How will a Lehigh Defense Maximum Expansion .45 Judge 220 grain slug perform when shot out of an AirForce Airguns Texan .45 Big Bore airgun? Let's find out! Watch here:
https://youtu.be/ARH9EfauUig
This experiment with the Lehigh Maximum Expansion slug is actually the continuation of a multi year effort I have been on to find projectiles that will cause the maximum amount of blood trails and ethical harvesting of White Tail Deer here in Michigan. I have been advocating through the Airgun Sporting Association to the Michigan DNR to allow for air bolts and airbows to be used during all deer hunting seasons.
Specifically, I have been pushing for these devices to be used for disabled hunters during the archery season and for ALL hunters for all other seasons. There is a Michigan House Bill that stalled in committee last year, but there are signs it may move forward soon.
Until then I set out to find a slug that would be legal to hunt with for deer that could potentially perform like a broadhead. I think I may have found an option with the Lehigh Maximum Expansion slug for the Judge .45, but it took some modification and tinkering to get it to work in my AirForce Airguns .45 Texan.
So what do you get when you put a big bore deer hunting airgunner and a farmer into a room to brainstorm? You get this wicked Lehigh Maximum Expansion .45 cal. pill that expands to 1.75 inches at less than 1000 FPS with around 12 inches of ballistic gel penetration!
So I got to talking to a friend who is friends with a local farmer who powder coats some of his agriculture equipment. I called him up and got to brainstorming about coating options for these Lehigh Maximum Expansion slugs to bring them from .452 up and over .457 so I could size them down.
So he told me about this Teflon / Graphite powder coating concoction they use on harvesting equipment to make them non-stick to help clean up easier and moving material to slide along ramps. Sounds perfect!
So I gave him a handful of these .452 Lehigh Maximum Expansion slugs for the .45 Taurus Judge Pistol and he coated them for me. I just got them back and sized them .457. They had a bit of a rough texture at first but pushed super slippery though the sizer. If I had to guess they started off at .459 coated.
I will be taking them out for accuracy testing and to shoot them into some meat. If I could get 1 to 1.5 inch groups at 50 yards with Teflon tape - this should be even better! I am thinking about shooting these into a big ham to see how they expand.
Since the AirForce Airguns Texan .45 has basically the same velocity / power profile of a Raging Judge .45 pistol, I should see similar results which is down right MASSIVE expansion. The deer blood trail potential and terminal ballistics of these things are most likely the most devastating projectile ever to be shot from an airgun.
With that said, from my testing I would call this a very niche and specific use case ammo options for close range deer hunting similar to archery range type of hunting. About 40 yards and closer. These do not have enough penetration to consider them a good option out any further than that. The good news is most of the deer I have harvested have been within that close range. Stay tuned for more testing!
https://youtu.be/ARH9EfauUig
This experiment with the Lehigh Maximum Expansion slug is actually the continuation of a multi year effort I have been on to find projectiles that will cause the maximum amount of blood trails and ethical harvesting of White Tail Deer here in Michigan. I have been advocating through the Airgun Sporting Association to the Michigan DNR to allow for air bolts and airbows to be used during all deer hunting seasons.
Specifically, I have been pushing for these devices to be used for disabled hunters during the archery season and for ALL hunters for all other seasons. There is a Michigan House Bill that stalled in committee last year, but there are signs it may move forward soon.
Until then I set out to find a slug that would be legal to hunt with for deer that could potentially perform like a broadhead. I think I may have found an option with the Lehigh Maximum Expansion slug for the Judge .45, but it took some modification and tinkering to get it to work in my AirForce Airguns .45 Texan.
So what do you get when you put a big bore deer hunting airgunner and a farmer into a room to brainstorm? You get this wicked Lehigh Maximum Expansion .45 cal. pill that expands to 1.75 inches at less than 1000 FPS with around 12 inches of ballistic gel penetration!
So I got to talking to a friend who is friends with a local farmer who powder coats some of his agriculture equipment. I called him up and got to brainstorming about coating options for these Lehigh Maximum Expansion slugs to bring them from .452 up and over .457 so I could size them down.
So he told me about this Teflon / Graphite powder coating concoction they use on harvesting equipment to make them non-stick to help clean up easier and moving material to slide along ramps. Sounds perfect!
So I gave him a handful of these .452 Lehigh Maximum Expansion slugs for the .45 Taurus Judge Pistol and he coated them for me. I just got them back and sized them .457. They had a bit of a rough texture at first but pushed super slippery though the sizer. If I had to guess they started off at .459 coated.
I will be taking them out for accuracy testing and to shoot them into some meat. If I could get 1 to 1.5 inch groups at 50 yards with Teflon tape - this should be even better! I am thinking about shooting these into a big ham to see how they expand.
Since the AirForce Airguns Texan .45 has basically the same velocity / power profile of a Raging Judge .45 pistol, I should see similar results which is down right MASSIVE expansion. The deer blood trail potential and terminal ballistics of these things are most likely the most devastating projectile ever to be shot from an airgun.
With that said, from my testing I would call this a very niche and specific use case ammo options for close range deer hunting similar to archery range type of hunting. About 40 yards and closer. These do not have enough penetration to consider them a good option out any further than that. The good news is most of the deer I have harvested have been within that close range. Stay tuned for more testing!