Ballistic Gelatin

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juniustaylor
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Ballistic Gelatin

Post by juniustaylor »

I'm thinking about making some and wondered if anyone on here has already done so and could point me in the right direction. I have watched several youtube videos on the subject and it can be easily and somewhat inexpensively made. You can use regular old gelatin like Knox or any other similar type. Of course this stuff won't be the stuff that law enforcement and other government agencies use that is calibrated, but it would just give an idea of what kind of wound channel would be made and would be neat to keep the expanded bullets. The real stuff melts at a high temperature as will the homemade stuff. It can be re-melted, poured back into the mold, chilled, and shot at again. So, it is nice that it is reusable so long as it doesn't start forming mold in it since it is a food-based product.

I was considering items that may work to prolong the life of it and keep mold off of it. Things like vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and other items can work for killing mold and possibly work like a preservative.

The last thing I saw that looked promising was a gelatin called Agar-Agar. It has been used for centuries in eastern parts of the world. You cook it at 88 degrees to get it to mix. It sets up in about an hour at room temperature, and will not melt in temperatures under 130 degrees. That sounds awesome to me considering that gelatin like the Knox brand has to chill for several hours and will melt in regular sunlight. You've got about 3 hours to work with it and contain it so you can recycle it and make it into another block.

So, just tossing out some ideas and seeing if anyone has already done this.

Thanks.
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old mike
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Re: Ballistic Gelatin

Post by old mike »

juniustaylor, I don't have any help to offer but would be very intrested to see your results. Please post your findings for us. Mike
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lklawson
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Re: Ballistic Gelatin

Post by lklawson »

Calibration is not inherent to the gel, but rather done at the range by firing a BB into it at (I forget what speed), measuring the depth, then doing some wiz-bangy calcs based on the depth of the BB and the depth of whatever shot you're measuring in the gel to ensure standardization.

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Re: Ballistic Gelatin

Post by Ketchman »

Agar-agar is the gelatin that is used for laboratory tests in petri dishes and that sort of thing to grow molds, spores etc. on. I have some experience with the stuff and it can be mixed up to a very credible denseness at about 8 parts gelatin to 1 part water. ut then again regular gelatin does as well at that density. but I think agar will actually give mold a food source so it will not impede mold growth. But, it is very stable at room temps for long periods of time.
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Re: Ballistic Gelatin

Post by juniustaylor »

Ketchman, that's kind of a bummer. From what I was reading, it would require less powder to make more amount of the gelatin substance. I am not too worried about calibrating it. Most of it is just for gee-wiz type stuff and to catch a couple bullets and see how they mushroom. I think it would be close enough for my purposes to get an idea of the penetration. I would think regular gelatin chilled would create more density as it will be a lot firmer than the agar-agar would probably be at room temperature.

Website I saw said you could mix agar-agar as 2 Tsp / 2 Cups of water. Regular beef gelatin is 1 oz / 1 Cup water. There would be about 6 tsp in 1 oz.

Old Mike, if/when I get to do this, I'll post up some results.
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Re: Ballistic Gelatin

Post by daven »

Since I did in another life practice as a microbiologist, can use 3% by weight Agar in water. Cook to roughly 80 degrees C in a disposable pan (a double boiler works very well, but do not use your wife's favorite set of saucepans). It will melt in and give a free flowing solution. Then pour into a suitable mould (loaf pan would do if one that can be cut). Allow to harden and then cut away the ends of the pan. Can shoot into the pan and then measure the distance. DaveN
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Re: Ballistic Gelatin

Post by juniustaylor »

Thanks for the info Dave, I appreciate it.
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Re: Ballistic Gelatin

Post by Ketchman »

hey juniustaylor, I wasn't trying to bring you down man, just letting you know what little I do know about the stuff. I can tell you that mixed 8 times normal ratio agar to water, and I think I failed to clarify that and thank you daven for doing that for me, it would be a very credible substitute for flesh as a wound demonstration medium. But, regular gelatin will also act the same at that mixing ratio, and it will not melt as quickly at room temps as 10% gelatin. I have not attempted this, for reasons I can't explain, but I have thought about it for a long time.
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Re: Ballistic Gelatin

Post by Buck13 »

Just to pick nits, while it does form gels, agar is NOT a gelatin. Chemically, they are completely different. Gelatins are proteins, agar is a complex carbohydrate, kinda like starch.

One reason agar is preferred for microbiology is that the gelling of agar is less picky than gelatin about pH, etc. You might be able to inhibit mold growth by adding some vinegar, or baking soda or ammonia to lower or raise the pH, respectively, but that would require some experimentation. An actual mold-inibiting chemical would be better, but I don't know what to suggest.

What is the typical price for ballistic gelatin? If you buy a kilogram of each from Sigma Chemicals (a little over $100 for a kg of gelatin stock nuimber G2500; a little over $200 for agar, stock numbers A7002 or A9799), if my calculations are correct, a gallon of 10% gelatin could be made for about $4, and a gallon of 3% agar for about $2.25. If you only wanted to buy 100 grams of the stuff at a time, the price is about 3 times higher!
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