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Cartridge Velocity Test


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For no reason other than I was gifted a chrono we fired a pile of cartridges over it just to see the results! Hope it make interesting reading!

 

The chrono was 1m from the muzzle, all shot in 12g were fired through a benelli with 1/4 comp-n-choke.

 

Cartridge Velocity Test

 

Light Game Cartridges


1430fps Cheddite Free Shots 30g


1378fps Rio Game 30g


1300fps Gamebore Velocity 29g

1285fps Mirage T2 Game 28g

 

Medium Game Cartridges 32g no5


1437fps Clever/Mirage Xpert Game

1409fps Rio Royal


1404fps Fiocchi Golden Pheasant


1336fps RC Sipe


1330fps Gamebore Black Gold


1309fps Viri/FOB


1306fps Rottweil Tiger

1288fps Gamebore Pure Gold


1287fps Lyalvale Supreme Game


1284fps Eley VIP


1277fps Hull High Pheasant Extreme


1225fps Hull High Pheasant

 

Heavy Game Cartridges


1387fps Mirage HV 36g

1349fps Rottweil Waidmannshiel 36g

1327fps RC JK6 T5 36g

1309fps Cheddite Percorso 36g


1291fps Gamebore Pigeon Extreme 34g


 

Semi Magnum 2.75" Cartridges

1406fps Mirage Royal Winter 40g

1353fps Cheddite T5 42g

1351fps RC 40


1349fps Rio Mini Magnum 40g

1299fps Victory Mini Magnum 40g

1207fps Lyalvale Super Game 42g

1171fps Gamebore Buffalo 42g

 

Magnum 3" Cartridges

1322fps Cheddite Magnum 50g

1288fps RC 50


1252fps Mirage Magnum 50g

1238fps Hull Solway 50g

1226fps Fiocchi 50g

1184fps Gamebore Mammoth 50g

1181fps Lyalvale Max Game 50g

 

Super Magnum 3.5"

1321fps Gamebore Mammoth 62g

 

Steel Game 2.75"

1413fps RC Atomic Steel 32g

1399fps Mirage Steel 32g

1396fps Gamebore Super Steel 32g


1382fps Rio Blue Steel 32g

1372fps Bornaghi Steel 36g

1282fps Cheddite Steel 34g

 

Steel Game 3"

1373fps Eley Lightening Steel 36g

1336fps Gamebore Super Steel 36g

 

Steel Super Magnum 3.5"

1428fps Gamebore Mammoth Steel 42g

 

Clay Cartridge


1470fps Cheddite Mach 3 HV 24g

1383fps Kent Velocity 28g


1374fps Cheddite Universal Trap 24g

1361fps Cheddite Mach 3 Free Shots 28g

1359fps Cheddite Trap Oro 24g

1358fps Cheddite Drago Skeet T3 24g

1347fps Cheddite Smart Strike 28g

1342fps Cheddite Mach 3 28g

1320fps Rio Target 28g

1318fps Lyalvale Super Comp 28g


1268fps Lyalvale English Sporter

1254fps Mirage Supertarget 28g

1214fps Hull Comp X 28g

 

20g

1425fps Cheddite T1 24g Fibre Wad

1339fps Lyalvale Special Pigeon 21g

1322fps Fiocchi 30g

1280fps Fiocchi 3" Magnum

1273fps RC Semi Magnum 32g

1260fps RC JK6 T3 26g

1244fps Viri/FOB 30g

1224fps Gamebore Pure Gold 28g

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Just out of interest what barrel length was used ?

 

Must say bit of an eye opener on some manufacturers claims . For instance the black golds . Arnt they claimed to be 1500 fps ?

 

Yes im aware that they would have used a different set up . And would expect them to be a fare bit lower in a semi auto . However it does seem to fall short of what i would have expected . That said others performed much better than i would have thought .

 

Good of you to take the time and post your results

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One of the things that started this all was the fact we were stonewalling high pheasants with Royal Royal cartridges, Black Golds were good but not as good as the Royal. I then chronoed them just to see what the difference was, examined once fired wads and opened some up to see what was in them. The black gold have a B&P wad which is in allot of other cartridges, it doesn't seem to fracture evenly. The Viri/FOB catalogue shows picture of a shot column that has elongated due to this type of wad fracture. True to the Viri/FOB catalogue their wad fractures evenly as does the Royal (Fiocchi and Clever) The difference is probably negligible but I'd rather spend my hard earned on the technically best cartridge rather than one that has clever marketing!

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The cartridge manufacture measures velocity (and pressure) using a test barrel after normalising the temperature of the cartridge.

The test barrel has minimum internal bore diameter for the gauge that the gauge specification allows and maximum choke.

This combination ensures any cartridge tested will give maximum velocity and pressure and in theory these will never be achieved in a working gun due to manufacturing tolerance. Barrel length is also a standard length but interestingly the different lengths of a shotgun barrel have little effect on variation on velocity.

Then they or most measure the velocity at 2.5meters from the muzzle. A fiddle factor is then added to the 2.5mtr velocity to guesstimate the muzzle velocity.

 

So in practice you will not get the velocity stated on the box and it would be very difficult for the customer to claim the manufacture is breaking trading practice by overstating the velocity. When testing cartridges it is the standard deviation (sd) figure which is more significant as this show variation between each cartridge in a tested batch so reflects on overall consistency/quality.

 

None of which matters shot pattern always fails before velocity/energy so shoot whatever gives you confidence to win and don't let marketing rubbish distract you.

Edited by rbrowning2
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The cartridge manufacture measures velocity (and pressure) using a test barrel after normalising the temperature of the cartridge.

The test barrel has minimum internal bore diameter for the gauge that the gauge specification allows and maximum choke.

This combination ensures any cartridge tested will give maximum velocity and pressure and in theory these will never be achieved in a working gun due to manufacturing tolerance. Barrel length is also a standard length but interestingly the different lengths of a shotgun barrel have little effect on variation on velocity.

Then they or most measure the velocity at 2.5meters from the muzzle. A fiddle factor is then added to the 2.5mtr velocity to guesstimate the muzzle velocity.

 

So in practice you will not get the velocity stated on the box and it would be very difficult for the customer to claim the manufacture is breaking trading practice by overstating the velocity. When testing cartridges it is the standard deviation (sd) figure which is more significant as this show variation between each cartridge in a tested batch so reflects on overall consistency/quality.

 

None of which matters shot pattern always fails before velocity/energy so shoot whatever gives you confidence to win and don't let marketing rubbish distract you.

I know how they test them i have sent loads to proof house but when i put some of mine over a mates chrono i get a speed around the same as the proof house and with johnny putting his over the chrono at 1m not the 2.5m that they do on a test gun you would think that the speeds would be closer not over 200fps slower as in the black gold"s case the FIDDLE factor if i remember right is around 75fps worked back from 2.5m to muz (am sure one of the gods of reloading will come on and tell us the figure) :good:

But it dose make good reading the tests that johnny did and good on him for taking the time to do it :good:

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I think if you test them in a usable everyday gun rather than a test barrel you will get a true reading of what we achieve when shooting them.

 

If you want to test at 2.5 meters but don't want to blast your chrono to bits shield it with a bit of thick ply with a hole cut for the shot and wad to pass through inline with the device arms.

 

After looking at the results I know which carts I'd go for.

 

Figgy

Edited by figgy
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after installing a very expensive ballistic test lab for both speed and pressure provided by sabre ballistics and used by the proof house my instructions are from the end of the mussle of the test gun which is bolted down so nothing can move measure 2.5 meters to the centre of the 2 frames witch r 2 feet apart and shoot 10 of the made cartridges the magic computer then coughs out the rest based on averages then times by 3.3 to turn to feet then add a 100 feet no arguments please that's the way I have been told to do it when it was installed by their men when purchased end of story

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after installing a very expensive ballistic test lab for both speed and pressure provided by sabre ballistics and used by the proof house my instructions are from the end of the mussle of the test gun which is bolted down so nothing can move measure 2.5 meters to the centre of the 2 frames witch r 2 feet apart and shoot 10 of the made cartridges the magic computer then coughs out the rest based on averages then times by 3.3 to turn to feet then add a 100 feet no arguments please that's the way I have been told to do it when it was installed by their men when purchased end of story

 

I fully accept that is meant to be their preferred way but why add 100 fps ? You'd think we have enough technology today to be able to measure the actual velocity of shells at 2.5 meters from the muzzle ! I have to agree with Sitsinhedges, those figures just look too high generally.

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I agree with George 100% (or thereabouts) :lol:

 

amateur chronograph will need to be between 2 and 2.5 mt from the muzzle and you should add 50 Ft/s to the results.

 

However, you should always try few test shells with a cartridge you know the speed (best if you have a certificate to compare to)

 

Also, make sure the batch of powder has to be the same from shell to shell as this will dramatically change the score...

 

When putting the chrony at 2.5 mt i'd advise to protect the screen with a piece of plexiglas (5mm thick) to ensure random pellets don't hit it!

 

George, don't you have a proper manometric barrell in your lab?? i thought you would (or must) have for your business!

 

Are you proofing shells for private clients?

 

Thanks,

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I fully accept that is meant to be their preferred way but why add 100 fps ? You'd think we have enough technology today to be able to measure the actual velocity of shells at 2.5 meters from the muzzle ! I have to agree with Sitsinhedges, those figures just look too high generally.

 

Unless you have a manometric barrell or send your shells to the proofing house, there is no way you can determine the exact speed of a shell, especially with cheap chrony (I have a oheler 35, which is one of the best) and still get approx measurement.

 

This is because the chrony measures the shadow and not the front going through the sensors, so, it is affected mainly by light, position (compared to the source of light) and whether more or less pellets separate from the wad.

 

So, unless you have a £20K manometric barrell .... you haveto adjust to still obtain an approximate measure...

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Unless you have a manometric barrell or send your shells to the proofing house, there is no way you can determine the exact speed of a shell, especially with cheap chrony (I have a oheler 35, which is one of the best) and still get approx measurement.

 

This is because the chrony measures the shadow and not the front going through the sensors, so, it is affected mainly by light, position (compared to the source of light) and whether more or less pellets separate from the wad.

 

So, unless you have a £20K manometric barrell .... you haveto adjust to still obtain an approximate measure...

 

I accept that, £120 worth of chrono is simply not going to be up to the job of measuring shell speeds although they are plenty good enough for air gun or rifle applications, what I meant is that it's high time manufacturers started having each and every brands/type of shells speeds professionally measured and stamped on the boxes. They don't and never will because they have free reign in misleading us with nice round figures such as 1500 fps.

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