Ballistics Gel Test Videos
We did our testing at 20 feet, which was partly due to the need to protect the gel block from burning powder that could have ruined both our gel and the view of the wound channels.
The result on our single block was somewhat surprising, and I did not expect the ball to pass so easily through both the 16-inch, 10-percent FBI gel block and two large water jugs. So, in another attempt to capture the projectile, I set up two blocks for a total of 32 inches of gel. This was also backed by a large water jug. The result is below.
Alas, that test also led to another ball blowing clean through all our gel and water jugs.
Brown Bess Basics
The Brown Bess came in several lengths with various modifications over the years, but its general form served as the main weapon of the British infantry for over a century. Even before the Revolutionary War, it was also a common firearm among the American colonists, many of whom were expected to maintain both a musket and ammunition for militia and other duties.
We don’t really have the space and time to dig into variances in modern powder, period powder, and loading practices from the Revolutionary era. Suffice it to say that lower loads of powder around 110-115 grains were not unheard of during the war, and some relics have even been found loaded with similar charges.
We went ahead and loaded our Brown Bess with 110 grains for testing, which only means we could have actually made it even more potent, but we didn’t need to do that based on the results.
Related: Muskets to M16s – How the ‘Modern Flintlock’ Defines 2A Today
That load included a .69-caliber lead ball with a weight of 584.6 grains. Accuracy is limited by the smoothbore design, loose ball fit, powder charge and ball variances, and crude sights. Even so, accuracy on man-sized targets between 50 and 100 yards is good enough that I wouldn’t want to be downrange regardless.
Even during the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815), British Maj. George Hanger mocked the musket for its inaccuracies, stating:
“A soldier’s musket, if not exceedingly ill-bored (as many are), will strike a figure of a man at 80 yards; it may even at a hundred; but a soldier must be very unfortunate indeed who shall be wounded by a common musket at 150 yards, providing his antagonist aims at him; and as to firing at a man at 200 yards with a common musket, you may as well fire at the moon and have the same hope of hitting him.”
There’s certainly a level of truth to this. I would also point out that American shotgun hunters have been downing game with slugs fired from smoothbores at decent distances for a very long time. So, take that with a grain of salt.
Dissecting the Results
I’ll start with some quick math. Our test musket ball weighed in at 35 grams. Since one ounce equals 437.5 grains, and 35 grams comes out to 1.23459 ounces, we end up with a hefty final grain weight of 584.578 grains.
For comparison, a standard M33 ball round of .50 BMG has an even heavier 660 grains, but a large modern 1.125-ounce 12-gauge shotgun slug is a mere 492.2 grains.
Related: John Browning & .50 BMG History – America’s Heavy Slugger
I charged both of our shots with 110 grains of modern black power, which should have given us a velocity of around only ~1,000 fps from our Brown Bess. That’s an approximation, but then again, we were firing a handloaded musket with an undersized ball that requires a wad.
Now we can run that all through our handy muzzle energy equation: (“weight in grains” x “velocity² in fps”) / 450,237. All that gives the old Brown Bess a massive 1,297.8 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle for a velocity of 1,000 fps.
It’s an estimate, of course, but you can compare that to a Federal 230-grain .45 ACP bullet traveling at 890 fps, which “only” gives you 404 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle.
Enough math. Let’s look at the results in our ballistic gel. Keep in mind that the FBI standards for penetration on 10-percent ballistic gel are a minimum of 12 inches and a maximum of 18 inches for optimal stopping power without over penetration.
The mass in that .69-caliber ball is where the Brown Bess gets its true power. In fact, higher velocities and lower weights would most likely limit its penetration capabilities. That’s not always a bad thing, because over penetration is really just lost energy that has no effect on your target. Although, over penetration is not necessarily a bad thing when shooting at a packed line of infantry that ran two or three ranks deep.
Here’s an example of what happened in a similar test where we got 16 inches of penetration from a modern 7.62x39mm hunting cartridge.
Final Thoughts
Where does all that leave us? Well, at close ranges, the .69-caliber ball fired from a Brown Bess musket is very capable, but it tends to over penetrate instead of efficiently dumping its energy into the target like a modern hunting or self-defense load.
However, it can clearly inflict horrendous and fatal wounds while easily smashing bones. Sure, the velocity is lower, but the potential for 1,300 foot-pounds of energy (more if you up the charge of black powder) proves the musket ball is deadly well beyond 100 yards.
That is, if you can hit anything with it.
Even slashing its energy in half still puts the Brown Bess’s musket ball at more foot-pounds of energy than your standard 230-grain .45 ACP at the muzzle, and the Lord’s caliber is no slouch either.
