No my dears, we haven't forgotten you.

Though we've changed the schedule of testing a bit from our original plan (mostly we wanted to work some more kinks out before testing multiple round types) we are pleased to bring you, straight from our new state of the art clandestine lab in a super-secret location, our first offical and calibrated testing results:

B&T Labs Fragmentation Experiment #2:
"High Velocity 5.56mm 55 grain 'Wolf' performance in bare gelatin."

Tatjana von E. and Derek W. F.

In this experiment we were primarily looking for evidence of fragmentation out of Wolf ammo at close range.  The experiment was also designed to confirm that we have ironed the kinks out of our methodology.

Specifics and Conditions:

Ammo: 55 grain Wolf Copper Jacketed FMJBT.  Lot <Cyrillic>SHCH</Cyrillic> () 37.  Headstamp: "Wolf/223 REM"

Rifle: Preban Bushmaster A3 with M4 profile 16" 1:9 barrel and Phantom flashhider.

Temp: 92 degrees F.  59% humidity.

The target was a FBI spec block (20x20x50cm) of 10% ballistic gel (9 parts water, 1 part gelatin by weight).  Vyse ballistic gel was prepared according to FBI ballistic gel testing protocols.  Additionally, gel temperature was not permitted to exceed 37 degrees C at any time during preparation.  Gel was stored at ~4 degrees C and permitted to cure for 72 hours before testing.  Gel was tested within 15 minutes after removal of blocks from refrigeration.  Gel was calibrated with a .177 caliber BB at 603 fps immediately before testing.  The BB penetrated 8.3 centimeters.  These results are within accepted calibration standards for ballistic testing without penetration measurement adjustment.

Procedure:

After some alignment shots, target (bare gel) was placed 16 feet from the muzzle and subjected to a single round.  Velocity of the projectile was measured at 15 feet, 1 foot before the gelatin block.

The block was examined, photographed and then dissected to extract any visible fragments and to measure cross sections of the wound profile.

Results notes/Observations:

1. The round passed the chrono at 2855 fps.  Quite low for a 16" shot from 15 feet.  Testing rounds before gel shots were of equivalent velocities.

2. The round exhibited almost no fragmentation.  All fragmentation was a result of the "toothpaste" effect- some lead core was squeezed out of the base of the projectile as it was flattened.  The jacket remained intact throughout.  Recovered weight of the projectile minus fragments was nearly 52 grains- probably quite near the original weight of the projectile.

3. The round showed flattening from the side and on the base, probably because of "tail first" travel through the gelatin.

4. The round began to yaw ~3.75" from impact.

5. The round started to veer down after 6.5" of penetration, eventually turned about 35-40  degrees from the original path of travel and exited the bottom of the gel block at 11.25".

Quoted: Quoted: My pleasure. Tatjana, thank you so much for spending the time, $$$, and effort to bring us this information.  We really appreciate it! BTW, I was shooting some LC XM193 this past Sunday at the NRA range...some of the people watching from the lounge area saw the awesome muzzle flash and asked my wife, "What the hell is he shooting???"  That stuff really attracts attention!  One guy thought I was shooting .308! Cheers, Steve

It is, of course, our pleasure.  Brou does most of the work though!  Hauling gel blocks is heavy lifting!

2 points about the 62 Grain Wolf Ball:

1) The Jacket appears thinner that the 55 grain stuf you pictured.

2) It has a very pronounced cannelure.  Ironically,(apparently) to differintate it from the 55 grain stuff.  The cannelure is in front of the case mouth from 1 to 2 mm and is NOT uset to crimp the projectile into the case.  It still should serve to weaken the jacket considerably though.

These two factors may result in a very different terminal outcome from the 55 Grain Wolf.

Would be very interesting to campare the terminal effect of this to the 55 Grain Wolf.

Just out of curiousity, I shoot a lot of Black Hills 55gr FMJ.  Do they load a true M193 bullet?  I know they do a lot of military contracts.