BACKYARD SCIENCE--
in .380 caliber

On November 13th we told you about our new pistol; a Sig P238.

Recently we added a new recoil spring and the backwoods science continues as we try to achieve 100 per cent reliability with this attractive little handgun.

Earlier we were experiencing serious damage to the spent casings of fired bullets. It is beginning to appear the new spring may have solved that problem but it will require several hundred more flawless rounds before I am confident this gun can be depended on.

Along the way I became curious about the energy of this little bullet and in our earlier story we discussed what it did to jugs full of water. Remember, it penetrated a 6” jug, penetrated the second jug full of water and hit the back of the inside of the second jug with sufficient force to bulge, but not break, that jug’s back skin.

Recently we tested our self defense loads of Speer, 90 grain, Gold Dot hollow points against a ½ gallon milk jug full of frozen water.

In the photo at right you can see the result of the .380 caliber bullet hitting our test jug at a range of 25 feet. The force of impact split the jug vertically but the bullet did not exit the back of the jug.

Then, we performed surgery on the jug in the kitchen sink. (Our outdoor laboratory was 25 degrees on the day of the test.)

The ice surrounding the entry hole was pulverized; almost like fine powder. The rest of the ice surrounding the bullet’s path was like shattered crystals.

The pulverized (white colored) and shattered ice are visible in both close up photos and we found the spent bullet 3 ¼ inches into the 4” thick jug.

In the lower photo you see the spent bullet, fully mushroomed with only one petal of the mushroomed shape separated from the bullet’s mass. This usually is evidence of a very well engineered projectile.

Note also how the lead remained fused to the copper cladding of the spent round.

Concluding:  The hollow point round is simply an effective part of a team.

I carry a handgun purely as a tool. I refuse to be a defenseless victim.

The handgun is like the spare tire in my vehicle or the fire extinguishers in my home. You pray you never need them, but, if you do, you may be very glad the correct tool for the emergency was at hand and you knew how to use it.