Ammo pressure device, any pictures?

[WANT A LCR 22LR]

Has anyone seen pictures or come across a ammo pressure checker?

Do these ever come up for sale? If it has a short barrel to mimic hand guns, would it require the same state paperwork as a hand gun? Are there types that do not require setup at a range? ( the bullet never leaves the device ) If the bullet never leaves the device, is it still a gun?

There is a device sold that uses a strain gauge stuck a any gun to estimate ammo pressure, but I'm only investigating the copper or piezo pressure sensor type.

Thanks

 

[Don H]

http://www.ketmer.com/hsp/testing/index.htm

 

[dmazur]

Are there types that do not require setup at a range? ( the bullet never leaves the device ) If the bullet never leaves the device, is it still a gun?

I'm reasonably certain that it is impossible to check for the ammunition performance characteristic termed "pressure" if you bottle up the cartridge in a sealed container. Oh, you'd definitely get a pressure indication, but it would be unlikely to have any correlation to the pressure developed in a rifle or pistol barrel so it would not have any practical application.

My best guess as to the correct description for a test barrel with a blocked end is "bomb"...

 

[Unclenick]

That's correct. Test guns usually have what is called a universal receiver that the test facility owns and that accepts test barrels. SAAMI cartridge specs include drawings for cartridge, chamber, and test barrel dimensions. The test barrel is placed in a universal receiver. At firing, the pressure reading is taken and the velocity measurements established. It is not possible, without firing the bullet, to get the same pressure curve you get when actually firing. No device that confines the bullet would produce meaningful indications of the pressure that would appear in a conventional firearm (unless you call an indoor range confinement).

I presume purchase of a universal receiver requires the same FFL transfer that all firearms do. And the apparatus will put you out way more money than a strain gauge systems and doesn't appear to produce more reliable results if you use the gauge properly. I wouldn't bother with copper crushers at this point in time. At leas one study that was in, I think, Precision Shooting some years ago, where identical cartridges were made up and sent to several labs for crusher testing, showed their absolute accuracy to be poor (the results were different from each lab) and that results can vary with how the technicians do the job.

 

[WANT A LCR 22LR]

Thanks for the link and info. As for the bullet not leaving the device, I picture the barrel at the one end of a 5 to 20 ft long heavy walled pipe and a few inches past the other end a heavy steel plate. ( along with some baffling to prevent fragments from escaping and maybe a block of wood fro the bullet to impact before the plate. ) This way the device could be fired without the use of a range and since the bullet never leaves the device it isn't a fire arm. ( a device capable of expelling a projectile )

I'm not planning on buying a tester but, since I have this knack for coming across all sorts of wacky equipment , I want to know something about it.

 

[Unclenick]

Your system is unnecessarily complicated. All you need is a normal barrel length and a snail type bullet trap in front of it to fire it indoors and without splatter. Savage makes the traps, if you want one.

I don't believe combining the parts grants you any special dispensation from the BATFE. The way the current regulatory definitions are, you would still have a gun, since all they count for that is the receiver. What you do with the barrel by way of extensions and whatnot is of no concern to them as long as its' not below 18" for shotguns or 16" for rifles.

Note that the legal obligation apply only to transferring ownership, as when you purchase a gun. I don't believe there is any limitation under the law that prevents you from making your own receiver, as long as you are old enough to own the kind of gun (rifle or handgun) you are making, don't have a criminal record, and you don't try to transfer the work to anybody else to own or use. You could call the BATFE to verify that, but I believe it's still true. The idea is not to encourage zip guns, but rather not to discourage inventors.