Abstract: Apparatus and a method are provided for tensile-impact and penetration testing of sample elements, utilizing hydraulic flows to accelerate a lead-in piston inside a cylindrical hydraulic chamber in controlled manner to thereby deliver a predetermined amount of energy to a lighter piston mounted on a slidable piston rod to convey the desired force to the sample with minimal distortion of the measured parameters of interest on account of any extraneous oscillations caused by recoil of the elements. The penetration testing is performed preferably by mounting a sample element in a bell-shaped sample-holding element that is easily mounted to an end of the piston rod. A number of penetration sample elements, each held in an individual sample-holding element, can be brought to a selected predetermined temperature and each is readily mountable to the apparatus to enable quick, convenient and inexpensive, reproducible testing of a plurality of samples.