Muzzleloader Bullet Ballistic Gel Test

[@TODinWY]

25 yards has it's porpose, but 100 yards would be much more telling. Good job,though.

[@groverstreet7128]

I agree, just about every ballistic gel video i see is 25ft or so. I’d like to see 100-200 yard test done on them.

[@codyperry6021]

This!! Test any and all bullets you can at 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200!!!

[@hotshotstuff8080]

Thanks for the video guys! If I may give a little constructive criticism?? First I would make a different block of ballistic jell for each round, with the damage being inflicted to the block from round one the others are inaccurate. They each deserve there own jell block. Second I would add the Thor 297 grain bullet to the test. And third I would try to add an additional block behind the first to catch the bullets instead of plywood. I believe the plywood is what caused the petals to break off of the last bullet when it bounced off of it. Additionally you could add a piece of wood or something to the front of the jell to represent bone matter to make the shots more real world. High speed camera on the jell would be nice too😉

[@johnmunyan1701]

Hi guys, love the content. I had a tough year last to fill my muzzleloader tags but fortunately towards the end of the season I managed to get a shot. I used the bore driver with 90 grains by weight of blackhorn 209. The shit was roughly 80 yards n dropped the deer in her tracks. Upon going over the shot events the bore driver shit through a 1 inch sapling tree, still managed to hit the deer behind the shoulder n lodged under the hide on the opposite side. The bullet performed excellent n had a perfect mushroom, I didn't weight the bullet after but it still seemed like it held together n roughly maintained half it weight. In my opinion it is definitely an awesome bullet for deer sized game. I am looking forward to this year's season n hoping to fill some tags with this bullet, I have great expectations.

[@elonmust7470]

Neat stuff. It's always cool to see you guys stompin around Eastern Oregon!

[@gregggibson3109]

Thanks guys for suffering through the heat to bring us this information…interesting and useful!

[@boomerrangerron]

What a great job on this video review guys! From what I've learned from other KZbin creators like Robert Arrington of DeerMeatForDinner, the ELR is really a long-distance bullet. I think a 100-yard test in the ballistics gel might prove him correct. I killed a deer this year using the Hornady Bore Driver, and although I was just a bit off on my shot placement and had a long tracking job, towards the end there was much blood loss and the bullet worked just fine. Muzzleloader season is my favorite, but I also hunt in a shotgun-only (for deer) state, so I'm in the process of creating some new 20 GA slugs using muzzleloader bullets in sabots for next season to shoot out of my SAVAGE M220. I'm definitely going to load up some with the THOR bullet! Thanks for sharing these results!

[@jowhi9296]

Good video guys! Sounds like the one to two inch span from entering to opening is perfect for many animals before getting to vitals!! I want to try the ELR in 270 grain

[@NebraskaPharmer]

I did the same thing at 100 and 200 with just the bore driver and ELR. The bore driver has much better performance at the longer range. Let’s face it at 25yds you can shoot solid lead conical. You guys did a great job. I also did some older power belts on a different day. I think I will stay with the hornady the accuracy was just too good to give up. Another way to do the test and stay close to the target is to step down to a 100gn powder charge.

[@hphillips7425]

Interesting. Look forward to seeing more test. I have always wondered how the big conicals would perform

[@springbloom5940]

I am always amazed at the crudeness of test medium, for such apparently adequate budget productions. Its not difficult, Ive made my own calibrated blocks; I just don't have the budget to.

[@andys1115]

After dropping a bull elk at 150 yards with 297 gr Thor I wouldn't use anything else on a elk. Only lost a few grains of weight retention. Also very accurate

[@currituck]

Would you recalled them for whitetails and black bear as well? I will be using 2-50gr white hot pellets. Thank you.

[@currituck]

Recommend

[@andys1115]

Yes I would recommend them for bear and deer. They have great penetration. What I like about them I didn't need to use any bore butter.

[@currituck]

@@andys1115 Thank you!!

[@bluescatreimer]

I hit the subscribe button after watching this video. I have several muzzle loading revolvers but I have never had a muzzle loading rifle. I think that is about to change, especially with the Firestick powder charge system. So much faster and easier than loading with loose powder. Pretty impressive performance with the bullets and FPS as well.

[@brianfeeney9493]

Thank You 👍🏻. And as Always ….. SHOT - PLACEMENT is Number One !!!!!! 🇺🇸

[@mikemadsen7136]

Why not shoot the 300/297gr thor to be more comparable in weight to the other projectiles? It'd be interesting to see the performance variation between the two Thor variants, plastic tip vs hollow point (for us oregon folks). Great work keep it up!

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

Thank you for the kind words. I really like that idea! We plan to do more of these tests in the future so I will keep that in mind!

[@todhurley3756]

I have been waiting for a good video like this. Thanks so much.

[@markfair7648]

Great job guys keep it up. Want to see some side locks shooting.

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

Noted! We will plan a side lock shoot soon!

[@allenr6687]

Got to do sabots next.. Hornady monoflex ML should get a go very very underrated bullet

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

We plan to do more ballistic gel tests in the near future. We have received several requests to include some of the other Hornady bullets in our next test. We plan to include as many of these as possible.

[@waynemensen4252]

I have been running Barnes coppers for 30 yrs. in my rifles. They go through nearly 100% of the time. I use the caliber appropriate for the animal. The hydrodynamic energy turns the vitals into a bucket of slop. The initial blood trail is light, then spray painted out both sides. The nice thing is in the northern U.S. while deer hunting, if you shoot a coyotes, they save the pelt. I no longer find chips of bullets in the meat grinder or my food. Big plus.

[@MegaBoogedy]

I agree. A good bullet does not break apart. I would like to see the Barnes bullet performance which have excellent weight retention. The clear winner here was the Thor with the best weight retention by far.

[@shanefrericks2070]

I shoot a Knight rifle and the only Load shoot is 150g of Triple 7 with a 375 grain Barnes X purple. It is a sledgehammer. Especially on these big Northern whitetails, elk, Buffalo, and moose. One time I shot a doe standing on the road. I hiked in it was icy and snow-packed and full fledge blizzard going on. I was dressed in Predator camo. She come running out the field he had walked into from my Southeast and was making a drive on and she stopped in the middle of the road. I thought she was about 100 yards when she was closer to 175. l aimed middle of her front shoulder. The bullet struck low just nicked her above the leg joint carving out a perfectly half c shape on the front of her leg and it did not break her leg bone. But it did spin her around on the ice and she ran 35 yards though a gate that was open and stopped on a small Knoll and laid down and let out a moan. My buddy showed up he said he heard me shoot and I told him I thought I hit her but I don't know where because I didn't see no blood from where I was standing. We walk down the road over to the gate opening and she was laying on that mound Stone dead. We opened her up nothing but mush on the inside. The only thing I can think about that it was Hydra-Shok. That is the only deer that I've ever come close to missing with that particular load

[@shanefrericks2070]

It is a .52 Knight and I know there is no substitute for bore size. My buddy shoots a 50 he is scared to shoot my 52 because it's such a big bullet but it doesn't bother me

[@bobbyowen3882]

Thanks, only one suggestion, get a chair and table. A lot less stress than jumping in and out of a truck bed.

[@kurtbogle2973]

There's always room for Ballistic jello. I eat a small cup in the morning, and shoot my mouth off all day. Lol

[@congerthomas1812]

The gelatin is Awesome for our joints, makes juice and cartilage. Need 2 spoons a day until you get fixed then twice a week.

[@ILoveMuzzleloading]

Love it guys!! Great job!!

[@jdw329]

This year's 5 point bull went 20 feet. 4" entry wound. Went through one rib just behind the front leg center mass. 295 gn hornady boredriver ftx .150gn white hots. 50 cal shot him at 50 yds. A few tiny chunks impeded in rib cage on the other side. Other than that the bullet went poof. I would highly recommend this bullet except if I shot it in the front leg or shoulder it may have not done so well idk? Very accurate round also. I might be going back to barnes next year just for insurance of penatration

[@jowhi9296]

Hydraulic expansion is what happens inside, thus pulverizing organs to mush, that is also why it breaks the board underneath. If had slower motion you would see that get goes prob to size of a volley ball or bigger then back to regular size.

[@umami0247]

I may have missed it but what charge are you using. In my encore I use 100 grain pellets with Thompson shockwave 240 grain bullets and have never had a issue even out to 250 yards. I've never used a chronograph so I have know idea what the speed is but it certainly kills deer.Would like to see you go out further 100-200 yards to check how these perform.

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

We were using the 120 grain Federal FireSticks. We plan to do more ballistic gel testing in the future, including some long range testing.

[@scottrussell6717]

Love your company... fantastic service

[@russellkeeling4387]

I'd say to invest in a bench rest. I would like to see any one of these kind of tests done with a round ball as the base line.

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

We plan to conduct one of those tests in the near future.

[@jamesholt6032]

THANK YOU FOR PRONOUNCING THE BRAND HORNADY CORRECTLY INSTEAD OF "HORN UH DAY"

[@goober698]

I use the bore driver and have never had a pass through but they don’t go 50 yards

[@jowhi9296]

The Thor would prob be more flower showed farther away and not folder over as much. Beautiful round thou. Fed bor lok and Thor are very similar, wish could find bor lok in stock somewhere.

[@RickRath-q8c]

How much powder and type to get that high of velocity?

[@metroplexchl]

Which would you pick for black bear?

[@harrypeterson9287]

Based on how rapidly and violently the Hornady expanded, I'd expect the long range performance to still be good. Who knows what these different bullets might do at 125 yards. I suppose a half inch bullet never shrinks, but I'd prefer some expansion.

[@frankspataro9714]

Killed a real nice muley at 200 with regular powerbelt looked like you could of reloaded it and shot it again. At 25 yards they all better perform my shot went in last rib stuck just under the hide in middle of shoulder

[@joshuaeck2712]

Very awesome video!!!

[@davidhamlin1409]

Great Show guys! Keep it up.

[@davidvance7059]

Could y’all do one with a 370 grain lead maxi ball out of a Lyman mold I’m curious how much penetration it has

[@southernburns1]

Did you use a special jag to load the ballistic tip rounds?

[@ozark_trapper]

Good video!! I would like too see 100 gr test. What about doing one with the 250 gr sst.

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

Thanks for the idea! We plan to do more ballistic gel tests in the future and your suggestions are on the list.

[@jeffgabel]

Thanks for the compare! I've had issues with having the Hornady SST not passing through a deer, giving me almost no blood trail to follow. I'm trying Thor this year, hoping for more penetration. They're also more accurate, which is great. Maybe next time you can spring (or ask) for some Clear Ballistics gel blocks.

[@jeffhodgson588]

You will love the Thor bullet it's a Barnes bullet as you know I also had problems with the Hornady bullet some folks love them I'm not ever using them again I had almost lost a deer from there bad performance it was just a short time before the deer spoiled on a warm October day also the shot was perfect the bullet did not open up but it did exit

[@ssmith32183]

I have had the same problem with the tc shockwaves. Trying the Thor bullets after this season.

[@rickhutson9681]

I used to use the Hornady bullets for deer and after 2 deer that acted like they were stung by a bee without any expansion what so ever I stopped using any copper type bullets. I'm using a Thompson full caliber lead hp bullet for deer and not 1 have gone more than a few yards ! And I get total expansion and great penetration to kill them fast. My shot's are not more than 80-125 yard's here in Ohio.

[@jeffgabel]

Got a shot on a small buck at 70 yards with the Thor. He turned just as I squeezed the trigger and ended up with a gut shot. Thankfully, he went 15 yards and dropped. The Thor hit 6 inches behind his ribcage and went through 3 feet of intestines, lung and heart before coming to a stop inside his clavicle. Perfect expansion! My marksmanship not withstanding, I am very impressed with the Thors and will be using them for as long as I muzzleload (and can find Blackhorn...)

[@merhunts]

Test the 240 grain 45 caliber Lehigh Defense Extreme Penetrator in a sabot in a 50 cal as a muzzleloader bullet.

[@dennisharvey8435]

I’ll take the 80 percent weight retention with expansion every time. 50 percent or less really?

[@lorenray9479]

The hole dude! The hole! And the shock wave! Yup yup uhuh! Lol

[@Gokywildcats11]

Can't find any Hornady bore driver. Any connections were there is any. I would like to have some to try

[@taurushipointenthusiast1306]

Ok! first off awesome, pardon my ignorance to me it looked like BoreDriver and PowerBelt ELR looked like copper jacketed, the Thor looked like a copper round? or were my eyes deceptive?

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

That is correct! Thor bullets are 100% copper. Federal and Powerbelt will be copper jacketed, as you've suspected. Nobody makes a solid copper projectile except for Thor and potentially a few Barnes offerings. Everything else should be lead + copper.

[@taurushipointenthusiast1306]

@@MuzzleLoaderscom thanks

[@Clearanceman2]

I'd like to try Thor in my sidelock but they don't make .54 cal that I Can find.

[@charlessmith3869]

What the powder charge for the Hornady and the Thor I missed it I'm guessing

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

For all three of these shots, we were using the 120 grain Federal FireStick which uses Triple 8 powder.

[@charlessmith3869]

Well I've been wanting to shoot the bore lock and the Thor bullets. I've shot sst with 3 pellets and have been looking for a load data for these bullets with pellets or loose triple 7 powder

[@stevenladrig9592]

What any of those bullets be good for a new army 44 revolver

[@MrChamberlaindavidd]

No. These are all rifle bullets. Both way to long and wrong diameter to boot.

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

Unfortunately, these bullets would not work in a .44 caliber revolver. They are sized for .50 caliber muzzleloader rifles.

[@tomlubas1512]

What's the charge?

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

We were using the 120 grain Federal FireStick.

[@breakfree4177]

Is there any chance you shot a bore driver with 100 gr firestick? I’d love to know the muzzle velocity. I’m shooting the bore driver out of my nitrofire with the 1-28 twist barrel and the 100 gr firestick (great sub inch groups at 100 yds).

[@tray22]

Thor for the win. I wouldn't want to pick the grenade fragments out of my meat. I shot a deer with a norma bondstrike and it exploded. I am still biting into little sharp pieces of copper and lead from last year.

[@mainenorthwoodshunter3265]

Is the THOR bullet a sabot round?

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

Thor bullets do not employ a sabot. They are a 100% copper full bore conical.

[@caskervold1]

What size grain was the ELR please ?

[@Snailz5]

The better test for all these bullets is to shoot reduced loads and see expansion performance. Everything should absolutely perform at 25 yards on a magnum charge. What is much more informative is seeing at what point the bullet fails to expand or penetrate sufficiently because that lets a shooter know the effective range of their load if they have access to a chronograph. EX if a Thor bullet stops expanding or penetrating enough for a through and through below 1300 fps, then you can test your load and find the distance where the bullet will perform and adjust your scope (and expectations) accordingly.

[@michaelsmith296]

What powder are you shooting ?

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

We were using the 120 grain Federal FireStick.

[@DoMorewLess]

how much powder or pellets did you load with each?, i recently got a couple boxes of thors from you guys online i wana shoot a magnum load of 150gr (3) pellets

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

We were using 120 grain Federal FireSticks which is equivalent to 150 grains of standard powder.

[@eduffy4937]

I may have missed it but is this test performed with 100 or 150grain powder charges?

[@ericgranger1735]

120gr they said at beginning

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

We were using 120 grain Federal FireSticks for this test. This load is equivalent to a magnum charge of standard powder.

[@Paraaronoid]

2 dudes creating holes in flesh like material, I'm guessing you probably had to rock paper scissors who got to take it home and keep it.

[@josephbishop3231]

Wouldn't it make more sense to test these at 100yrds?

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

For our first ballistic gel test, we wanted to keep it simple. We do plan to do some 100 yard testing in the near future!

[@leeguffy]

Please try the hornady mono flex mz

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

Sounds good! I will add it to the list!

[@1pointcalvinist]

I liked the Thor. Deer and antelope.

[@1pointcalvinist]

I’m looking for a double lung shot without getting into liver and heart.

[@tommyj7087]

How scientific is Knox gelatin for this exercise? I appreciate ingenuity, but the "ballistics" gel that others use is a calibrated representation so your data compared to others is something that can be compared. I have never seen anyone shot homemade gel, so not sure how to take this.

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

It does not have the exact same density as standard ballistic gel, however, the recipe that we used gets it very close.

[@normankaster917]

So the question is does Hornady make a bullet that doesn't explode on impact.

[@fisherman_rue2403]

Yeah. I'm not a fan of shrapnel...

[@bigeclipse718]

I don't want lead shrapnel all inside the animal I intend to eat.

[@ryany4326]

Why not test at more realistic hunting ranges ?

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

We plan to do some 100 yard ballistic testing in the future, however with our current set up, it made more sense to stick with 25 yards.

[@danielcurtis1434]

Just to be clear this kitchen made ballistics gel is definitely remaining at exactly 65 degrees in the sun right?

[@bryangeorge9461]

Powerbullets may have changed since the early 2000's but from experience with one of their 290 grain bullets they are garbage.My brother shot a small bear with one and even though the bear died it was only fragments of the bullet that made it into the chest cavity. I will take my Hornady 300 grain XP mag. .452 pistol bullet over any bullet from Powerbelt. JMHO

[@petenoftsger8096]

Need High definition slow motion of impact.

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

We would like to get to that point in the future. Unfortunately, high-speed cameras of that quality are very resource intensive.

[@donjohnson9170]

Like to see at 100 yard. And 150 yard in the jell

[@jaredpeterson380]

Good stuff but most folks won't be shooting 2000 fps.

[@3Bluetick]

I know of only three deer shot with power belts. All escaped. On was shot later. It was discovered the power belt bullet penetrated 2". All three deer were shot at close range with full power loads. I would not recommend any type of power belt bullet because of this.

[@justicehopper7724]

Same.

[@rogerramjet7567]

Why aren’t you including the FEDERAL BORELOCK??? Probably the best projectile in existence. 👎👎

[@michaelwaldner1405]

Would like to see these tests done at 100 yards

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

We have had a few requests for that and we plan to conduct one of those tests soon!

[@michaelmarro4280]

Gel isnt a live animal. I shot bear with both the elr and the bore driver. The elr behind the shoulder. And the bore driver in the neck at around 50 yards. We lost both bears they took off and did not produce a bloode trail. The elr on a doe at 50 yards hit like a train in the top of the shoulder. But we found it broke up on contact with the bone. I would not recommend useing either of these or and all copper bullit. They just don't hold together. Both are junk in my opinion recommend

[@kylemacdonell1450]

What you are showing here are BOMBS.. NO THANKS !

[@loganjordan68]

Are you having a stroke????

[@austinsims100]

Test the Lehigh Defense Controlled Fracture or Controlled Chaos :)

[@MuzzleLoaderscom]

I have heard good things about those bullets but never tested with them. I will add them to the list.

[@kevinmartin2096]

Comparing copper jacketed bullet to a solid copper, bullet is funny, but thanks

[@russcunningham8034]

That's not a muzzleloader is a gadget hunter rifle if you have no skills add gadgetry!

[@donaldscearce5687]

Worst test ever