45 120 Bullet Penetration: How Many Turkeys Can It Shoot Through?

A friend of mine had called, saying he has some spoiled meat in his freezer (lost power), which included eight, large, frozen turkeys. He thought my wife and I might be interested in using them for bait, since he knows we are trappers. So I picked them up.

Later I thought, “Maybe I can use these for bullet penetration tests before putting them out.” So that’s what I did.

It took a bit of head-scratching to figure how to hold them in position, but I came up with a good solution – one that wouldn’t break the bank to implement.

Next, we went to the farm and, with my wife recording, conducted this test. The results are pretty interesting – not just in terms of assessing penetration capability, but also when it comes to bullet deflection (my cast bullets are of a “Postel” design).

So check this video out and, before you do, make a guess on how many turkeys it will take to stop that 535 grain cast bullet! I am using the old, buffalo-era .45-120 cartridge and loading it with smokeless powder instead of black to achieve higher velocities. The rifle used is my custom Ruger No. 1 single-shot.

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The Way to Native Chronicles

You could say I’m a Christian of Calvinist bent, and not a crowd-follower.