Part 2:
22LR Fragmenting and Hollow point ammunition, and .22 magnum.
The decision was made to continue testing with .22 rimfire calibers, to include .22WMR in this round of testing, and to perform some degree of experimentation on the psychological impact of seeing these rounds impact fellow fluffies.
For this purpose, the fluffies used in testing from here on out are family groups, consisting of an adult male, adult female, and their foals.
Firearm used: Ruger 10/22 semiautomatic rimfire rifle.
Barrel Length: 16”
Ammunition used: CCI “Mini-mag” fragmenting hollow point.
Bullet weight: 40 grains.
Group 1 composition: 1 Stallion, 1 Mare, 3 “Talkie” sub-adult foals.
Results:
Mare is shot first, bullet enters ribcage from a distance of 10 yards, and quickly splits into 3 segments of equal size. Bullet fragment one transverses both lungs, breaks a rib on the opposite side of the body, and lodges under the skin.
Bullet fragment 2 passes through the heart, and then yaws, causing it to crack the sternum and lodge behind the bone.
Bullet fragment 3 passes through the lower esophagus and exits the body, leaving a clean-edged wound.
The Mare immediately falls, coughing blood violently and complaining of “Wowstet Huwties ebah!” while writhing on the ground. The Foals attempt to comfort her with “Huggies” and one offers “Bestest dancies.” The Stallion becomes belligerent, blocking Researcher Carlisle from additional shots into the mare.
The Dancing foal is shot next.
Bullet fragments almost immediately, splitting into 3 equal pieces, as in the mare. The bullet fragments cut into the foal’s body, and it is eviscerated, it’s intestines spilling onto the floor. The foal instantly collapses and begins shaking in shock, as well as suffering from a broken spine due to one of the large “petals”.
The other foals scream and hide behind the dying mare. The Stallion becomes aggressive, attempting to inflict “Wowstest sowwy hoofsies!” on the researchers.
The Mare, still conscious, begins to attempt to scream, crying that her “Dancie babbeh has gone fowebah sweepies.”
The Stallion is shot in the head at near contact distance, and the bullet’s fragmentation results in the skull being badly fractured inside the skin of the head. Bullet fragments exit from the back of the head, one from behind the left ear, and the third under the jaw, all 3 lodging in the body under the skin.
As expected, a shot to the skull from this round proves immediately fatal.
The Mare is beginning to pass out from blood loss at this stage, and the decision is made to shoot the other foals are various angles.
Foal 2 is shot in the center of the chest. The bullet fragments and proceeds to completely destroy the heart , effectively cutting it into multiple pieces. Fragments then break the spine in half on the way out. Death is instant and appears painless.
Foal 3 is shot in the head. The bullet’s fragmentation blows half the skull off, and takes most of the brain with it.
Mare finally expires, having died in the space of 1 minute, 17 seconds.
Conclusions:
This segmented round was highly effective for the task of fluffy control, proving immediately fatal on foals, and quickly lethal on adults with body shots. However, the lagging timespan to death still presents a problem. While the mare was immediately incapacitated, this is due purely to the fragment striking the heart, and the level of pain inflicted by the round. a less decisive shot, say, to the intestines, may prove less effective at “anchoring” the fluffy.
ADDENDUM:
A follow up test was performed on another family of fluffies, with all of them shot in the stomach or bowels. The results were as predicted, with the disemboweled fluffies running around and screaming for nearly 3 minutes before expiring in the case of the adults, and a full 60 seconds in the case of the foals.
Researcher notes:
—Do we have to continue testing with .22LR? Really?
— Yes, we do. It’s the most common caliber in America, the purpose of this experiment is to determine for the American people what the most effective rounds for each caliber are when it comes to killing fluffies.
— But it’s so…..Anemic.
— It’s a fucking rimfire.
— Point taken.
22LR Hollowpoint test:
Rifle used: As above.
Barrel length: As above.
Ammunition used: CCI “Stinger” copper plated hollowpoint.
Bullet weight: 32 grains.
Group 2 Composition: 2 newborn “Chirpie” foals, 1 adult stallion, 1 adult mare.
Results:
Stallion is shot first, high shoulder “like a deer”, according to Researcher Simmons. Subject immediately seized and fell over. Bullet fully transversed the body, breaking both shoulders and expanding to roughly .38 caliber. The wound bled severely, and the fluffy was immediately rendered immobile, but fully conscious, and screaming about “Wowstest huwties” and “No feew pwetty!”
The chirpies soil themselves and begin to cry, and Researcher Simmons elects to shoot them next.
Both chirpies are shot in the midsection, 1 round each, and the result is similar to results of fresh oranges: The bullets entered, expanded, exited, and tore both of them open from the back, resulting in massive organ damage and instant death.
By this stage, the mare is hysteric, screaming about “BABBEHS GO FOWEBAH SWEEPIES” and “SPESHUW FWIEND AM HUWTIES!!!”
Deciding a headshot would be largely pointless, as it would be obviously lethal, Researcher Simmons elects to shoot the Mare in the center of the chest.
The bullet enters through the front of the sternum, expanding and fragmenting off a small amount of lead. The bullet punches a hole in the heart, tearing a large chunk out of it and causing immediate shock and unconsciousness. The bullet continues, and stops inside the bowels.
Death is timed at 1:36 seconds for the stallion, and 45 seconds for the mare.
Necropsy results:
While the hollow point bullet achieved impressive penetration, the raw damage of the fragmenting round earns it the nod here. It’s extremely deleterious, and even body shots resulted in heavy structural damage, which was difficult to achieve with the .22 LR due to it’s small size and low velocity.
Overall, the fragmenting bullets proved highly effective at killing quickly and are probably as good as one can get from .22LR.
Psychological results:
Regrettably, unimpressive, however, shooting foals or mares first, especially with hollow point and fragmenting rounds, does seem to result in much more shock toward their fellow fluffies, and immediate distress from severe wounding or killing, especially of foals, is a highly effective method for distracting fluffies from running away.
Researcher notes:
— I don’t care for this caliber.
— You might be the only person who has ever said that in human history.
— I just don’t like the lack of splatter.
— Well, Carlisle, tell you what: We have a bolt action .22 magnum. Let’s rinse off the floors and you can take that for a spin.
22WMR test:
Firearm used: Savage B22G.
Barrel length: 21 inches.
Bullet used: CCI “Maxi-Mag TNT”.
Bullet weight: 30 grains.
Test group composition: 1 Stallion, 1 Mare, 2 “Talkie” Sub-Adult foals.
Results:
Researcher Carlisle enters test chamber and fires on the Mare, hitting her in the side.
Researcher Carlisle forgot his hear protection and immediately begins unleashing a string of invective, before putting in earplugs.
The mare is struck in the lungs, and the results are dramatic. The ribcage is shattered, and a huge wound opens in the mare’s side. She falls and is instantly killed.
The Stallion and foals appear to be in shock, staring without making any reactive noises.
The foals are shot next, in quick succession. Both of them are reduced to scraps of flesh, bone fragments, and a few pieces of loose organ tissue.
The Stallion finally reacts “WEWE BABBEHS GO!?” “BABBEHS, COME BACK, HELP SPESHUW FWIEND!!!”
Researcher Carlisle shoots the stallion in the head. The entire upper half of the skull is exploded, and only the lower jaw, tongue, and neck remain.
Necropsy results:
It’s needless to say that the results of this round are extremely destructive, and it’s not possible to dissect the foals, as they have ceased to exist. It’s also unnecessary to examine the stallion, it should be obvious that bisection of the skull along the horizontal plane is immediately lethal.
However, the Mare was intact enough for us to do a full necropsy. The wound was a “splash wound”, relatively shallow, but wide, around 4 inches long by and inch wide, and roughly 5 inches deep. The rib cage on the side shot was completely shattered, with fragments of bone being jettisoned into the lungs, heart, stomach, diaphragm, and even into the spine. The vertebrae were also cracked, with bruising and damage evident to the spinal cord.
The lungs were partially liquified, with evident hydrostatic shock having ruptured the blood vessels in them. The heart was nearly ripped in two, and bloodshot from hydrostatic shock. Examination of the brain revealed multiple burst blood vessels, resembling a concussion.
Psychological results:
The most interesting result of this is what happened when the foals were shot. The stallion appeared to not understand they were dead, as there was no body left behind. This is an interesting result, as it shows some degree of a lack of object permanence in the Fluffy brain.
Researcher notes:
— Okay, that was fun.
— Told you.
— I like this caliber.
— Good man. You’ll like the next one, too, it’s a hell of a round. 5.7x28.
— What’s that like?
— 22 Magnum, but better. Or worse, depending on if you ask the shooter or the recipient.