Every once in a while I try and find a new test medium for assessing pellets.... Over the years I've tried, wood, phonebooks, paraffin wax (all too hard), water, plumbers putty, playdoh, and ballistics gel (IMO all too soft and/or temperature sensitive), and I recently tried a bar of clear soap, which showed promise, so I ordered some melt-and-pour soap online, and after a few initial test shots, cast it into some bricks for pellet testing.... I cast the bricks in 8 x 8 square Pyrex dishes, about 1.5" thick, and using my Grouse gun, shot into the edge of the bricks.... This gun shoots at 20 FPE quite consistently over 16 shots, with lighter pellets achieving about 19 FPE and heavy ones about 21 FPE, which is typical for a PCP.... Here are the results, and some observations....

Top row right to left:
Gamo Match Wadcutter 13.7 gr.
Gamo Hunter Domed 15.1 gr.
Gamo Magnum Pointed 15.1 gr.
Gamo Roundball 15.1 gr.
Gamo Master Point 16.4 gr.
Gamo TS-22 Rounded Point 21.6 gr.
Hatsan Domed 14.3 gr.
Predator Big Boy Pointed 26.0 gr.
The wadcutter shortened and expanded slightly, and had the least penetration.... The roundball left a very narrow wound channel, as did the TS-22 which penetrated deeply....



Bottom row, left to right:
RWS Hobby 11.9 gr. Wadcutter
RWS MeisterKugeln 14.0 gr. Wadcutter
RWS Super Hollow Point 14.3 gr.
RWS Super Dome 14.3 gr.
RWS Super Point 14.3 gr.
Crosman Wadcutter 14.3 gr.
Crosman Premier 14.3 gr.
Crosman Premier Hollow Point 14.3 gr.
The wadcutters, in particular the Hobby, showed some shortening and expansion, with a slightly wider initial wound channel.... The RWS Hollow Point stripped off the nose ring, leaving the aft part to penetrate, and left a larger wound channel where the nose stripped off just after entry.... The Crosman Premier Hollowpoint acted basically like it was a roundnose....

Second photo, top row, right to left:
H&N FTT Round Wadcutter 15.7 gr.
H&N Crow Magnum Hollow Point 18.0 gr.
H&N Baracuda Rounded Point 21.0 gr.
H&N Baracuda Power Rounded Point, Plated, 20.7 gr.
H&N Baracuda Hunter Hollow Point 18.2 gr.
H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme Cross Point 19.1 gr.
EunJin Pointed 32.1 gr.
EunJin Domed 28.4 gr.
H&N Rabbit Magnun 24.8 gr. (underneath, see below)
The Crow Magnum, Hunter, and Hunter Extreme all mushroomed well and created large, shallow wound channels....



Bottom Row, left to right:
JSB Exact RS 13.4 gr.
JSB Exact Express 14.3 gr.
JSB Exact Jumbo 15.9 gr.
JSB Exact Heavy 18.1 gr.
JSB Exact Monster 25.4 gr.
JSB Straton Pointed 15.7 gr.
JSB Predator Polymag 16.2 gr.
(pellet escaped through side of block)
H&N Hollow Point 12.2 gr.
H&N FTT Round Nose 14.2 gr.
The JSB Pellets penetrated in order of their weight, as expected.... The Predator Polymag left the plastic tip behind and the front of the body folded back over the rest, leaving a wide wound channel.... The H&N Hollowpoint didn't expand, acting like a wadcutter....



This additional photo, from the other side of the second block, shows the EunJins and the Rabbit Magnum better.... The Rabbit Magnum (on the left)easily penetrated further than anything else, but left a very narrow wound channel.... It actually was quite a bit below the JSB RS pellet in the block, so they didn't affect each other....

Conclusions.... Generally speaking, from the same gun, heavier pellets of similar shape penetrate deeper.... There appears to be little difference in penetration between round nose (including the Crosman Premier HP) and pointed pellets of similar weight.... They all leave relatively narrow, tapered wound channels, and the pellet has little expansion or distortion in this medium.... Wadcutters (and the H&N 12.2 gr. Hollow Point) do not penetrate as far, and the initial part of the wound channel is larger in diameter, but again it is cone shaped, just wider and shallower.... The roundball and the bullet-shaped Rabbit Magnum left very long, narrow, nearly parallel-sided wound channels.... The H&N Crow Magnum expanded violently, leaving a short, wide wound channel, as did the two Baracuda Hunter Hollowpoints, the JSB Predator Polymag, and the RWS Hollowpoint.... All five of these hollowpoints left a bulge just after entry, where the expansion occurred....

I am extremely pleased with these results, not only because they seem to agree with our experiences of how pellets perform on game.... but also because of the clearly visible wound channel which is easy to photograph.... The shallowest penetration was the Crow Magnum at 39mm (1.5"), and the deepest was the Rabbit Magnum at 126 mm (5.0").... The series of five JSB Exacts started at 79 mm for the 13.4 gr. and went to 106 mm for the 25.4 gr. (3.1 - 4.2").... I think those are pretty realistic numbers for a 20 FPE gun, perhaps a bit low, but maybe pretty accurate for a combination of hide, muscle, and bone.... It's certainly in the ballpark, which means this medium is great for testing with....

Bob