Question for Shadow....

[daved]

Hey, Ed, if you were going to use some common building material to simulate skull bone, what would it be, and how thick would you make it?  I realize that different critters will vary, but for simplicities sake, lets assume a critter the size of a large ground hog.  And while you're at it, how wide would that skull be, and do you have any ideas for simulating brain tissue?  I assume my idea is obvious, I want to come up with a standard, repeatable testing rig for testing penetration, expansion, and wound channel of various pellets at varying ranges and velocities.  I think it might be info that would be useful to a lot of us.  And Jeff, if you or anyone else have any input here, please jump on in.  Thanks!

Dave

[shadow]

That's a thinker Dave, I've alway's used real skull's, extra's from my varment collection to test the damage from a pellet. We were playing with this idea awhile back and some came up with the idea of using jello for organ's etc. Fill the cavity with jello and cool in the fridge. Balistic jell would be great if one could get it and I alway's thought that soft organ's like liver would work for the brain tissue, the liver one can get in the meat department. Checkout your local meat dept. and see what comes to mind. As for bone I think wood might work but will check around myself and see what's out there. I have a G-hog skull on hand and I'll get a pic up for some idea's. Ed

[hiroller]

When I was a kid I used to order animal skulls and fossils and stuff from a mail-order science supply company.  I recall them having all sorts of skulls from small animals (squirrels, rats, birds, etc) and it was cheap enough for me to order on my own with saved up change.  I'm not sure if they had ground hog skulls but it's possible.  I searched around a bit but couldn't find it and can't remember the name of the company.  They were pretty big - like the mcmaster for science and lab stuff.  My biology teacher had the catalog.  I'm sure with some more searching and/or asking around you'll be able to find this or another company that has skulls for research and education.

[PryorDaniel]

Here's a site. Kind of expensive, but not too bad.

http://www.skullsunlimited.com/

Click on "Site Map" and scroll down until you see "Rodentia: All Rodents" Under that catagory you'll find squirrels.

[shadow]

This is one of my little trophies, gives you a idea of that nice big socket around the eye, the sweetspot area.Ed

[shadow]

of the fella, notice the missing section of bone at the lower socket of the eye. Predator pellet destroyed it.:) Ed

I trap furbearers and have a place to dispose of the carcases after processing, and there are always a few skulls around as well as bones. Mostly fox, coon , coyote, and beaver skulls and parts. I've used them for tests. One thing is though is that a dry old skull is not the same as a green one. Also hide also has an impact on pellet performance. Squirrel and woodchuck hide is very tough.  Years ago my brother and I would use the fresh pig heads and beef shoulder bones to test bullet deflection from dried vegetation , and to test penetration and cast bullet performence. Most small animals have very fragile skulls. A good subsitute would be heavy clay flower pots, with duct seal inside.

[shadow]

Green skull's will flex so to speak  more the dried skull's but bone only flexes so far and the skull bone  is perfect for a Predator pellet, I've put em through cattle skull's at 30+ yard's with a .177 and .22. Ed