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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. |
Videos
Here are several short videos documenting various parts of the process.
SETUP
The very first day of testing. Shows the basic process we followed in positioning the chronographs, setting up the shooting platform, and so forth. We would follow the same basic procedure each subsequent day of testing, including measuring out from the table with the shooting vise to the front of the first chrono. Because of weather concerns, we constructed a crude cover for the chronos using 2x2s and a clear plastic dropcloth. It is not very readable in the video, but the tent we used for protection is a "Remington" brand.
length - 3:28
THE FIRST SHOTS
This shows the very first shots, using the .380 barrel and ammo. From this you can see the entire procedure we followed for all 6,000+ rounds of ammo tested, and get some idea of how long it all took.
length - 2:51
IN THE RAIN
Jim D had to run back to town (about a half hour, each way) to get more batteries for the laser sight we added for the second course of tests. Steve continued to test ammo, while Jim K did the dressing on the chopped barrels. You can hear the rain hitting the tent. And it was cold. Ah, the glamour of it all!
length - 4:16
CHOP CHOP
Demonstrates the process for chopping the barrels on site. Particularly when we started getting down into the 6" range, it was necessary to use a length of hose and a piece of PVC pipe to stabilize the barrels for cutting. Each blade of the saw was good for about a dozen cuts, then had to be replaced.
length - 4:51
TESTING, TESTING...
What it looked like once we were 'in the groove'. Jim K is chopping, Jim D running the T/C, Steve (off camera) recording data and setting up the ammo. Note the sequence: three good shots of ammo (with data), then swab the barrel once with a Boresnake. Move on to the next type of ammo to be tested. Rinse, repeat. A cleaning rod was used to pop out the spent brass when necessary, and the laser sight allowed for speed in shooting. Well, when it worked right, it did. Spent brass went into a bucket located behind the shooter.
length - 4:11
STEVE'S LONG RUN
On the afternoon of the final day of testing, the mounts for the rail holding the laser sight failed. Completely. We had grown completely dependent on the sight by this point, and five days into this final course of tests, none of us were feeling particularly ready to try sighting with just the stub barrel mounted into the housing on the T/C. Particularly with the big calibers, which were developing quite a bit of kick with the short barrel lengths (and which had prompted us to set up the box around the shooting vise which you can see, to control the force of the shock wave coming off the gun). Jim K tried, with minimal success. Jim D tried, did even worse. But Steve was able to make it happen. So he got stuck shooting the final several hundred rounds of ammo, all in one long run, pushing to get it done. It was amazing.
Also, note two things evident in this clip: the 'confetti' flying around, which is actually parts of the cardboard facing stripping away due to the shock wave; and the bounce-back of bullet parts hitting the tent from the target. This wasn't actual ricochets, but rather bits of previous bullets embedded in the stump we were shooting into flying back when hit by the new bullet. It got so bad that we were very happy to have the tent there providing some basic protection, even though some such fragments managed to come straight back into the tent and strike us.
length - 9:56
PARTING SHOTS
The final three shots from Steve's Long Run, followed by some calibration shots with the Python. We were having some trouble with getting the chronos to read consistently, since it was late in the day and the light angle was throwing off the sensors. Because of this, Jim D had to repeat a couple of the benchmark rounds, and managed to bounce one shot off of the armor plate placed in front of the chronographs for protection (happens at the 2:03 mark). What can I say - we were tired, but wanted to finish off the testing.
length - 3:16
MEDLEY FROM 2009 TESTS
Here's a clip I've come up with from the second sequence of tests. Since very little new can be seen from the routine chop tests, they make up a small part of this clip. Rather, what's there is testing a bunch of "real world" guns (including a nice sequence where Keith, our new team member, is working to get a Korth 9mm - one of the most expensive production handguns in the world - working properly) as well as a bit of relaxed shooting of some of Steve's black-powder rifles. All fun stuff � hope you enjoy!
length - 7:07