yotehunter - 8/24/2006 11:59 AM
Well its really cheap...go to your local wal-mart or grochery store,and pick up some knox gelatin,im not sure the directions to use it but people have told me its cheap and the next best thing to real flesh,it turns out just like the ballistic gel that is expensive,the law enforcment is said to use this stuff for testing....
Hate to bust your bubble, Yote, but I've used the real deal many times. I used it in advanced weapons training when I was in law enforcement. It isn't the same as the stuff you buy in Wal-Mart. Thanks for trying to help out, but I am looking for the real thing.
The "real thing," by the way, is Kind and Knox Pharmagel # 250-A, and in spite of what you read on the Internet, it is NOT the same stuff sold in the little Knox Unflavored Gelatin boxes at Wal-Mart.
FBI now uses Vyse 10% Ballistic Gelatin instead of Knox Pharmagel #250-A. These along with a synthetic product called Perma Gel are the only three products of the type considered standard in the U.S. criminal justice system, and are about the only three that you are likely to be able to use in court as evidence.
Knox Pharmagel #250-A is sold in 55 gallon drums. The last one I bought for the PD was about $350.00 or so, if I recall correctly. That was in 1992. A lot of outfits that used to use this stuff have switched to the Vyse product because it is roughly half the price. Perma-Gel, which wasn't around back when I was using this stuff, is even better because it can be re-used over and over again.
Anyhow, here's the recipe we used, in case you're interested.........
2 pounds of Knox Pharmagel #250-A powder
18 pounds (by weight) of 140 degree F distilled water
2.5 ml of Foam Eater (Used in commercial food prep, I think)
.5 ml oil of cinnamon (to prevent fungus growth)
You mix the stuff with a big paddle chucked into a electric drill motor.
You start with the liquid, running it to a whirlpool without introducing air into the mixture, as in stirring too fast, and you add in the gelatin powder as you go.
When you get it all mixed up, you pour it into a clean mould.
It stands at room temperature for 4 hours.
Then it goes in the fridge for 36 hours at exactly 39.2 degrees F.
Accepted practice in law enforcement is to use the stuff within 20 minutes of removal from the fridge.
The above yields a 20 pound block.
You typcially use a 6.25 x 6.25 X 16 primary block to test handgun ammo for a maximum fo five shots, with four shots about 1.75" from the corners of the block and the fifth in the center.
Before testing firearms, the ballistic gelatin blocks are calibrated in a very interesting way.
You shoot a bb into the block at 590-600 ft/s (we used a Daisy 880) from a distance of 3 feet and if the bb penetrates the block 2.95" to 3.74", your block is considered calibrated by FBI standards.
There are specific rules you have to follow to make, store, handle, and use these blocks in law enforcement if the point of the blocks is collection of evidence. Basically, everybody follows the FBI proceedure.
Anyhow, the above is just for giggles. I though y'all might get a kick out of a Daisy 880 being used to "calibrate" a test media for court admission.
And Yote, once again, Kind and Knox Pharmagel #250-A isn't the same stuff as the unflavored Knox "jello" sold in Wal-Mart. As you might have gathered, from the "250-A" of the name, there are different grades of Pharmagel, too.
The one that comes closest to flesh in the end result is #250-A. The other stuff isn't the same.
That doesn't mean, however, that shooting pellets into "Jello" isn't a lot of fun.
Happy Pellet Testing
-JP
http://www.uplandhunter.net
