Pellet testing

Wet leather is definitely more plyable.
The extra engery it absorbs will vary on how loose the leather is. Tight wrapped it can't "give" as much due to tensed fibers. As both wet and dry were same distance and tension I see that theory as part of it. I think the swelling of the indervidual fibers also causes a denser matting (if that's the right word) of them, also making the leather denser than it was. Again speculation on my behalf.

Just claim it was moths. Lol.
So cutting under the head did nothing for expansion either. Did a couple of pellets each of a 4 and a 8 under cut.
So disappointed and resigned to the fact I'm probly never going to get decent expansion without a pcp went onto something else I've been meaning to test.
Dacron as a pellet catcher. After seeing how well the sleeping bag stopped crossbow bolts it's had me curious.
So the non expanding pellets were shot into leather with a dacron backing at 10m from 1322. Caught them nicely. But hey the leather probly took some energy out. So I got rid of the leather, folded the dacron 6 layers thick, put it in my pellet trap (cheapo gun City thing that the rifles blew the back out of shortly after I got it and had to throw a couple of steel plates in.) pumped the 1322 up ten times, placed it an inch from the dacron, stood to the side and fired. Did it 5 times after no ricochet from the first.
Though the pellet's would punch to layer 5 of the dacron, the pellet never got through the 3rd layer.
Its pretty impressive stuff really.
None of the pellets caught had any damage at all.
You can buy the stuff. Some sleeping bags and cushions have it. The stuff I used was out of old cushions, but the sleeping bag will be getting pulled apart for target backing next fine day.
2 pics, two differnt shots. One to show how far it pushes into the dacron without letting through. (the next two layers looked the same)
One to show the pellet caught and held and the indent into the other layers.