The 'Wet Phone Book Shoot' question.......

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

So I wanna do this. Actually, wet magazines.

I've see others do it....and I wanna see mt .45acp's, 9mm's, .357mag's, etc... all shroomed out.


But why does it always seem that folks use WET phone books? How differently will the bullet perform if the phone books were dry??

I want to secure a SHITLOAD of old magazines together, fire into them, and recover the rounds.

Do I really need to soak them?


Thanks!

[c.sander]

old dry paper is really brittle, doesnt take a bullet to break it to pieces. the water acts like a glue holding them together and also gives new rigidity to the paper as it absorbs the water

[JoeWilliams]

Yes, you gotta soak 'em. In fact, folks tend to soak overnight. Gotta be good and wet all the way through.

Doesn't prove much (anything?) about bullet performance, but it is cool to look at the recovered bullets.

[CrazyWhiteGuy]

soooo...you soak the phone book overnight, go out to the range and shoot a couple rounds at the front of it? Sounds like fun!

[gnbrotz]

Do I really need to soak them?

Nope. I used a stack of dry newspaper ~10" thick. I also fired into sand and water. Pics here.

[BenningBoy]

I've done it with dry ones. Some didn't expand, some actually fragmented(and weren't supposed to), some mashed into weird shapes. I didn't know they were supposed to be wet.

[Dredly]

I've heard shooting into water at the correct angle works very well also, ie a tub or 50 gal drum.

I've never tried it though

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

Thanks Guys!

I'll wet 'em.

[MARDET]

I've been doing "Wet Packs" for years. It's a great way to see how your ammo performs and it's just plain fun.
Two thick phone books or a similiar type catalog. Stack them with the spines alternating and tape them with double rows of clear packing tape...not reinforced just plain. Two rows and then two more at 90 degrees. Get a tub at your local hardware store. I use horse watering ones. Fill it up and put your packs in. I do two at a time. Wait till they sink...that means the paper is all saturated, then pull them out and have at it.
They will expand to almost double size but the tape keeps it all tight. I get 4shots per pack. 2 shots plain and 2 shots thru heavy denim is what I do Take a wire and measure the depth then cut the tape and flip thru like a book checking out the path and the round. I've got maybe 20 or so test from 9mm, 10mm and 45ACP.

[Chilly16]

This sounds cool. Post some pics if you get a chance.