BBTI - Ballistics by the Inch

ATTENTION: Effective Sept 1, 2020, the BBTI Project is in "Archive Status." No further tests will be conducted, but we will maintain this site and data for the use of the firearms community. Thank you.

Documentation

We have always wanted to be completely open and transparent about what we did, how we did it, and what the results are. Ideally, anyone who wishes to repeat our tests to check our data could do so, following our procedures, or at least understand how and why we got the results we did. To that end, we tried to document everything thoroughly.

Photos - A Flickr set where you will find photos from some of the different test sequences.
Videos - Clips via YouTube. These are admittedly selections from the many hours of video we've shot, but representative.
Raw Data - all the data straight off the recording sheets, either in PDF format or in Excel format (.xls). For the different test sequences we have done. All of the files include all of the calibers tested at that time in one file (on separate pages).
Emails - This is a .pdf file more than 100 pages long, chronologically arranged from the first basic idea about what such ballistics data is available, to the decision to conduct the tests ourselves, to figuring out exactly how to do so, to discussions about doing so, to working through all the issues about how to set up the website and present the results. Most of it is pretty boring, but some folks might enjoy seeing how the whole thing unfolded from start to finish.
Blogging - no, not the ongoing blog discussions since this site was launched; rather, a link to blog posts related to the project as we were setting it up and doing it.

Now available!
the next novel
by BBTI's
Jim Downey

Other Resources

BBTI is not the end-all of ballistics testing, just one more component available for the common good. In addition to extensive discussion about ballistics to be found at many gun forums, here are some other great resources pertaining to ballistics testing you should check out. (And if you would like to recommend a site to list here, please send an email.)

BrassFetcher: excellent resource, with an emphasis on bullet performance in ballistic gelatin
The Box O' Truth: testing ammo penetration through various barriers
Terminal Ballistics Research: Specializes in the research of cartridge & projectile performance, using hard data gathered from 20 years of hunting game.

Acknowledgements

We'd like to personally and specifically thank Pat Childs at Fin & Feather in Iowa City, as he not only helped get most of our ammunition and other supplies, he was the brilliant gunsmith who worked with us to make this insane project much more practical. Without his help all of this would have been much more difficult and perhaps impossible. Anyone who uses our data owes him a debt of gratitude.

And thanks to our spouses, who were not just tolerant but enthusiastically supportive of this rather nutty project.

Disclaimer

This project, and all of its results, is only our fault. We (well, Jim K, mostly) paid for everything ourselves, and we did not receive any kind of sponsorship or remuneration from anyone. We did all the work. We used products we were either familiar with, or because they were what was available, and mentioning them by name does not constitute an endorsement of any kind. Furthermore, the data is provided purely for entertainment purposes - to better facilitate arguments over what ammo or caliber or gun is "best." How you use the data is entirely up to you. And if you think you could do better, feel free to spend the money and do the work and publish your own results. Or not. Your choice.