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Hope:
Before reading this post, I must say that on a practical basis, I agree with Bud in that most of this is academic, when considering various service pistol cartridges at very short combative ranges. However, in terms of broadening and deepening one's understanding of the study of firearms and ammunition, this material is invaluable.
I posted recently in another thread about this subject, and I'll post here as well:
Sectional density, in and of itself, doesn't mean very much. The combination of sectional density, ballistic coefficient, and velocity together determine the penetrative qualities of the bullet.
There is an Achilles' Heel to this formula, however: It doesn't predict the amount of "hang time" that a bullet will experience once inside the body. The greater the "hang time" (amount of time the bullet spends travelling through the medium), the greater the tissue disruption (due to exertion of energy upon the material surrounding the bullet). Too much of any one of the three factors will drastically reduce "hang time".
Hollowpoints are as effective as they are (in comparison to ball) for one very simple reason: It is possible to create a hollowpoint bullet which exhibits greater sectional density and ballistic coefficient needed to penetrate deeply, and such bullet can be propelled at greater velocity in order to develop greater kinetic energy, and then expand within the body and effectively reverse the SD-BC-V formula in order to assure a great deal of hang time (thereby assuring thorough expenditure of energy) by drastically reducing the bullet's penetrative qualities.
I will post more after bit, but I must breakfast first.
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