Cayugad,
I do have a chrono and will be documenting the velocity. He also plans to document the post shot expansion of the bullet and the depth of penetration. His teacher is suggesting limiting the powder used to one load to reduce the variables.

Yeoman,
The procedure would be as you suggest, shoot one shot and then measure, recover, repack and next shot. It will be time consuming and I suggested he plan 5 range sessions of 20 shots each. I like the idea of using sand since it is easier to repack and maybe a little less messy than clay. I originally thought of clay in hopes of getting a retained wound channel but not sure if that would pan out.

Chap,
Give me more input. I like the idea of using multiple bullets for comparison and the same for different powder levels but my son doesn't want to get too many variables per his teachers admonitions. Maybe go with several different bullet designs at 2 distances and compare their performance would give fewer variables but produce useful results. What do you think?