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Originally Posted by Roundeyesamurai
Let's state, for the record, one thing which ought to be held to be incontrovertible, but isn't (for one reason or another): There is very little difference in performance in living beings between various service-pistol cartridges. What little differences do exist are, at best, academic.
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I have tried very hard to stay out of this debate after initially answering Atua's question, but after this statement I find myself unable to resist. As I said in my first post, choosing a caliber is a complicated tradeoff that's different for every individual, but to say that there's no difference in terminal effect is laughable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roundeyesamurai
Please read that carefully, before coming back with some argument about 10mm in comparison to .380ACP.
We can hypothesize based on performance in jello, rehashing of "fishing stories" (including those told by a Colonel in Arizona and taken as gospel by altogether too many people), mathematical calculations, and hare-brained conjecture; but these are mere hypotheses. They're theories.
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You call all terminal ballistics research "theories" but then present absolutely no evidence to support your own "theory", instead appealing to "common sense".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roundeyesamurai
Common sense (and experience) tells us that whether you're shot with a .38 or with a .45, you're just as dead if it hits some parts of you, and not dead if it hits other parts of you. Under the conditions under which one would actually use them, they're too comparable to distinguish one over others.
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So, what are these parts? Well, we're basically talking about the brain stem and central nervous system (instant stop) and the blood supply (non-instant stop).
The brainstem and central nervous system are pretty well protected by being encased in bone. If we want to kill someone, we need to penetrate this bone, which is surprisingly good at resisting or deflecting handgun bullets. How do we increase the chances of shattering through the bone and damaging the central nervous system? Basic physics: increase mass, increase velocity or both. That means that not all service handgun rounds are created equal, and makes the choice of caliber important.
So what about the blood supply? Well we've got to put a hole in the heart or major artery and we've got to get the blood out. Penetration is still important (major arteries tend to be buried in the middle of the body) but not as important as a brainstem/central nervous system shot. We've also got to make a big enough hole that the BG will bleed out quickly. It doesn't matter if he's going to die in five minutes if he kills me in the next 30 seconds, so we want to make bigger holes. So how do we increase the chances of hitting a major artery and creating a large hole? Basic geometry: a bullet with a larger frontal area is going to carve up a bigger hole going through the bad guy, making it more likely that it will hit a major artery and more likely that it will rip a big hole in the artery. Again, not all service handgun rounds are created equal, making the choice of caliber important.
To stop a bad guy you do need to hit the right parts, but "common sense" indicates that some calibers are going to be more likely to hit those parts than others.