Real good article about bullet wounds from various combat handgun and rifle calibers. Basically confirms what many say about handguns and stopping power.
Good read. However he stated the "victims" who were already dead were not brought to him. So, some of those may have been one-shot kills? When I was in EMS I encountered a man shot thru the heart with a .357 Black Talon from about ten feet away. Small entry wound, no exit wound. Massive internal damage. He was DRT. So entry wounds can be misleading. Just my 2 cents. I do not doubt this man's credibility or observations. Shot placement?
The article is an interesting read, but not really helpful regarding civilian self defense other than understanding that you need to put multiple-multiple rounds on target with your handgun.
Not that I disagree that larger calibers are more effective - but I would be interested in the figures on FMJ vs JHP. The military, to my understanding, only uses FMJ which we all know doesn't do as much damage in the human body as a JHP.
Modern hollow points minimize the effective difference in common defensive pistol rounds in regards to wound tracks.
Wonder if this will give pause to those who carry FMJ "because it penetrates farther"?
I too have to ask if it is possible all the single shot kills never made it to the medic for treatment? Dead is dead so little need to take them to the field hospital.
In my experience as a combat medic the canister or beehive rounds out the tank maingun were excellent one shot rounds. Then the 50cal, then the 7.62 Nato, then the 7.62x39, then 12ga 00 buck (under 25yrds), and lastly the 5.56; for handgun rounds the 45acp first, then the 7.62x25, then 38 Special. Obviously, blast wounds are quite bad, depending on multiple variables. Any gunshot can kill you if you're hit in the right place. Bigger/heavier is better, all things considered.
In my experience as a street cop I saw a lot of one shot kills, not a 100 but enough for me to realize early on that a magnum revolver is a great tool.
I think something missing from this article is that we are operating on entirely different principles. A warzone is a completely different environment than the streets where a thug just wants your wallet. Honestly, we're not looking for one shot kills, we just need to stop a threat and get out alive. The motivation is entirely different.
During my days working in an inner city hospital in Dayton Ohio, I saw a few very small gunshot wounds that were quite fatal. It was hard to tell a .22 LR from a .25 acp on the surface but some of the larger calibers were easy to spot.
Basically, I learned that I did not wish to be shot by ANY Caliber!
I believe what he is seeing from the 5.56 is SS109/M855. That design was chosen to replace the 55 grain M193 specifically because it did not fragment as much as the M193. It was deemed to be more humane. John Allen Muhammed knew better than to use M855 during his rampage. He and Malvo never fired a second shot. They had more than 80% one shot kills.
My takeaway from this is that ammunition performs as designed. The only people that should be using military type ammo are those that for whatever reason have no other option.
Seems like good testimony to use HP ammo rather than FMJ.
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