The milk jugs work ok if you just want to see how your bullet expands under ideal conditions. If your bullet doesn't expand in water you better look for another bullet.<p>I have heard that water soaked newspapers or phone books gives close to the same expansion you would get in animal (or human) tissue. I soak the papers in a tub of water overnight, get them out and let them drain for a few hours, then pile them up vertically against a backstop. They are just a mass of wet paper pulp by then, so they are difficult and messy to handle, specially in cold weather. Phone books are much easier to handle, but harder to get enough of them. I have tested lots of HP loads this way, and I have found the results are pretty close to what I get in critters. <p>BTW, Mas Ayoob's book advises strongly against using handloads for defensive purposes because of legal problems after the shooting. He has been an expert witness at dozens of criminal and civil trials, and he believes that using reloads works against you big time, both with the cops and in court. You can't do better than factory Hydra-Shoks in my opinion.