I enjoy a good sales pitch. Part of being an American is being oversold on everything. This vacuum picks up the dirt that other vacuums leave behind! This home gym will give you a flat stomach by exercising just 10 minutes a day, plus it folds under your bed for storage! This ammo has so much stopping power that the government tried to ban it from civilian purchase! Yeah, right. When it comes to ammunition selection for personal defense, we need to separate real from hype before making a purchase. If you make a bad purchase on a vacuum or a home gym, you are likely to be a bit embarrassed. Making a bad purchase on defensive ammunition could have dire consequences. Let’s talk about some fundamentals so you’ll be able to make an informed decision.
Would you trust your life to Xtreme Nuke Ninja? Better do some basic research first.
Four terms need defining for us to understand how bullets work. Penetration is the amount of tissue—bone, fat, and muscle—that a bullet passes through. The permanent cavity is the amount of empty space—the hole—left in the body behind the bullet. The temporary cavity is the momentary expansion of the permanent cavity stretching as the bullet’s kinetic energy is transferred to it. Fragmentation is the separation of the bullet into smaller chunks, or pieces, which leave the permanent cavity and spin off in different directions.
Regardless of velocity, the bullet crushes the tissue in front of it as it penetrates or tunnels through that tissue. After the infamous “Miami Firefight”of 1986, the FBI set a minimum penetration requirement of 12 inches for their ammunition. This became the industry standard. All bullets penetrate and leave behind a measurable permanent cavity, even the .22 LR. All bullets also create a temporary cavity, although actually measuring it is nearly impossible. Fragmentation is dependent on two factors; bullet design and velocity. Impact velocities above 2,000 feet per second can cause fragmentation in full metal jacket bullets with thin jacketing, such as M193 5.56 NATO. Soft point or hollowpoint rounds may also fragment at the same velocities.
In rifle rounds, fragmentation accounts for a lot of the bullet’s ability to destroy tissue and stop bad guys in their tracks. Making slower pistol rounds fragment requires specialized bullet designs that fragment very easily. The problem with these rounds, such as the Glaser Safety Slug, is that they fragment immediately without penetrating. They are advertised as being safer to shoot indoors because they won’t penetrate walls and kill innocents on the other side. This is true! However, a round that can’t penetrate two layers of brittle sheetrock isn’t going to devastate a 250-pound man coming at you with a crowbar either. It will break up immediately upon hitting his skin, shower the first few inches of fat and muscle with little specks of lead, and fail to reach his vital organs. This is not what we want. At this time there is no magic pistol round that is safe when you miss, but “knows” when it hits a bad guy and decides that now is the time to penetrate and then fragment. Any round capable of penetrating tissue to FBI minimum standards is also capable of penetrating doors and walls. Fragmentation in pistol rounds falls into just two categories, won’t happen and fragments without penetrating.
The temporary wound channel is another factor we honestly can’t count on with pistols. Because it is known but not measurable, it has become the center of all sorts of marketing smoke and mirrors. For example, Federal Hydra-Shok ammunition was named for the concept of “hydraulic shock;” the idea that tissue not actually touched by the bullet could still be damaged by the “energy dump” or “kinetic energy transfer” of the bullet’s velocity to the surrounding tissue. The “energy dump” was the given reason why bad guys would be “knocked down” by the new hollow-point technology of rounds like the Hydra-Shok. Of course, there is no such thing as “knock-down power” with pistols, because no pistol knocks the shooter down when fired. Newton tells us that for each action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, the recoil your hand feels when you shoot a pistol is roughly equal to the amount of energy the bullet has as it leaves the muzzle, just compressed into a smaller, denser, much faster projectile. Getting shot by a handgun will not physically knock you down. I’ve been told it feels like being hit by a fastball, followed by a terrible stinging pain coming from your insides. Hydra-Shok is quality ammunition with a long track record in law enforcement and civilian use, but it physically cannot knock the bad guy over like we always see in the movies.
Tissue damage done through hydraulic shock is small even in many rifle calibers. In pistol calibers there is just not enough kinetic energy transferred to surrounding tissue to make any significant difference at all. That leaves us with penetration and permanent wound channel as the two ways pistol calibers consistently damage tissue. If penetration were all that mattered, we would all be carrying full metal jacket rounds like the military does. Of course, penetration is not everything. The military issues those FMJ rounds because under our interpretation of the Hague convention, hollowpoints are inhumane and contrary to the laws of war. The USA never signed the Hague convention but follows it strictly anyway, while other countries that did sign it have long since abandoned its outdated rules. I suppose the Hague Convention is why you’ll never see the USAF lobbing poison gas bombs from hot air balloons. For those of us who are not stuck in the 19th century, modern technology has provided the hollowpoint bullet.
A hollowpoint bullet fired from a handgun is designed to flatten out as it penetrates through soft tissue, staying in once piece but forming a “mushroom” shape with a wider diameter. This means less penetration than FMJ, but a bigger permanent wound channel. If penetration still meets the FBI’s required 12 inches, you get the best of both ways that a handgun bullet realistically damages tissue. What we want out of our handguns is 12 inches of penetration through soft tissue with the largest permanent wound channel possible. This maximizes our chances of directly damaging something vital.
This is the part where thousands of .45acp shooters smugly say, “That’s why I carry a .45, it puts ‘em down with just one shot.” I have seen this assertion many times on our Facebook page. Folks, you must hit something vital with any handgun bullet to quickly stop an assailant. A good friend of mine was in a shootout two years ago and was hit three times with .38 Special Speer Gold Dots before he even began to return fire. He scored two hits on the bad guy with .45acp Winchester SXT rounds (the ones that known as “Black Talons” back in the day) and the assailant ran off. The police followed a blood trail for eight hours before finding the bad guy hiding in a closet. Both men survived. My friend was the star witness at the bad guy’s trial, where they sentenced the bad guy to life in prison plus 30 years. The .45acp did save the day, but it did not physically stop the assailant. He simply ran away because someone was fighting back and his revolver was empty.
Handguns are not nearly as powerful as the movies, the media, and the firearms industry itself want you to believe. Regardless of your caliber of choice, train often, shoot fast and accurately, and be prepared for a life-threatening fight that continues after you’ve emptied the magazine. When deciding on what ammo to carry, do your own research and don’t believe the hype!
A few .45acp Gold Dot jacketed hollow point bullets, two unfired and six that have expanded.
The .45 is my choice. The DPX is my choice ammo for all my handguns. The 9mm DPX expands more that mostly all of the hallow-point .45′s out there.
Comment by Mitch — March 8, 2012 @ 10:08 am
Govt. model 1911 .45 with 230gr ball ammo. There are a lot of great rounds out there on the market but the 1911 with ball served me well in the service and I stick with it.
Comment by Scott — March 8, 2012 @ 10:14 am
You referenced the Miami shootout. Both perps were only stopped when hit in the spinal cord. The FBI agents were firing .38 Special +Ps, 9mms, and 12g buckshot beyond effective range. They figured they needed penetration b/c you have to go through the body to get to the spinal cord and still have enough energy to damage it. If the FBI agents had brought M16s or even Mini-14s like one of the perps had, it would have been a much shorter gunfight. This too is why most law enforcement agencies have dumped shotguns for rifles, greater effective range, accuracy, and penetration.
Comment by El Duderino — March 8, 2012 @ 10:21 am
Good article that hopefully dispels with any of the ridiculous “knock-down” power assertions that may be out there. My CCW is a P11 loaded with Hornady’s new Critical Duty .135gr 9mm ammo of which ‘my research’ has shown to be a very effective round for SD. That being said, shot placement is about all we can train for and after that we simply hope that the bad guy is incapacitated in some way and no longer presents a threat to our safety. Suffice it to say, I am not going to be looking for the assailant to go flying ten feet backwards after he is shot.
-Cheers
Comment by Mark — March 8, 2012 @ 10:27 am
Great article, I agree shot placement is always the key, like they say in real-estate location, location, location. So train often, train with what you carry and with what you load or shoot. Don’t train with 38 loads and carry .357mag, under stress you will be the one missing the location, location, location.
Comment by Tony — March 8, 2012 @ 10:54 am
.45 with corbon +p jhp or winchester ranger t series sxt
Comment by john — March 8, 2012 @ 10:54 am
Informative article. Thank you for your honesty. I buy JHPs for all of my guns (.22, .380, 9mm, .40, .45 and .44 Mag) for their “knock down power”. Sounds like I need to investigate my ballistics and evaluate my choice of bullets.
Comment by Tom — March 8, 2012 @ 11:02 am
A handgun is good for fighting your way to your rifle. Most carry handguns for concealability, but reality says that a rifle is better. And a slug in a shotgun is effective to 100 yards, so if you use a shotgun, know how to change ammo so you can slip a slug in when needed for longer range.
Of course people are killed with .22′s all the time too.
Comment by Steve — March 8, 2012 @ 11:56 am
I used to stress about bullet caliber and make/model…don’t even want to recall the number of hours I spend “researching” and nuking out the details. But then one day, I came across a story of a female dropping dead a 250 lb perp with a .22 to the chest. Now, I only concentrate on shot placement.
Comment by Jess Banda — March 8, 2012 @ 11:58 am
Very good article. So nice to see the application of physics in order to dispel both hype and rumors. In considering the quantitative energy produced on the firing end of the equation, one must also consider that the energy that is egual and opposite the energy of the bullet in motion includes both the felt recoil and the energy released by the muzzle blast. Though not highly significant, the energy released during the muzzle blast is energy that counters the down range energy of the bullet.
Comment by Jeremy Black — March 8, 2012 @ 12:59 pm
Great article! The author touches on shooting accuracy but space constraints probably didn’t allow for further exposition. One big issue concerning stopping power is accurate shot placement. High center of mass is the best area to do damage and to hit under stress. I guarantee that a hit bisecting the Aorta would lead to rapid incapacitation pretty darned fast whether it was hit by a .25 acp or a .44 magnum. It all comes down to rapid exsanguination or blood loss. The brain needs oxygen and the blood carries that oxygen. Similarly, a lung shot is fairly rapid in stopping violent behavior. The subject starts coughing up blood and a clean shot through a lung can cause it to collapse and become a sucking chest wound. Below that is the abdomen, kidneys and spleen. These generally do not take a person out of the fight in the short term. Fortunately in the same neighborhood is the pelvis. The pelvis is the suspension of the human body. Put a round through there, the assailant will collapse. He may still feel like fighting but he will be anchored to the ground and unable to move. Of course a head shot ordinary ends a fight as does any Central nervous system hit. However, these are areas that are harder to hit in a gunfight. There is a time and place for them but when you are being shot at and your adrenalin has reduced you to a shaking part blind and deaf blob, go with the percentages and shoot for the high center of mass and pray your hollow point ammunition expands.
Comment by Sivispace — March 8, 2012 @ 1:21 pm
Having been an Army Combat Medic in DS, and a Paramedic for over 20 years in a major city, I have treated 100′s and 100′s of gunshot wounds. I have seen all manner of caliber injuries in both the living and the dead. Caliber means nothing, location means everything! a hit to the cranial occular cavity will put down an attacker with a .22 or a 44 magnum. Hits to any other organs besides the brain require time for blood loss or delfation of lungs, or emotional shock and concious choice of the person to give up, or flee,(psychological knockdown). Dont listen to hype about caliber or gun models, pick the one your most accurate with, have perfect control with and practice regulary.
Comment by Firemark — March 8, 2012 @ 2:07 pm
El Duderino– there are some good sources for info on the Miami Firefight you can find through google, as well as a Youtube video from an old documentary which depicts it with good realism. Michael Platt is a good example of the role mindset plays in survivability– he was shot 12 times, including multiple shotgun hits, before he finally expired. I agree that the FBI should have brought carbines and I think they underestimated the threat level that day.
Jeremy Black– a Facebook commenter posted that his .40S&W delivers 400 foot pounds of torque and there’s no way he gets that much recoil through his hands, so Newton’s Law obviously does not apply. Newtons’s law doesn’t apply to handguns! Amazing the things we learn on Facebook!
Sivispace–Article is already too long. Analytics shows that the vast majority of readers don’t make it past the first paragraph of anything they read online anyway. I think maybe we should start putting ritalin in the water supply. Anyway I completely agree with your comments.
Comment by CTD Mike — March 8, 2012 @ 2:57 pm
Mike, of course it’ long. I’m an attorney with an English degree! But seriously, length of a post depends on the reading ability of the audience and whether it catches thier interest. This is an intelligent and committed bunch with more than a passing interest on the subject of staying alive.
Comment by Sivispace — March 8, 2012 @ 3:37 pm
I’m still a little confused.a heavier grain bullet will have more impact,but less velocity.which will have less penetration,some one help me on this.I practice with 220 gr fun 45 auto,I carry 165 gr jhp .am I defeating the purpose?
Comment by bob — March 8, 2012 @ 8:23 pm
It gets back to newtonian physics. A larger bullet has greater mass. In general, mass x force = energy. Therefore, a slower moving big slug carries more energy than a slow moving small slug. Plus a heavier mass would have greater inertia and therefore penetrate more.
Comment by Sivispace — March 8, 2012 @ 8:56 pm
[...] Shooter’s Log has a post on The Myth of Handgun Stopping Power. [...]
Pingback by Around the Campfire 3/9/12 | Hunter-Trader-Trapper — March 9, 2012 @ 3:44 pm
I’ll still always stick with my .45 and make em dead in one or two shots!
Comment by dboy — March 19, 2012 @ 3:41 pm
Excellent article that should be mandatory reading for CC practitioners. A human body hit by a 12 gauge slug or a .30-06 is not knocked down. The direction they fall, if properly hit, depends on their point of balance and body momentum. Movies and TV have created dangerous scenarios in the mind of too many people. Bullet placement is far more important than power. On top of which, too many people carry powerful pistols they cannot shoot accurately. They would be better off with a .22 LR that they could place shots with precision. FBI agents that could not control and did not enjoy shooting the .357 Magnum carried revolvers loaded with .38 Special. Same scenario cropped up with 10mm semi automatics. Too many agents (even a larger percentage) could not shoot the even more powerful pistol. This gave birth to low power loadings which led to the .40 S&W which is so popular. A well known LE Officer wore his gun belt to a social gathering and a lady asked him, Sheriff, Are you expecting trouble? No mamn, If I was expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle. That just about says it all. The rifle give you “extra range” because you can place shots accurately at a greater distance than with a pistol. Western Lawmen carried pistol caliber carbines and rifles for that exact purpose.
Comment by Old Soldier — March 22, 2012 @ 10:16 am
Then why is it illegal to use smaller calibers for hunting medium game?
Comment by DaShui — March 22, 2012 @ 10:16 pm
9mm with Remington HD Ultra hp’s or Hornady XTP’s. 38 special +P Remington HD Ultra hp’s. and .380 Hornady Critical Defense. All at the same time. Remember in the article where he mentioned continuing the life and death struggle after the gun is empty? I pull out another one.
Comment by B. Boston — March 22, 2012 @ 10:33 pm
I am a retired CSI and street cop, with military experience at the pointy end, and currently police advisor in Afghanistan. Every autopsy I ever assisted and crime scene I worked confirms your arguments. I have victims who survived .45ACP multiple shots, including a final execution style shortrange head shot, and other victims who went down instantly and permanently from a single shot, even a .25Auto in two different cases. Shot placement is everything, until you get into exploding artillery shells. Given what I’ve experienced, I’ve (when I have a choice, right now the ‘employer’ mandates Beretta 92 and M-4 clone, both with hardball ammo) opted for a Glock 26 with 147gr. premium hollowpoints. The ammo worked every time I observed it in use or investigated the results. Usual expansion equal to .45 HP, controlable and accurate, more shots per given bulk; I shoot Glocks better than other guns. And I carry at least one extra magazine. And I carry a knife.
Comment by John CSI — March 22, 2012 @ 11:20 pm
Good article. I would add one more point in caliber selection ~ for the fight in the courts afterwards. Shoot whatever local LEOs shoot. The local load may not be “the biggest, baddest, or best” round for defense, but…It is the most easily defensible in front of a jury. Disarm the prosecution who wants to depict you as some “overzealous gun-nut.”
Comment by David5 — March 23, 2012 @ 2:31 am
It’s the momentum (mass times velocity) of the bullet that is equal to the momentum of the recoiling gun. Energy (1/2 mass times velocity squared) is much greater for the projectile than for the firearm.
Comment by Mark R — March 23, 2012 @ 8:57 am
I agree that shot placement is critical, but terminal ballistics is very much varied on projectile weight, velocity, and design. Do yourself an experiment; go to the grocery store and buy a full uncooked ham. Take it to the range where they allow it and shoot a .22 into it then a .45 ACP in both HP and FMJ. You then be the judge of which causes more tissue destruction.
A human hit with a .50 cal BMG will be in pieces no matter where they are hit. Bullet weight and velocity are the variables in terminal ballistics, more specifically, foot-lbs of energy. I shot a deer once with a 180 gr bullet (30.06) with almost 3000 ft-lbs energy and that deer spun one and a half times in the air along its head to tail axis . Field dressing it reveal no heart and some lung tissue. Proof that caliber is vital.
Comment by Joe — March 23, 2012 @ 10:17 am
This article is right on target! For an even more detailed explanation of the science (not opinion) behind effective wound ballistics, check out the government research and analysis at http://www.firearmstactical.com/.
The quick and dirty priorities of how to choose a handgun for personal defence are as follows:
1. Choose a weapon platform that is reliable and that you can shoot accurately – if you can’t hit the target nothing else matters.
2. Select the largest caliber that doesn’t degrade your accuracy – bigger holes in the bad guy is better than smaller holes.
3. Select the heaviest bullet weight that doesn’t degrade your accuracy – more bullet mass means deeper penetration.
4. Select the bullet design that has the greatest expansion that doesn’t reduce penetration to less than 12-18 inches.
Following all of the above may only improve your odds of surviving/prevailing by 1-5% in the unlikely event that you find yourself in a self defense situation that justifies using deadly force, but if it ever happens, I want those few percentage points working in my favor, not working in favor of the bad guy.
Comment by JS2000 — March 23, 2012 @ 10:42 am
Great article. I’ve been carrying for many years, and try to obtain new info on what’s best to carry. Every situation is different and what might be best in one might be worst in the other (situation). I carry either my 1991-a1 colt .45 or (as I agree with authors who suggested carrying “the biggest load you can handle and shoot well with”) , my Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan .454. It’s my belief that a 250gr rnd hitting with 1800-1900 ftlbs will certainly do some damage even if a critical area is missed. (if what it does to my wrist is any indicator). I only started CCW it for defense since becoming proficient, cause its not something you’d want in a long drawn out firefight.
Comment by J Cedar — March 23, 2012 @ 11:18 am
The FBI testing after Miami was a waste. The best testing had been done over a century before. The FBI knew all this, but acted like they just discovered ballistics. The US Army before the US Civil war developed plenty of ballisitc proof. The Frech Minnie bullet was further proof. Big rounds that hit bone knock people down. Same as shrapnel. If you use a small round and hit a vital, then the effect is the same – as proven by splinter shrapnel at first and second Manasses in 1861 and 1862 and the Mexican war in 1848 and the battle of New Orleans in 1814 an the battle of Cowpens in the Amerian Revolution. The FBI had very bad trainng. They required special training to let a guy cary an S&W 59 – leadership were idiots. Army privates carried a .45 in WWI. Sgt York used it very effectively against moving enemies. The FBI knew this. None of the Miami agents were even allowed to carry a .45 But, they were not an armed force. No FBI brass were fired – they should have been. Handguns are interesting, but mostly psychological. Shot in the heart, a perp has 12 seconds to rumble. That’s 100 yeard dash time. As to flying deer shot with a 30-06, it is called reflex. They get hit, feel pain or the equivilent of a spike, and they do what comes natural to them – they jumo, flip, etc. If you fish, you have seen it from the big boys that thrash and the little boys who also thrash. A rifle shot does not lift a 160 pound whitetail into the air. The deer does it. Watch them fight – they can jump and twist. Watch them when a hound is after them – jump and twist. It’s a reflex. Bow hunters can also comment on this reflex. Horses will suddenly jump if the flies get too bad. Here is what I was taught in the military: if at all possible, call it in and let artillery destroy it or the USAF pulverize it. I agree with the author of the article; my comments about the former very poor leadership of the FBI are my own. Police brass is often concerned about image, not effective deadly force; they use stun grenades, not real grenades. Every cop who anticipates real trouble should be carrying: an AK, a metal chest protecor, a k-bar and a member of the top brass at his/her side. Nothing stops top brass from getting gunned up and going out with the troops. In duress, handguns are a last desperate measure for the law abiding. Ballistics is an ancient science. The gladius had 16 inches of pentration and left a large, permanent wound cavity. A fast moving Roman controlled that 24 foot circle, himself at the center, or his 3 feet in line. It is about training. Best regards.
Comment by P.F. — March 24, 2012 @ 9:31 am
So this article and comments from readers settle nothing. The jury is still out about knock down power. I am very accurate with my 9mm, but am just as accurate with my .45′s, so which to carry for self defense? HMMM. I suppose the question will never be answered between placement and bullet size as the most effective.
Comment by Rodger — March 25, 2012 @ 2:14 pm
Modern defensive hollow point ammunition in 9mm has close to a 90% on-shot stop incidence according to Evans and Sanow. This gives the 9mm roughly the same energy and stopping rate as .45 hardball ammo. Bullet designs and velocity can make a significant difference in performance. I just bought a Walther PPS in 9mm for summer carry. A friend of mine is a homicide detective. He carrys the same pistol. In fall and winter, I may go with my Glock 26 or Kimber Pro Carry when people start wearing coats on the theory that a plugged hollow point may not expand. In that situation, I want to make a big hole. The point is there are many variables in bullet performance and those variables must be factored in. I agree that a rifle or a shot gun are the weapons of choice if one knows he or she is going to a gun fight. Pistol rounds to not stop people unless you destroy the central nervous system. An assailant with a Kbar can be shot through the heart or aorta and still make you just as dead as he will be in six minutes. So if one is using a hand gun, one must keep shooting until the aggressor escanguinates (bleeds out) or goes into shock or cuts the central nervous system. That brings us back to shot placement and the two in the chest and one in the head drill. The only alternative is two in the chest and two in the pelvis which at least puts the assailant on the ground.
Comment by Sivispace — March 25, 2012 @ 4:02 pm
If you want more insight into what this article is all about, try “Bullet Penetration+ by Duncan McPherson. It will explain, in detail (maybe more than you need) what the “one stop shot” really is. If you want a guatanteed stop shot, you’ve GOT to interrupt the central nervous system. Good over view article.
Comment by Mark — March 26, 2012 @ 5:34 am
The timing of this article is great. We were cussing this subject just last night in my back yard. I was being asked my opin on weapons of choice, caliber, etc. I am 65, retired army with LEO experience. In addition, I read military history when I was a kid. I remember from those readings why the M1911 was developed, and why the .45 was the caliber. If you don’t know, research it. I carry a .45 as my choice because of it’s “knockdown” power. When I was LEO, I carried a .357 initially because the veteran officers said that was best, primarily because it would penetrate a windshield. I found that yes it would, but on the street it oftentimes keeps on going after hitting the target. I carried a .9 mm for a very short time, and will not own one, recommend one, and I hope if I get into a shootout, my opponent is armed with a .9 mm vs my .45. I also carried a .44 magnum ( I’m in the sw, and “dirty harry” said it was the “most powerful handgun made”. Well, after loosing my hearing in my right ear, I retired it to the bottom drawer. Over all, in the majority of situations, the .45 will do the job, and not kill the little old lady sweeping off her back porch 3 blocks away. Yeah, the rifle is best, but my favorite is about 24″ long when collapsed, making it difficult to CCW. Love, peace, and vote out the usurper.
Comment by Nanook — March 26, 2012 @ 7:01 am
Sawed-off 12 Ga, Semi-auto, Magazine fed 10 round box, W/slugs. Nothing like it!
Comment by Mike Moran — March 26, 2012 @ 8:10 am
Pathologist $.02. In the trade, we are taught pistol stopping power is a complex function of momentum (mass X velocity ), kinetic energy ( mass X velocity-squared/2 ), bullet frontal surface area and shape, and linear-energy-transfer (let). The latter is the rate at which energy is transferred to the target.
All else being equal, stopping power of slow heavy bullets tends to reflect momentum, as does penetration, lighter, faster ones kinetic energy. The break is somewhere around the speed of sound. The variable seems to be the rate of linear energy transfer, which becomes much higher around the speed of sound in tissue. Bullet shape also plays a role here, with wc’s having a higher Let than conicals. Highest LET are fragmenting rounds.
As for “shock”– there are reliable reports of it. Best guess is a variation of getting the “wind knocked out of you”. This is now thought to be due to a massive neurologically-mediated simultaneous contraction of the diaphragm muscles and maybe chest muscles in response to a blow. A reflex– like when the doc hits your knee.
In case you wondered about getting your wind knocked out— The muscles are already completely contracted, which is why you can’t draw a breath until the wave of contraction passes and the diaphragm returns to its resting state.
Comment by Dr P — March 26, 2012 @ 8:42 am
Some handgun rounds must be better at maximizing the characteristics most likely to stop an assailant than other rounds in a given caliber. So my question is where can I find information on which seems to be the most “effective” round for a given caliber bullet given appropriate shot placement. Time, finances, suitable impact medium, expertise, etc. prevent me from buying all available brands and doing my own evaluation. Somewhere somebody must have evaluated handgun ammo for LE or other purposes. Anybody know where to find that information?
Comment by Jim Greene — March 26, 2012 @ 9:02 am
It all comes down to shot placement. I read a monograph a couple of years ago in which the author, whose name I don’t recall, spoke of the “crush zone” and the “stretch zone.” The larger the projectile, the greater the area in front of it will be crushed ,and, therefore, the more permanent damage it will do. “Stopping power” may not be the most accurate descriptive phrase, but there’s a reason special forces gravitate toward .45 ACPs and 7.62X51s rather than 9MMs and 5.56X45s.
Comment by Pete — March 26, 2012 @ 9:16 am
“Handgun Stopping Power” Evans and Sanow. It is the bible of handgun effectiveness. A good understanding of anatomy is also important.
Comment by Sivispace — March 26, 2012 @ 12:35 pm
As with a hunting round, the size of the caliber is not nearly as important as where you put the bullet. The larger calibers simply give you more room for error AND more recoil to have to deal with.
Comment by Jack — March 26, 2012 @ 1:09 pm
I agree that shot placement is critical but I have read several articles that LEOs in a real fire fight hit their target about 10% of the time and my CWP Instructor agreed.As a Paramedic, I treated a perp, armed with a 12 Ga. who was shot at by 3 Officers. 2 had Glock .45GAPs and 1 had a 12 Ga. His non-fatal wounds consisted of multiple superficial buck shot wounds and 1 thru & thru slug wound to the shoulder. I feel comfortable carrying a Glock 23 with a spare Mag and firing JHPs. I practice alot including quick Mag changes. I have considered a Judge with slugs as an ankle back-up. Bottom line is: you have to have enough rounds to hit your target with some degree of stopping power.
Comment by Jimbo — March 26, 2012 @ 4:41 pm
The Newtonian fact is to have more energy a gun has to recoil more, the lighter the gun the harsher the recoil. So there is a point where a gun is unshootable. Most CCW guns are very light for comfort, but the tradeoff is less energy in the round, or more muzzle flip so slower less accurate follow up shots. With a hollowpoint all energy is passed to the target, so more energy = more damage. Carry the heaviest gun you can with the most powerful ammo you can shoot accurately, with the most rounds in the mag for multiple hits.
Comment by Mike — March 26, 2012 @ 5:48 pm
How many handgun bullets did it take to take down the guy in Florida?
Comment by zhora — March 26, 2012 @ 6:41 pm
FBI Miami incident…. http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs7.htm …analysis with particular data. Forget handguns for fast stops without psychologial surrender.
Comment by P.F. — March 30, 2012 @ 2:25 pm
so given the infomantion given if you have truely powerful lungs a spitwad to the heart is better than say a 44cal. that must be why police officers, who i might add have to kill criminals on a much higher occurence. that when they say we switched to larger caliber handgun for the stopping power because their 38′s or 9′s was not stopping the perpertrators, their just blowing smoke. The truth is the only reason that they ever went to smaller round is that it is easier to keep a smaller round on target, but now they are finding that larger caliber round hand guns do in fact have,”more stopping power”!! This is coming from people who have had many hours longged on the firing range!!! What it truly comes down to is if you had 1 shot to save your family, what would you want a .22lr or a sw500!!!True you may hurt or kill a family member, but what’s the alternative, lose your entire family plus your own life!!!
Comment by rick — September 28, 2012 @ 5:04 am
Bah.. penetration/accuracy is all that matters with underpowered weapons.
Ball for all.. reliability, consistency, penetration.
1911 .45 fan 230 ball..
Now 9mm nato ball..
Hole punching..
http://www.thegunzone.com/quantico-wounding.html
45×8=360
chances for good hit 8
double taps 4
pc 4.2
35×19=665
chances for good hit 19
double taps 9
pc 2.5
pcx2=5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45_ACP#Performance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9%C3%9719mm_Parabellum#Performance
Over penetration is over hyped.
Under penetration will get you killed.
Above article mentions exit skin=4 inches of muscle.
Comment by fred — October 5, 2012 @ 3:51 am
OK, I need something more than ADT for home defense, so what do I select? I was thinking a double barrel 12-gauge plus a .357 revolver…
I was mugged once, burgled twice, car vandalized and someone was killed outside my house with knife/knifes…
Comment by Art — February 27, 2013 @ 4:10 pm
Interesting all. A lot of couch hero comments. It seems that if you could always guarantee a kill shot, most calibers might suffice, but since a kill shot every time is only in the movies or egos, it seems that the most trauma possible to non-vital areas should be the objective. .22 LR in an emergency, 9mm better than nothing, .357, .44, .45 all seem better choices, especially when you consider heavy clothing, shooting through obstructions, deflections etc. Just my half penny worth.
Comment by David Novakovich — March 9, 2013 @ 12:20 pm
Have anybody thought of Tokarev 7.62mm? Its cheap and has a good penetration.
Comment by Near East — March 14, 2013 @ 2:11 am
Thanks for your nice comments everyone. I never shot anybody, hope I never have to, but – if I do – I want the biggest, baddest weapon with the most rounds I can carry, because a lot of lead is going to fly. I’m thinking M1A, but that would be kinda difficult to conceal.
Comment by spatin — May 10, 2013 @ 11:53 pm