Concealed Carry Ballistics: Challenging the Stopping Power Conventional Wisdom

[MacFromOK]

I still maintain that shot placement is key.

I've said it before... for my defense, I'd rather have a .22LR in my hand than a .45 in someone else's.

However... I got my first handgun when I was 16 (I'm 62 now), so YMMV.

 

[druryj]

I guess I need to look at some of those you tube things.

Those guys really know their stuff. I mean, if it’s on the Internet, it’s gotta be true.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ethan N]

Can you imagine what would happen if people were allowed to lie on the internet? The world would be chaos.

On a different note, I can’t wait to hear the story of how you got shot next time we go out for lunch.

 

[Snattlerake]

Since the invention of weaponry, there has always, and will always, be the debate of who's is bigger, better, faster, lighter, heavier, sharper, blunter, more accurate, more deadly ... and since the invention of hand carried weapons that go bang has been the fodder for many, many articles in gun magazines. I thought the subject had been talked to death in 1983.

 

[dennishoddy]

Since the invention of weaponry, there has always, and will always, be the debate of who's is bigger, better, faster, lighter, heavier, sharper, blunter, more accurate, more deadly ... and since the invention of hand carried weapons that go bang has been the fodder for many, many articles in gun magazines. I thought the subject had been talked to death in 1983.

The bottom line is that pistol rounds suck no matter if its ball or the latest whammy jammy high tech bullet according to those that make money selling them.
The use of ballistics gel to demonstrate how wonderful they are is not really accurate in real life. Ballistic gel is a solid material with a consistent content throughout.
If one wants to get a real indication of bullet performance, they would stick rib bones, ink pens, badges,cell phones, buttons, etc into the mix to see what really happens to a bullet after impact.
I get it that they are trying to demonstrate in something that is a constant but that's not real life.
When bullets get disrupted, especially FMJ rifle bullets, and to a small extent FMJ pistol rounds their balance becomes question because the base of the bullet is heavier than the tip resulting in a yaw that can develop into a tumble.

Below is a bit of Ballistics regarding pistol rounds with citations.

Handgun Ballistics
These weapons are easily concealed but hard to aim accurately, especially in crime scenes. Most handgun shootings occur at less than 7 yards, but even so, most bullets miss their intended target (only 11% of assailants' bullets and 25% of bullets fired by police officers hit the intended target in a study by Lesce, 1984). Usually, low caliber weapons are employed in crimes because they are cheaper and lighter to carry and easier to control when shooting. Tissue destruction can be increased at any caliber by use of hollow point expanding bullets. Some law enforcement agencies have adopted such bullets because they are thought to have more "stopping power" at short range. Most handgun bullets, though, deliver less than 1000 ft/lb of KE. (Ragsdale, 1984)

However, there is a myth, kept alive by portrayals of shooting victims on television and in films being hurled backwards, that victims are actually "knocked down" or displaced by being struck with the force of a bullet. In fact, real gunshot victims relate that they had no immediate reaction. (Fackler, 1998) The maximum momentum transferred from different small arms projectiles, including large caliber rifles and shotguns, to an 80 kg body is only 0.01 to 0.18 m/s, negligible compared to the 1 to 2 m/s velocity of a pedestrian. (Karger and Knewbuehl, 1996) Incapacitation of gunshot victims is primarily a function of the area of the body wounded. Immediate incapacitation may occur with gunshot wounds to the brain and upper cervical cord. Rapid incapacitation may occur with massive bleeding from major blood vessels or the heart. (Karger, 1995)


The bottom line is once again, pistol rounds of any caliber are not typically game stoppers, and the old saying, My Pistol is just to buy me time to get to my rifle is a very true statement.

 

[druryj]

...

... I can’t wait to hear the story of how you got shot next time we go out for lunch.

I'm pretty sure I was crouched down in the wrong spot.