Posted on 05/30/2022 5:59:53 AM PDT by marktwain
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)-– Before electronic chronographs became common, or ballistic gelatin was thought of, a standard for bullet penetration was the number of 7/8″ soft pine boards, spaced an inch or so apart, which the bullets would penetrate.
In Pistols & Revolvers, Volume One of the N.R.A. Book of Small Arms, published in 1946, penetration of pistol and revolver cartridges are given in the number of 7/8″ pine boards the specific round would penetrate. Soft pine is not an easy standard to replicate. Trees grown in different areas have different densities, as do different species. The age of the wood can make a difference. Ballistic gelatin does a better job of measuring bullet expansion, for expanding bullets.
If you wish to measure penetration, one of the author’s colleagues and a source for several bear defensive incidents, has offered an inexpensive solution. Due to privacy concerns, he wishes to be known as Old N Bold. He has experimented extensively, using inexpensive sheetrock as a consistent medium to measure bullet penetration. The author has lightly edited his comments.
Here are his comments and the experimental results of his ballistic sheetrock penetration tests:
By OLD N BOLD
Many have questioned the effectiveness of various handgun calibers and bullets for bear defense. Years ago the US fish and Wildlife quote was 50% success for handguns. Tom Smiths and Steven Herrero’s 37 pistol uses against bears said 84%, including cases where the handgun was not fired. Dean Weingarten’s records/statistics reveal a much higher success rate when the handgun was fired. Now that Dean’s numbers far exceed the hundred mark (123) let there be no doubt.
Why can a pistol bullet with modest velocity and muzzle energy get the job done? The answer is simple. PENETRATION.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Much better than lining people up in a row and shooting
the first person through the head and seeing how many
others behind them dies as a means of cost savings on ammo.
this was done in WWII so don't go thinking I'm twisted.
Here’s the original.
https://www.theboxotruth.com/threads/the-box-o-truth-1-the-original-box-o-truth.278/
Hopefully, they were cadavers - or if a shortage of that at least Democrats 😂 !!
Kinetic energy (or muzzle energy, which is KE by another name) increases with the square of the change in velocity, and it would be ridiculous to assert that a bullet's potential to inflict damage also increases exponentially with velocity.
A 17-grain Hornady .17 HMR V-Max from a 24" barrel makes an "advertised" 245 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. The website 'Loose Rounds' tested a 265-gr Webley cartridge from a 6" Webley MkV revolver and found it made 184 FPE at the muzzle. But portability issues aside, which would you rather use in self-defense, a .17 HMR or a Webley .455?
And OBTW, that Webley .455 -- with an astonishing muzzle velocity of 559 fps -- penetrated 18" in calibrated ballistic gel.
A Yankee .68-cal Springfield Model 1855 made a little over 1100 fpe. A Confederate .577-cal Pattern 1853 Enfield made nearer to 900 fpe. Yet those weapons were certain to shatter bone and created some of the most gruesome battlefield wounds ever seen. Very little KE but lots and lots of momentum.
One thing bow hunters and dangerous game hunters have in common is they favor heavy projectiles over high velocity (& high KE with it) because penetration favors mass, not KE.
A man more learned than me once wrote,
The Gospel of KE: proposed by the ignorant, parroted by the unknowing, and evangelized by those who failed high school physics.... "
Have ya seen the price of lumber these days?
It’s not just velocity and mass. The shape and composition of the projectile determine penetration v tissue impact.
Very interesting, thanks for posting.
Paul Harrell’s meat targets make sense to me. He and Travis Haley are probably my two favorite gun youtubers. Hickock45 is good, but his personal range set up stirs up too many feelings of envy
The communists also reportedly saved ammo when executing prisoners, by simply hammering an empty cartridge case into the back of each victim's neck.
Who'd a thunk the US would ever turn socialist/communist?
Hi.
We used to use telephone books. Crude, but informative.
5.56mm
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