• Staff Reviews RSS Feed

    Staff Reviews 

    Published on 10-14-2014 07:57 PM  Number of Views: 15148 
    Reviews written and created by Gunloads.com Staff

    We here at Gunloads.com began a new reviews section designed and written by only our staff. These reviews consist of factual non-bios articles of how we see the products. These reviews contain articles, pictures, and possibly a video of the tested product. If you have a product you would like tested and reviewed by our staff, please use the Contact Us link at the bottom or you can e-mail us direct at reviews@gunloads.com. As a company, you will also get FREE top page advertisement on our site for our specified time frame.

    Our movies are designed to work with either Quicktime or Windows Media Player. If you have any problems viewing the movies or have any questions or concerns about the reviews, please contact us at reviews@gunloads.com.

    We will test anything related to hunting, shooting, combat, tactical, and everything in between. Such as guns, ammo, scopes, weapon accessories, knives, night vision, targets, etc.



    Reviewer Product Website Rating Category
    Willy Snyder
    Coming Soon    		 Springfield Armory XD 45 ACP
    		 http://springfield-armory.com 9/10 Guns
    Willy Snyder
    July 24th, 2005    		 Prairie Dog
    		 http://www.ballistictec.com 8/10 Targets
    Willy Snyder
    July 19th, 2005    		 Sniper Training Cube
    		 http://www.ballistictec.com 8/10 Targets

    Sniper Training Cube From Ballistic Technologies 

    Published on 10-15-2014 08:21 AM  Number of Views: 16095 
    Web Site: http://www.ballistictec.com/
    Writer:Willy Snyder
    Date: July 19th, 2005

    Background

         The Sniper Training Cube is a 4" x 4" x 4" solid block of Ballistic Polymer manufactured by Ballistic Technologies.  It's said that they can take any caliber from a .17HMR to a .50BMG at point blank range. A rough estimate would say that it's about 3 pounds. It's also suppose to react violently and unpredictable after being hit giving you the effect of having to shoot it at different angles, different and changing yardages, and under different circumstances. We found this out after shooting it at 180 meters and it dipped down into a small pit where we overshot it. (As you will see in one of our videos) So without further ado, lets get started.


    Click to Enlarge

    Test Shot 1

         Our first shot we did was at 25 yards shooting a 300 Weatherby with a 180 Grain Sierra Round Nose bullet using 83 grains of R25. This shot right through it with a very small entrance wound of about 1/4 inch and even smaller exit wound with about 1/8 inch but was cracked. (As the pictures will show) The block jumped back about 5 yards after being struck, but took the bullet very well.

    Entrance


    Click to Enlarge

    Exit


    Click to Enlarge

    Video


     


    Test Shot 2

         Our second shot was using a Winchester .270 with a Nosler 130 Grain Ballistic Tip. This went right through the block just as the Weatherby did. The only difference was the size of the entrance and exit holes. The entrance hole was about 1/8 of an inch whereas the exit hole was about 1/4 of an inch. The cube got knocked back about 5 yards as well.

    Entrance


    Click to Enlarge

    Exit


    Click to Enlarge

    Video


     


    Test Shot 3

         Ok, time for a real test. For our test shot 3 we pulled out the 12 gauge and loaded up a 1oz Winchester Rifled HP slug. We setup the block about 20-25 feet away just in case we had any backlash, and to see if anything would come back for our later point blank test. After shooting, it finally came to a rest about 10 yards from where it was shot.  Surprisingly, nothing came back on us after plowing it dead center and even more surprising was the fact that all there was; was a 3/4 inch hole going in and nothing coming back out. It took this test very well.

    Entrance


    Click to Enlarge

    Exit

    No Exit

     

    Video


     


    Point Blank Test

         Ok, so we know it can take a 1oz slug at 20-25 feet away. Lets try another slug at about 4 feet away. (video shows this). Well we fired it off and it landed about 15 yards away again with no exit hole. Obviously these bullets had to mushroom out pretty good in there. We decided, since we were already setup to go, lets try another point blank shot with some 3 inch BB (Double B) shot. We fired this one off and it flew about 15 yards as well, but the entrance hole was found rather quickly. It blew close to a 1 1/4 inch hole going inside and speckled the outside with pellets. (See the Entrance picture below) We figured 1 shot of point blank BB shot was enough. It caused some good damage, and we have some reasoning to think it hit the two mushroomed slugs inside and cause some extensive internal damage (as later pictures show)

    Entrance


    Click to Enlarge

    Exit

    No Exit

     

    Video


     


    Reaction Close Range

         Ok, we saw what some various calibers can do to this guy, now lets test some reaction to this cube at about 30 yards shooting it multiple times. As you can see in the video there was some reaction, but nothing too spectacular. Although, (and remember the video camera is not looking through the scope) it did bring on some interesting results as it was shot backwards. With the tall grass, it actually hid behind the grass so much as you could only see a small part of orange and had to shoot accordingly. This was shot using the .300 Weatherby.

    Entrance

    No Image

    Exit

    No Image

    Video


     


    Reaction From a Distance

         We tested the reaction again from about 180 meters which brought on some fun results. I shot three times, the first time it shot backwards a bit, the second time it shot up in the air, rolled back, and actually fell into a small pit with some grass covering it up. The third shot (and I hate to admit it, but I will) I missed and shot over it. This was really an exciting experience shooting the cube from this far and watching where it landed. I only shot three times at this point, but I could imagine by shooting more rounds this thing could end up just about anywhere.

    Entrance

    No Image

    Exit

    No Image

    Video


     


    After All The Shots

         After we got done, and counting up the shots, here is what we shot.
    WeaponTimesBullet TypeBullet Type
    12 Gauge Shotgun71oz Rifled HP SlugBB (Double B) Shot
    .270 Winchester17 130 Gr Nosler Ballistic Tip130 Spitzer Boat Tail
    .300 Weatherby11180 Gr Sierra RN180 Gr Core-Lokt (Factory)

    Entrance


    Click to Enlarge

    No Image

    Video


     


    In Conclusion

       The Good

         It was very fun to shoot this cube at a distance and watch it's reaction to various calibers and see what happens. By clipping the side or shooting low it would advance the cube in all different directions and sometimes even hide behind some grass or a spot of sagebrush, which you would have to watch or look close to be able to get a shot. A great tool for snipers who need this sort of practice. Also a great target for those varmint hunters who want to learn to adjust for various yardages as well. With it's orange color it also makes it easier to see at greater distances.

    The Bad  

         We fired 35 high caliber rounds at this cube and it did come out pretty badly damaged with a large hole (above image) on one side that goes in almost 3 inches. Along with other large holes on the other exterior sides. Also, as mentioned earlier I think a large part of that hole was due to re-hitting the mushroomed slug inside and causing some explosive action inside. This was one days shooting and I think given more ammunition this block will split apart and become inoperable. Which we intend to do and give an update. Also, because of it's size (4" x 4") it would make it very hard to shoot in places of tall grass or sagebrush without propping it up first.

    Misc. Photo


    Click to Enlarge

    Misc. Photo


    Click to Enlarge

    Range


    Click to Enlarge

    Bullets


    Click to Enlarge

    		 
    Special Thanks

         I would like to thank everyone who read this review and found it insightful. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed shooting it. I would also like to especially thank the people at "Just Shoot Me Products" for allowing me to shoot their fine targets and give a review.

    Prairie Dog From Ballistic Technologys 

    Published on 10-14-2014 08:03 PM  Number of Views: 16052 

    Web Site: http://www.ballistictec.com
    Writer: Willy Snyder
    Date: 7/24/2005

    Background
        I'm back with my second review. This time we were able to test the ballistic polymer prairie dog. The prairie dog itself is about 7 inches tall weighing a little over one pound. It's made out of the same material as the ballistic sniper cube which we tested the same day, and this little dog is still suppose to take any caliber, any projectile from any distance.  I do have to start off with saying that the detail in this prairie dog is very nice. It looks like it has fur with detailed eyes, ears, face, and a 3 1/2 inch tail. So, off we go.

    Click to Enlarge

    Test Shot 1

        Our first shot we did was at 25 yards shooting a 300 Weatherby with a 180 Grain Sierra Round Nose bullet using 83 grains of R25. It entered the dog through the hands and exited out the back of his head. The entrance hole was about 1/8th of an inch, but the exit hole was about 1/4 of an inch. It blew out a surprisingly large hole out the back of it's head. In tests done with the sniper cube, the exit and entrance holes were roughly the same diameter. Maybe this was just a fluke, since there was a gap between his hands and his neck,  (as the pictures show) the bullet might have expanded and gone into the neck larger, thus blowing more out. We were not really sure why it blew out so much more at this point, so we went on.

    Entrance


    Click to Enlarge

    Exit


    Click to Enlarge

    Video


     


    Test Shot 2

         Our second shot was using a Winchester .270 with a Nosler 130 Grain Ballistic Tip at 25 yards as well. We were using a fairly hot load and it was a bit sporadic. We wanted to place a shot directly into the belly, but it went to the left and shot him in the side. Entrance hole was very minimal not even an 1/8th of an inch. But the exit hole measured exactly 1/2 inch. It almost seemed that this prairie dog was a bit harder causing a larger throughput expansion thus causing a larger exit wound. The material just did not want to close the gap behind the bullet. 

    Entrance


    Click to Enlarge

    Exit


    Click to Enlarge

    Video


     


    Test Shot 3

         Well, we were a bit scared for the prairie dog for this test. Shooting a 12 gauge 1oz HP slug into the animal from about 15 feet away. After seeing the exit wounds on these other two calibers, we though for sure a slug would blow a large hole out the back of the dog. But, we were wrong. We shot him into his right side and he spun around and jumped all over the place until he finally landed about 15 yards away. The entrance hole was a little under 1/2 inch and there was NO exit hole! Although it was slightly cracked where the slug should have exited. The slug only had about an inch and a half until exiting, but it stayed in. The little prairie dog took it, and quite good too.

    Entrance


    Click to Enlarge

    Exit


    Click to Enlarge

    Video


     


    Point Blank Test

         Well, it's time to see what kind of beating a shotgun slug will do to the prairie dog at point blank range. We loaded up the same type of shotgun slug used in our last test and shot it right in the hands. It blew one hand off completely and half of the other one and took a large piece of his neck with it. If you remember from Test Shot 1, this is about the same place the .300 weatherby hit it, so the smaller hole was already there, and probably helped the slug go through easier.


    Entrance


    Click to Enlarge

    Exit


    Click to Enlarge

    Video


     


    Point Blank Test 2

         We really liked that point blank test with the slug to the neck, and though we might as well give it one more try. This time we used a 12 gauge 3 inch BB (Double B) shot directly to the neck. It took the hit very good with minimal damage.


    Entrance


    Click to Enlarge

    No Image

    Video


     


    From a Distance

         Well, we tested the dog against some various shots. Now lets see how fun it shoots from a distance. We setup the prairie dog about 195 meters away on a small rock hill and took a shot. This was really neat to look through the 6 x 18 scope and see this little guy sitting atop this hill. I actually shot high the first round, and the second round I got him low.

    Entrance

    No Image

    Exit

    No Image

    Video


     


    After All The Shots

         After we got done, and counting up the shots, here is what we shot.
    WeaponTimesBullet TypeBullet Type
    12 Gauge Shotgun71oz Rifled HP SlugBB (Double B) Shot
    .270 Winchester9130 Gr Nosler Ballistic Tip130 Spitzer Boat Tail
    .300 Weatherby8180 Gr Sierra RN180 Gr Core-Lokt (Factory)


    Front


    Click to Enlarge

    Back


    Click to Enlarge

    Video


     


    In Conclusion

       The Good

         This little guy was a riot to shoot. The detail on him was great and you could really make out what he was from a distance through a scope. You could really practice your long range varmint shooting with this. In one instance we buried him half way down so only the top half was showing and shot him to get the feel of one standing in a hole. Overall very exciting and we really had a great time with this.

    The Bad  

         The hog itself didn't seem to close very good after the shots like I thought the polymer would do. The bullets exited the hog with large wounds, and we only shot 24 rounds through this guy and his neck is more than half way gone. The first shot on the tail almost ripped it completely off, and the second shot took the tail clean off. We shot the hog about 4 times with the .270 and .300 about an inch from the ground and it blew a pretty large hole out the backend. (You can see from the picture above called "Back"). We intend to shoot many more rounds through him and give some updated pictures as time progresses.

    Neck


    Click to Enlarge

    Range


    Click to Enlarge

    Bullets


    Click to Enlarge

    Special Thanks

         I would like to thank everyone who read this review and found it insightful. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed shooting it. I would also like to especially thank the people at "Just Shoot Me Products" for allowing me to shoot their fine targets and give a review.

    Springfield Armory's 45ACP 

    Published on 10-14-2014 07:59 PM     Number of Views: 15715 

    The New XD 45ACP review coming soon.

  • Last 5 Loads

  • Old Articles

Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check        

Gunloads.com Sponsored Links