Water jugs can tell you if a bullet is EXPANDING OR NOT. I frequently have Sierra match Kings punch of little tiny hole but not even bust The jug, in several different calibers up to 30. They rarely expanded at all. They behave just like an FMJ so that tells you pretty much you don't hunt with them unless you like tracking.
I've also used water jugs to find out where solid coppers lose enough velocities to slip right through.
They will launch a 1 gallon jug into orbit just about at 100, 200. When you get out far where they're slowing down too much, they'll pencil right through.
I've actually thought I was missing and went out there to 500 yards and found out the bullet just slipped through and it was leaking and maybe partially split. It's all about impact velocity.
It's not very scientific, at all, but if I don't get a serious upset of a jug, I won't use that bullet at that range on game.
That being said, there are some bullets that will come apart in water that hold together very well on game. It seems that water is more severe than ballistic gel or actual game.
I have a separate trash can in my kitchen to hold every plastic container of every size that will hold water and has a cap. Medicine bottles to 5 gallon buckets. They're my favorite game and I shoot well over a hundred of them a year. My range is only 500 yd, but the shooting table is 20 ft from my bedroom window. Throwing away a water jug that hasn't been shot is bad recycling practice
