Also posted in GD

So today I did a gel block shot with a psa 77 grain otm. The block as been shot a bunch, but still captured the bullet. The range was 40 yards, gun is a 11.5 faxon lightweight midlength barrel, with a form 1 can on it. I did not chrono it but that can be or has been done.

The block came out of my fridge, so it was cold. Out side temp is 65 degrees.

First pics of the block before the shot.
2 views of the block top and bottom.


2 views after the shot, bullet went right to left, and penetrated 13 inches
Entrance was the lower channel on the right, it did angle down thru the other areas that where hit. So there is not really a visible wound channel in the gel on the pics. But it did not have a sudden massive expansion. The neck was probably 3 or 4 inches before it really started doing anything. The wound cavity was pretty consistent with out any one spot being an explosive expansion area



pics of the bullet afterwards, it held together pretty well. Which tells me at a higher velocity it would still probably not totally self destruct. Over all I think its decent performance.

Some basic research put the velocity at around 2200, which is about 2700 from an 18 inch barrel. That would put the impact at about 250 yards from an 18", to match my 11.5

Final weight was around 61 grains.

My 18 inch does 2775 with imi 77 grain, from what I have read this stuff is slower. And I found 77 grain imi are going 2250-2300 from 11.5 barrels. So thats where I got the 2200 fps.

So would you conclude: ?
1) good weight retention for impact/knock-down power and not excess penetration (but still could go thru an animal).
2) small wound cavity, not as deadly as a larger one. (unless it hit something important).

weight was good from what I have read you want. Its 223 the penetration is ok when looking at people targets, but lets be honest 223 is border line for deer as it is. A broad side shot on a 150 lb deer, and no rib impacts I would guess 50/50 on a pass thru. It would kill the deer dead as any other other bullet, just might run a little further.

The would cavity is actually good for people targets, you dont want it all in the first 6 inches. Doing the damage from 4 to 10 inches is perfect in my mind but I am not a pro, I am an idiot.

So it didnt really fragment?
Did you find some pieces that fragmented?

Good info.

Why wouldn't you try it out of your 18" to get a better idea of frag potential?

Because I was trying to get the lower velocity to replicate range. Also if it expands at low speed it will at least expand at high speed or maybe frag. Besides not every shot is close up and lower velocity is more realistic of either a short barrel or range.

@StaccatoC2.  Thanks for doing the test.  I did a chrono test on that ammo last week and it measured 2852 from an 18" barrel.  For comparison, CBC 77 SMK measured 2776... about the same as your results with IMI.  It is hotter than CBC or IMI 77.

Thats interesting I shot some thru the 11.5 and my 18 inch last weekend and it felt like it was less potent than the imi 77 grain I shot at the same time. It certainly made the rifle jump less. And I thought I saw some chrono tests and it was lower, but that may have been the smk.

Good reviews.  I just bought some a few weeks to test in the 10.5” and 16”ers.  Hoping that it works well because the price is pretty good.

Great info. Thanks for sharing and thanks for your efforts!

Is that 10% ordnance gel?

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Great post OP.

Don't use clear gel to conclude either.

The bullet held together after hitting something. That's about all you can conclude. Which is good.

correction its 10 % organic from ballistic dummy lab. @Molon
https://ballisticdummylab.com/collections/ballistic-blocks-1/products/10-ballistic-block-6x6x16

It says "Proprietary organic Ballistics Gel Formula"; which sounds a lot like snake oil.


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Well yeah, they it has a shelf life of 3 weeks due to moisture loss.

Lets be honest any batch of gel from anyone it only going to the same as that batch only. And in a real world its only good for comparing shots taken in the same block, on the same day between two different loads. Next week you might get a different result.

That's not necessarily true. I have some clear gel I've used, melted down, and reused and have had consistent results with 77smk's

And that's why properly validated organic gel is the standard.