If you run .32acp ammo...

[pudly]

Not my choice of rounds, but if you carry a .32acp for a primary or backup, you might want to check out this review of the Lehigh/Underwood "Xtreme Cavitator" round.

If you weren't aware, there is a new breed of solid rounds out in the last year or so that do damage comparable to hollow points. Unfortunately, .32acp hollow points don't expand reliably and don't provide sufficient penetration when they do expand. It looks like this round overcomes both of these problems, providing penetration closer to FMJs while creating a significant wound channel.

[video=youtube_share;Lf-IF1emoJI]http://youtu.be/Lf-IF1emoJI[/video]

 

[Leadeye]

Wonder how it works in 100 year old Colts and Savages. May have to pick up a box.

 

[pudly]

You can try, but I don't see any reason to use this new ammo except in a self-defense firearm. More expensive than the FMJs that I suspect you would use in those firearms for recreational purposes.

Nice collection.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Good penetration.

Temporary stretch cavity =/= wound channel.

 

[pudly]

OK. I'm open to a little edjukatin'. What's the difference?

 

[Mgderf]

Wonder how it works in 100 year old Colts and Savages. May have to pick up a box.

I have the same 1903 Pocket Hammerless Colt, and the same 1907 Savage, both in .32acp, but I like to baby those.
I would be willing to try this new stuff in my Bersa Thunder, or Kel-Tec.
Looks interesting to say the least.

 

[Mgderf]

OK. I'm open to a little edjukatin'. What's the difference?

Temporary wound cavity is some times magnified many, many times, being created by over-pressure.
The temporary cavity can cause devastating damage to organs and soft tissue.

Think of the concussion that happens when an M-80 is thrown into water, or a toilet.
The hydraulic pressure causes much more damage than the projectile alone.
Wound cavity usually refers the wound channel left after the over-pressure has diminished.

Watch some slow motion videos of shots into ballistic gel and the temporary cavity will be abundantly clear.

 

[pudly]

OK. Makes sense. Based on that, I'd say this .32 does pretty well on both temporary cavity and wound channel.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

OK. I'm open to a little edjukatin'. What's the difference?

Pinch your arm with all of your strength. Now pinch a piece of jello. Your arm gives and returns to it's original shape in ways the jello cannot.

Handgun bullets are the pinch. They effect ballistic gel in ways that are not replicated in living tissue, in that stress fractures and temporary stretch cavities do not "heal" in gel, where as living tissue moves out of the way and then goes back to where it was. The *sole* wounding mechanism of handgun bullets is permanent crush cavity.

Most center fire rifle cartridges, though, can overwhelm the limits that living tissue can stretch without injury. They can wound by both crush cavity and by stretch cavity.

A simple analogy is to consider a brake line. If it's 100% full of fluid, it works really well because brake fluid cannot be compressed. If the line is only 95% full of fluid, due to air bubbles, it does not work very well at all because the air bubbles can be compressed. If we test the functioning brake line, the results look much more impressive than we'll get from the brake line with air bubbles due to the tolerance for compression. Living tissue can be compressed without injury, within certain limits, and handgun bullets do not exceed those limits. Certainly not in .32.

The actual wound channel for these bullets will be whatever tissue they crush.

 

[Leadeye]

I've looked at using the Lee 311-100-2R in 32 ACP, it's the same bullet I load for 32 SW Long and 7.62X25 for the Broomhandles. I read some odd and end info on Cast Boolits where people have tried with mixed results.

 

[NKBJ]

Well, for .32 Auto I never used nothing but wheel weights with #313249 but I haven't been duck hunting for a few decades now.