An Alternate Look at Handgun Stopping Power

Buckeye Firearms Association ^ | 8 July,2011 | Greg Ellifritz

[JDoutrider]

Bump!

[RandallFlagg]

Oh, BOOKMARKING!!!

[MikeSteelBe]

Energy = mass x velocity SQUARED.

The trick is to choose a bullet which transfers all of that energy to the target without over or under-penetration.

Glasers can fragment too fast in some applications, and FMJ rounds tend to go thru without complete energy transfer.

[mad_as_he$$]

Back in the late 70’s I saw a ginormous Mexican absorb 18 - 9mm rounds from 30 down to 10 feet. He then proceeded to take the weapon away from the first cop and start beating him with it while the second cops struggled to reload. The second cop got a reload and pulled up on the guy and then he just keeled over - bled out. He was way pumped on horse tranquilizer.

[MikeSteelBe]

The Birdman Weapons Systems compact Barret .50 BMG with the micronuclear ammo is a good choice as well.

[Gilbo_3]

In order to physically force someone to stop their violent actions we need to either hit him in the Central Nervous System (brain or upper spine) or cause enough bleeding that he becomes unconscious. The more powerful rounds look to be better at doing this.

i recently read a study on this [ayoob IIRC], and the difference in the 'chance' of hitting something 'vital' in soft tissue is increased with bullet diameter...IOW a .45 will clip an artery where a 9mm in the exact same hole misses it...

besides that, only hits count...

[MikeSteelBe]

And, a .38 or 9mm in the head beats a .45 in the kevlar vest.

[Neoliberalnot]

If you don’t want to get sued, you best make it a lethal shot(s).

[driftdiver]

Nice charts, thank you

[Gilbo_3]

we shot a piece of mil kevlar with .45s, that was hung on a makeshift wood ‘stand’...we had to reset the thing after every shot, as the wood kept buckling under the impact, quite impressive indeed...

[MikeSteelBe]

The perps in the 1986 FBI Miami shootout were totally clean and sober, yet killed agents after taking lethal, but delayed effect gunshots.

I believe it was attributed to their military training, because there have been cases of people dying from the shock of non-lethal shots as well.

[count-your-change]

What? No fifty calibre?

[Bulwyf]

On my 2nd tour, we shot military ballistic plates with 9mm, and 5.56mm. 9mm just bounced off, barely scratched it. One round from 5.56mm almost went all the way through, and cracked the plate, so our confidence in those plates dropped drastically after our little experiment heh.

[Lurker]

Very interesting. Thank you for posting it.

[Gilbo_3]

indeed, there comes a point in the evolution of the armor makeing/armor breaking chain where the cycle favors the penetrator...ifn it werent for all the shrapnel and small projectiles that are stopped...

[Jeff Vader]

a good 22 has about the same muzzle energy as a typical 32acp round.

[Pollster1]

Greg Ellifritz (the author) made the charts; I just posted them. He did a good job though, I’ll agree.

[TheRightGuy]

taurus judge revolver ... winchester .410 PDX1 ammo ... one shot hits all

[Bulwyf]

Lessons learned were:

1. aviod being shot
2. double tap all targets
3. repeat as necessary

[mad_as_he$$]

Yup, I remember that. It shook the LEO world deeply when they realized that people who were not just criminals actually had the will to complete the mission.