Water Jug Testing

What is the preferred jug? Milk jugs or Antifreeze style? I've seen both in pics and wasn't sure what the consensus is. Certainly makes a difference on quoting how many jugs were penetrated.

Maybe any jug and start quoting inches of water jugs penetrated.

I use milk jugs stacked tight against each other in a wooden chute, with the handles all turned the same, either to the right or left side. That way as long as the bullet is kept on the lower half it has to travel the full distance through the jug and doesn't come out the handle indent of 1 jug before entering the next, which would shorten the distance it had to travel in water.

I don't suppose what jug you use would make much difference as long as like you say, you figure in the total distance traveled to compare. Antifreeze jugs set up with the widest part facing you, would not be near as thick per jug.

ShadeTree does it the same way I do, though I don't use a chute to keep the jugs lined up.

I used the jugs because we go through milk, so there's a ready supply.

The milk jug test can be duplicated by anybody. Ol' Scotty can set up jugs in Virginia and his test is comparable with mine out in Washington State.

Cleanup is a breeze. Pick up the plastic jugs & parts. The water goes away by itself.

I don't think the water jugs are the ultimate bullet test material, but they have some advantages. Other test materials have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Regards, Guy

I started using wet phone books back in the mid 80's and it worked well but switched to gallon milk jugs in the late 90's. As Guy mentioned, we drank a lot of milk and the clean up was a snap. I put them on a 2x6 with the handles on the back side. The jugs are tight up against each other.
Sometimes I lean a board on a 45* on the last jug just in case I get a stray.
Good luck and have fun!

JD338

Where the heck does a person even find a phone book these days?

I have a ton of milk jugs, so I am set.

Guy Miner":3rcwsg46 said:

ShadeTree does it the same way I do, though I don't use a chute to keep the jugs lined up.

I used the jugs because we go through milk, so there's a ready supply.

The milk jug test can be duplicated by anybody. Ol' Scotty can set up jugs in Virginia and his test is comparable with mine out in Washington State.

Cleanup is a breeze. Pick up the plastic jugs & parts. The water goes away by itself.

I don't think the water jugs are the ultimate bullet test material, but they have some advantages. Other test materials have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Regards, Guy

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What Guy and Shade Tree do is how I do it. Milk jugs or water jugs are the same size and dimensions or very close. It's a lot of fun. I've shot into the jugs at 25-100-200-300-400- & 500 yards. At most distances I will put jugs beside the center shooter jug and line them up so they are all touching tight. That way if one strays out the side it will be caught. It's not as tough as you would think to hit and keep the bullets in jugs at 400 and 500 yards, plus it's excellent practice!

What I do is wait for Scotty to post his results. Works for me.

I think Scotty stops at the local dollar store and cleans them out of bottled distilled water since it's the cheapest you can buy. I accused him of hogging all the distilled water since I couldn't find any for my Cpap machine one time o)

The coffee stands have dozens of empty milk jugs that they are usually happy to donate.

gbflyer":24yelsjq said:

Where the heck does a person even find a phone book these days?

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:lol: :lol: To true. Years ago I used to get Mpls phone books from where I worked. A 12 ga. slug would hit them and you could tell the direction of the twist buy the slight spiral direction the pages would tear. Never messed with wet phone books they get heavy in a hurry and are just a PITA.

I quit using phone books when I forgot to tie the pages together once. When the slug hit a little high and right, it tore the upper right corner out of the phone book. With nothing to hold the corner together, several hundred, pieces of that phone book were scarttered about the range :shock: :roll: :evil: . Needless to say, I wasn't popular with the other guys shooting. We spent an hour or two chasing paper in the breeze. .

You want to see interesting, hang a gallon bleach jug full of water from a rubber tie down, hanging against the target board and hit that wth a 12 Ga Federal Premium Barnes expander. :shock: :wink: That plastic tears, rather than breaks....

I suspect that I am the reason the club now mandates "paper targets ONLY". Suggesting that the phone book WAS a paper target just didn't go over.... no sense of humor.... :lol: CL

Dr Mike,

When’s milk jug test season for you?

August 7th?

Just chuckling thinking about hitting frozen jugs.


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mjcmichigan":2lbag6co said:

Dr Mike,

When’s milk jug test season for you?

August 7th?

Just chuckling thinking about hitting frozen jugs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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It's whenever I can get Scotty to shoot! :mrgreen:


So long as we hurry, we can shoot even in early winter or late spring. Of course, summer and fall normally permit testing.

I would have been able to shoot up until a week ago (mid 40s)...now we're down in the low teens.

One more follow up...Has a standard distance been agreed upon?

gbflyer":1ec6huzh said:

Where the heck does a person even find a phone book these days?

Click to expand...

Nowadays, just stack a few computer-screens ;-)

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5shot":1ibgw1m4 said:

One more follow up...Has a standard distance been agreed upon?

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I don't think so.

I do most of my handgun tests at about 10 yards.

And most of my rifle tests at 20 - 25 yards.

Part of that is because I did most of my testing at range that was mostly used for pistol training, so it was hard to get long range there. Those two distances just worked out well where I was shooting.

Yes, it's smart to be a good 10 yards back from the water filled milk jugs when hitting 'em with a 44 magnum hollow point! :grin: Fellow can get pretty danged wet!

Guy

The concept is dependent upon terminal velocity (impact velocity). The projected velocity determines the distance. However, most people choose a distance that is convenient to measure and reproduce. However, data is dependent upon terminal velocity if reproducible results are to be obtained.

I test up close and personal at 20-25 ft. I've shot deer at 8-10 steps already and want to stress the bullet as much as possible when testing. And am doing the majority of my testing with whitetail in mind.

There are some outlying factors that would change some bullets, but it gives you a pretty good idea of average performance. A bullet disintegrating inside 1 or 2 jugs up close, I wouldn't trust on a shoulder at 70 yds.

If it makes it into say the 3rd or 4th jug at 20 ft and isn't in bits and pieces, it's likely to maintain all that penetration and bullet integrity, and then some as distance increases and speed decreases, within reason. For whitetail IMO a bullet that will readily shed weight ending up at 3 jugs or so but not destroy itself on a close jug test, will prove effective and reliable at the ranges I hunt.

My way of testing and thoughts for the primary game I hunt with the average woods shot inside of 100 yds.

I read where some guys handload them to reduced velocity at 50yds or so to reproduce, say, what the speed would be at 500yds. To me, that is not a very good representation as there is no way to also reproduce the 'revolutions" of the spinning bullet started at 3000fps with a 2300fps load. At least I don't think there is, am I wrong? ( Believe it or not, I "have" been wrong about some things before! )