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To: de Buillion; Lurker
I read it in a police journal shortly before I retired, which was in 1991.

I was interested because at the time our department was looking at adopting a new handgun as its standard.

As I remember it the study involved the probability of incapacitating a man with a hit in the thorax at the average distance of a police/criminal gunfight involving handguns, which is closer than you might think.

The .40 supersonic round is ferocious, but it is not suitable for normal policing because of its recoil, muzzle blast and flash (important indoors under low-light conditions) and penetration).

I doubt the info is available on-line due to the limited nature of its distribution.

46 posted on 01/14/2006 11:03:52 AM PST by quidnunc (Omnis Gaul delenda est)
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To: quidnunc
Wow, did you get some incorrect info on the .40 cal.

I'll be back to you later with some figures, but of all the adjectives I can think of to describe the .40 round 'ferocious' isn't one of them, not even if it's moving faster than 1100 fps.

Recoil and 'muzzle blast' are functions of the weight of the firearm and the length of the barrel, so I don't know where the authors of the article you read came up with their data. A .40 cal fired from a small gun can have the felt recoil of a .357 mag fired from a gun which is heavier. That part's simple physics.

I have no doubt you got your info from a trade publication written for the LE industry back in the early 1990s which described the .40 being capable of incapacitating someone with a single torso shot. It is possible, it's just not bloody likely in the real world.

L

56 posted on 01/14/2006 11:39:32 PM PST by Lurker (You don't let a pack of wolves into the house just because they're related to the family dog.)
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