Post by oldhippy on Sept 15, 2019 0:26:29 GMT
This was a concern and I believed it should be touched on a bit further.
There's no such thing as "stopping power" in handguns. There's negligible difference in common handgun cartridges, especially with modern bullet technology.
The most important things are:
Shot placement, recoil mitigation, follow-up shots and capacity, from the shooter, caliber and firearm.
Weight retention, pepentration of 12+ inches (with 14-16 being perfect), positive and controlled expansion, low flash, low recoil impulse are the most important things from the cartridge and projectile.
Note: Penetration of these Speer Gold Dot projectiles.
Also note the wound tracts and how little difference there is.
Also, consider that the wound tracts are narrow and contained within a shallow area. One should be less concerned with these tracts and more concerned with: the controlled and consistent increase of surface area of the projectile at its resting place, more concerned with weight retention and pushing the projectile as deep as possible.
The projectile at its resting place is what is pushing through and disrupting vital organs, promoting blood loss and incapacitating the assailant.
Note the minimal deviation in surface area between these commonly used, self defense cartridges (Winchester Ranger T-Series).
While the 45 Auto does have more surface area, one must consider this fact; the 45 Auto is designed to perform optimally from a 5 inch barrel. Once the barrel is shortened, the already low velocity of the 45 Auto drops quickly.
A reduction of just .5 of an inch in barrel can result in a 40-60 feet-per-second reduction in velocity (from advertised). Also consider most modern defensive 45's use a 4-4.5 inch barrel, a person is actually reducing the overall expansion and possibly causing a failure to expand, especially through heavy clothing barriers.
The 9mm provides good expansion over a spectrum of velocities, giving the 9mm an advantage over the 45 Auto (especially from 3 inch , sub compact barrels, to 4-4.5 inch "service barrel length" handguns).
The 40 Caliber Smith and Wesson offers the same advantages of expansion, but the trade off is; higher felt recoil, slower follow-up shots and loss in capacity.
This is how the 9mm is gaining popularity with Police departments, why the FBI adopted the 9mm and why the 40 Caliber is quickly becoming a cartridge of the past (along with the 357 Sig).
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