Has anyone ever done or seen any wet newspaper, water-filled milk jug, or "Box-o-truth" type tests performed with a ~7.5 inch bbl?

I know there've been a lot of people who have posted information about 223/5.56's inability to perform effectively at any appreciable distance when fired from such a short barrel, but is there any actual, tested, empirical data available?

I don't pretend to say that anyone who's spoken on the issue in the past on this forum or others is wrong;  I would just like to see some actual numbers and pictures of various recovered rounds, fired at various distances.  I'd do it myself, but I don't really have an appropriate facility to conduct the test; probably just as well, because I'd need ammo donations from all the members here in order to pull it off his
Thanks.

Rk

The ballistics are covered HERE.

The bullet selection is up to you.  I never understood why people want to argue about fragmentation velocities for ball ammo.  Unless you are restricted by the Geneva Convention, why shoot FMJ's?  Why depend on a non-expanding bullet to break up?

Use just about any off-the-shelf expanding ammo out of a short 5.56, and you will get good terminal performance.  If a 62 grain WW Power Point will tear the shit out of a coyote at 400 yards, it will do the same tissue damage at 200 from an 8 incher...

All you really lose is maximum effective range.  


Lem

Lem,

Good points, all.  i think I'm with you.
Thanks for the link.

Rk

I did some phone book testing on my blog www.anathema-incarnate.blogspot.com

Short answer: from my testing, 55 grain doesn't fragment (big surprise, right?)

70+ grain bullets do.

I have pictures of rounds fired at roughly 25M

http://anathema-incarnate.blogspot.com/2005_06_01_anathema-incarnate_archive.html

bigcraig,

I can't believe I didn't see this until now.

Thanks for the link to your experiment.  Well done.  

Have you done any more tests since this one?  At different distances, ammo, etc?

Take care,
Rk

No, I haven't really tested anything else, this answered the main question for me, as far as fragmentation. The only other concern I have is penetration depth. I might have to do another test comparing the two.

Milk Jugs anyone?

Sounds good.  

So, phone books give a rough approximation of expansion and water-filled jugs approximate penetration?

Tag

I didn't really pick phone books over jugs to test one thing or another. I just had more phone books laying around...

I see.  I guess I read to far into that one.
Anyway, let us know if you ever get the chance to do more tests.

Thanks again,
Rk