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The best and cheapest medium I've used is water logged newspapers. The last time I did an experiment with it, I had three 230 grain Hydra-Shoks that were recovered from a deer.
I loaded a green garbage bag full of newspapers (if you piled them up they were about 4 feet tall) and flooded the bag with a garden hose. Left'em for a week and kept an eye on the water level. They would "mush" if you rubbed a peice between your fingers.
I then tested the 230 H-S out of a GM and got the same expansion characteristics. I am sure that the depth of penetration was not the same, but I measured it with a dowel to give me a baseline. The bullets had stopped in a deers chest (10 inches or so) and penetrated the newspapers "X" amount. (don't remember the exacts) This gave me a pretty good feel for a penetration ratio.
No big surprises in testing the .45 loads - clothing would flat plug up a H-S though. Carry load was changed to Golden Sabers.
I think you could get a pretty good feeling for what your chosen loads will do if you have something to compare them with. I would suggest figuring out what a given load will do to your chosen target and using that load as a "proof" load. Use that data to figure out what results your medium will give you with other loads.
I have also seen interesting results using a Fackler box. This is a series of one gallon freezer bags filled with water and supported in a rack. Once again, the exacts aren't going to translate to flesh, but it gives you a ratio and standard to compare with your "proof" load. And it's fairly cheap!
Let me know if you'd like me to dig around for a good URL for a Fackler box.
Giz
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