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Bullet that goes in and out again does far less damage, especially instant, incapacitating damage, than does a round that enters body cavity and remains.

I believe it was Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch who, talking about rounds going completely through the bad guy, said "Good, now he's bleeding through two holes".

Seems hard to disagree with that.

That's just macho talk. in a gun fight, you don't have time for your opponent to bleed to death. He can easily kill you in the time it takes him to bleed out.

You either need a head shot, an upper spine shot, a heart shot or what is more likely, a massive trauma body shot. Skin bleeds don't do you any good. Neither does another hole for it to leak out of. if the vessel is cut, shatters, etc. it doesn't matter if he bleeds internally or externally, as long as that blood is no longer flowing to his heart, lungs or brain.

A through and through shot to the abdomen may kill, but the bad guy can keep coming for at least 20 seconds.

I have seen PAVN take five 5.56 FMJ rounds in RVN. They went right through him and he kept coming. The subsequent M-79 round to the sternum ruined his whole evening.

Massive internal trauma is the secret to an immediate stop. That takes a great bullet delivered to a vital spot at reasonable velocity.

Think about it this way. Any energy that the bullet takes with it exiting the body is wasted.