7.62x39mm gel test: TulAmmo 124 gr soft point

[Andrew Wiggin]

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TulAmmo 124 gr soft point fired from 16" SAR-1 into calibrated 10% gelatin.

BB: 597.1 fps, 3.4"

Impact velocity: 2,526 fps
Penetration: 11.3"
Retained weight: 89.9 gr
Max expansion: 0.809"
Min expansion: 0.514"

[DocGKR]

Interesting. Would be nice if the Russian ammo manufacturers would stick with the same bullet or identify the bullet being used on the ammo boxes, since terminal performance is so variable. Would also be useful to shoot 5-10 shots of this to see if it is consistent.

[Andrew Wiggin]

Yeah, my tests are by no means scientific or definitive. It would be nice if there were some way to track which projectiles are being used. That's why I included the lot number.

[JHC]

Amazing short penetration! I would not have expected that!

[Jeep]

Interesting. Would be nice if the Russian ammo manufacturers would stick with the same bullet or identify the bullet being used on the ammo boxes, since terminal performance is so variable. Would also be useful to shoot 5-10 shots of this to see if it is consistent.

Doc: Here is an area about which I am very unsure. The penetration is on the short side but there seems to be a lot of initial damage. Based on your experience do you think that the damage is enough that the penetration might matter less?

[DocGKR]

One shot is not enough to make any assessments. At least 5 would be necessary if they were all consistent, 10 would be better and more would be needed if there was major deviations.

Not at all a joke question--what is a "Lot", as in lot number and not quantity, of ammo?

[Andrew Wiggin]

I honestly have no idea and I was hoping that people more knowledgeable than I could shed some light on the subject.

[Dropkick]

One shot is not enough to make any assessments.

I work with data professionally, so I would tend to agree that a sample size of one isn't going to prove very much. HOWEVER... If 11.3" penetration (or any other statistic) is unacceptable to any degree, it doesn't really matter how big the sample size is. But with ammo and firearms people have to play the probabilities... What % of my ammo with FTF, what are the chances my firearm be a lemon, etc...

[JHC]

One shot is not enough to make any assessments. At least 5 would be necessary if they were all consistent, 10 would be better and more would be needed if there was major deviations.

Not at all a joke question--what is a "Lot", as in lot number and not quantity, of ammo?

Basically a "lot" is product produced between time point A and time point B and probably distinguishes what production line it was produced on. Instead of points in time the start and end point of a lot could be based on volume. Every 5K rounds for example being designated with a unique lot.

[Chuck Haggard]

If this round performed the same way ten times in a row, I'd think it was probably a pretty decent defensive AK loading, especially considering that this test was at very short range and as the bullet slowed down one would see less expansion/fragmentation and more penetration.