usually only does 2300-2400fps; 2100-2200fps is pretty good out of a 10" barrel, as are the terminal ballistics in this case.

okay.  dang, and 300 blackout is even slower than that!

It meets penetration guidelines.  Unless you are shooting through barriers, a bullet such as this that fragments extensively while still penetrating makes an excellent self defense round and is far more damaging to tissue compared to a non fragmenting bullet.

Don't take my word for it:
http://www.nps.gov/pinn/naturescience/upload/bullet_fragmentation_comparisons.pdf

oh yes, I am aware how fragmenting bullets increase wounding performance.

Well this helps me justify my pap just a little more. 12.9 inches isn't exactly ideal though, but pretty decent velocity from the short barrel. I guess FMJ would penetrate a lot more though. I have a few boxes of PDX been thinking about using it for hog hunting, but not from the PAP.

I was surprised that with only 180 fps difference the penetration was half out of the 10" barrel.

If I had the resources to get a statistically relevant sample size from both barrel lengths, we might see a different story. It's possible that the barrel length really doesn't make all that much difference in penetration and that this cartridge just has erratic results. It's also possible that the 180 fps difference was just enough to make a substantial difference in the way the projectile fragments.

I'm not real fond of how apparently random the deformation was. It really looks like this load could penetrate 30" or 12", just depending on how the dice come up. From what I've tested so far, I'm very happy with the SST. Lord willing, I'll be testing Federal Fusion in 7.62x39mm soon and I expect great results from that one. Also on the docket are Tula 154 gr soft point, S&B 123 gr soft point, Tula 124 gr HP, and M67 ball. Probably in that order.

Yes expansion was not uniform at all, that could definitely lead to inconsistent penetration. Looking forward to future tests.