The general premise of the TURKEY TEST TUBE was conceived by Chris Ellis who is the media relations representative for Ballistic Technology. Ellis is an avid turkey hunter and like many other turkey hunters has participated in the debate about what shot size or shell length is best. Ellis wanted an affordable tool that would allow him to evaluate the terminal ballistics of shot-shells but he also wanted it to be hillbilly simple; not requiring a chronograph, computer or difficult to use testing media like ordnance gelatin. Ellis, who has extensive experience with the Bullet Test Tube, brought his idea to Ballistic Technology in February of 2007 and an exhaustive testing and development program began.
There were two primary goals: First, the TURKEY TEST TUBE would have to provide an affordable, easy to use and understand method of comparing shot shells. Second, the TURKEY TEST TUBE must show a correlation to penetration in turkeys.
Hundreds of rounds were fired into the expansion material from the BULLET TEST TUBE and more importantly, into real turkeys and during the development process several interesting facts were uncovered. For example, every pellet from a single shot shell will not penetrate to the same depth and the location of the pellet in the pattern can influence its penetration. Few will argue with the ability of a three inch, 12 gauge # 5 shot shell’s ability to kill a turkey at 30 yards and it was found on the average, this load would show about 70% total penetration on the head of a mature wild turkey at that range.
Granted, the determining factor in total penetration of a wild turkey’s head and neck is influenced by the tissues that the pellet comes into contact with during penetration. Still, a baseline was needed for comparison and this statistic is what was used to develop the TURKEY TEST TUBE. Given necessary pattern density, any shot shell load that shows 70% penetration in the TURKEY TEST TUBE should cleanly kill a wild turkey regardless of range.
As the TURKEY TEST TUBE neared completion, prototypes were presented to outdoor professionals like game wardens, outdoor writers and experienced turkey hunters to gain their input on the applicability. The end result meets and exceeds our original goals and BALLISTIC TECHNOLOGY is proud to offer yet another product to help with the terminal ballistics education of the hunter.
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