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I believe the primary problem with this debate is that we (the firearms enthusiast) are looking for a statistical rate of probability that can be clearly defined and repeated.
Once it can be repeated than we can state that it will occur with percentages of probability.
Well to quantify human reactions to stimuli like wounding by gunfire is not possible and never will be unless the world becomes a very bad place to live in, it does in fact make for nice discussion and reading material and it does breed a higher rate of product consumption in the enthusiast.
I do not subscribe to either side of the argument (light vs. heavy) as I have been wounded and also delivered the wounding and IMO what I do know is that a handgun any handgun with light-fast, heavy-slow, expanding, non-expanding bullets is a poor tool to deliver an adequate wound that will cause the cessation in offensive action that we require (stopping power).
You can curtail that risk (failure to stop) by delivering your wounding mechanism of choice (Super Death Ray bullet of the month) to vital organs and structures that will cause death or near fatal injuries to your adversary. They have been detailed in thousands of cultures since the dawn of man and we should all be aware of what they are.
When your bullet contacts those organs if it has enough kinetic energy (weight and velocity minimums are important here, remember double the weight, double the energy, double the velocity quadruple the energy) it will damage them and deliver the wound you require, (remember that you can achieve either goal with weight or velocity provided that the projectiles construction is sound) if your bullet cannot reach them it will not harm them, if your bullet passes through the body/organs in question it will still damage them regardless of expansion, shape, design, construction.(any penetration of the vital organs is a bad thing and handgun bullets do not have enough velocity/energy to obliterate them).
Once your bullet passes through the antagonist you will be held both criminally and civilly negligent for the next target it encounters until it stops traveling.
So obviously once we have reached the minimum and maximum energy limits that a torso can withhold we have achieved our optimum balance in “stopping power”.
If we use more energy we over penetrate, if we use less energy we under penetrate.
It becomes essential then that the projectile is of sound construction that it can penetrate intermediary objects and barriers like clothing, glass, wall material to reach our target organs and still deliver adequate energy (this we can test for and develop statistics through experimentation as we already know what the minimum energy and velocity requirements are).
Like it- love it- or leave it the armed citizen, the police officer, the soldier, the hunter, all require a different bullet design and weight due to the intermediary targets/barriers they may come into contact with. The Police Officer that believes he will need the same ammunition as the soldier is fooling themselves. Likewise the citizen does not need and should not carry the same bullet design as the highway patrolman and the highway patrolman is going to experience a failure to stop if he is required to engage an adversary with a bullet designed for the citizen. Just as a skilled hunter will select his ammunition based on the weight and environment that his game inhabits each individual must choose their caliber and weight of handgun projectile carefully. If you carry only the “holy” .45acp and you encounter armed targets in varied environments the day will come that you will experience a failure to stop. Statistically we can also prove that you will experience a failure to stop. No pistol caliber is exempt and we also need to look at factors such as mechanical design, pistol size, availability, accuracy, the shooters ability and skill level.
We can begin to assess caliber sizes when we consider shooter skill, physical strength, and target distance. Let me show how statistical probability can work for us:
For the purposes of this model we assume the following:
1. Shooter A is legally justified in carrying and using a firearm. He/she is licensed as a citizen, police officer, solider whatever.
2. The firearm in question is accurate and reliable.
3. We know that in this person’s lifestyle and environment 15 yards is the longest range he/she will be engaging from.
4. We know that 1.3 seconds and 5 rounds can be considered effective stopping power based on the average size/weight person.
5. We know that more than one round from a handgun is necessary to provide stopping power.
If we can demonstrate that shooter A can present five missiles (bullets) into the intended target in the same area equally 4” or less to maximize damage to the organ group with a given caliber (.40 S&W for example) in 1.3 seconds At a distance of 1-15 yards. Then we would not believe that a larger caliber pistol should be carried by shooter A if the resulting time on target exceeded 1.3 seconds or the distance was reduced to less than 15 yards. To use the larger caliber pistol would actually reduce the statistical rate of stopping power.
If shooter A can achieve a faster or more accurate presentation to target by using a “smaller” caliber handgun (9mm) that still meets the 705 fps minimum velocity and 350 ft. lbs of energy we all know is required to achieve adequate wounding. Then shooter A is actually statistically increasing his/her ability to survive the confrontation by using the smaller caliber.
If we can show that shooter A is able to present the same amount/number of missiles on target in the same length of time with a larger caliber (.45acp) handgun then he/she will be increasing stopping power from a statistical standpoint.
If we can complete this exercise then our next step is to define our environment and develop an average number or standard if we must compromise and depend on the same firearm for multiple environments.
I will continue this post tomorrow and we will define our environments then.
Once it can be repeated than we can state that it will occur with percentages of probability.
Well to quantify human reactions to stimuli like wounding by gunfire is not possible and never will be unless the world becomes a very bad place to live in, it does in fact make for nice discussion and reading material and it does breed a higher rate of product consumption in the enthusiast.
I do not subscribe to either side of the argument (light vs. heavy) as I have been wounded and also delivered the wounding and IMO what I do know is that a handgun any handgun with light-fast, heavy-slow, expanding, non-expanding bullets is a poor tool to deliver an adequate wound that will cause the cessation in offensive action that we require (stopping power).
You can curtail that risk (failure to stop) by delivering your wounding mechanism of choice (Super Death Ray bullet of the month) to vital organs and structures that will cause death or near fatal injuries to your adversary. They have been detailed in thousands of cultures since the dawn of man and we should all be aware of what they are.
When your bullet contacts those organs if it has enough kinetic energy (weight and velocity minimums are important here, remember double the weight, double the energy, double the velocity quadruple the energy) it will damage them and deliver the wound you require, (remember that you can achieve either goal with weight or velocity provided that the projectiles construction is sound) if your bullet cannot reach them it will not harm them, if your bullet passes through the body/organs in question it will still damage them regardless of expansion, shape, design, construction.(any penetration of the vital organs is a bad thing and handgun bullets do not have enough velocity/energy to obliterate them).
Once your bullet passes through the antagonist you will be held both criminally and civilly negligent for the next target it encounters until it stops traveling.
So obviously once we have reached the minimum and maximum energy limits that a torso can withhold we have achieved our optimum balance in “stopping power”.
If we use more energy we over penetrate, if we use less energy we under penetrate.
It becomes essential then that the projectile is of sound construction that it can penetrate intermediary objects and barriers like clothing, glass, wall material to reach our target organs and still deliver adequate energy (this we can test for and develop statistics through experimentation as we already know what the minimum energy and velocity requirements are).
Like it- love it- or leave it the armed citizen, the police officer, the soldier, the hunter, all require a different bullet design and weight due to the intermediary targets/barriers they may come into contact with. The Police Officer that believes he will need the same ammunition as the soldier is fooling themselves. Likewise the citizen does not need and should not carry the same bullet design as the highway patrolman and the highway patrolman is going to experience a failure to stop if he is required to engage an adversary with a bullet designed for the citizen. Just as a skilled hunter will select his ammunition based on the weight and environment that his game inhabits each individual must choose their caliber and weight of handgun projectile carefully. If you carry only the “holy” .45acp and you encounter armed targets in varied environments the day will come that you will experience a failure to stop. Statistically we can also prove that you will experience a failure to stop. No pistol caliber is exempt and we also need to look at factors such as mechanical design, pistol size, availability, accuracy, the shooters ability and skill level.
We can begin to assess caliber sizes when we consider shooter skill, physical strength, and target distance. Let me show how statistical probability can work for us:
For the purposes of this model we assume the following:
1. Shooter A is legally justified in carrying and using a firearm. He/she is licensed as a citizen, police officer, solider whatever.
2. The firearm in question is accurate and reliable.
3. We know that in this person’s lifestyle and environment 15 yards is the longest range he/she will be engaging from.
4. We know that 1.3 seconds and 5 rounds can be considered effective stopping power based on the average size/weight person.
5. We know that more than one round from a handgun is necessary to provide stopping power.
If we can demonstrate that shooter A can present five missiles (bullets) into the intended target in the same area equally 4” or less to maximize damage to the organ group with a given caliber (.40 S&W for example) in 1.3 seconds At a distance of 1-15 yards. Then we would not believe that a larger caliber pistol should be carried by shooter A if the resulting time on target exceeded 1.3 seconds or the distance was reduced to less than 15 yards. To use the larger caliber pistol would actually reduce the statistical rate of stopping power.
If shooter A can achieve a faster or more accurate presentation to target by using a “smaller” caliber handgun (9mm) that still meets the 705 fps minimum velocity and 350 ft. lbs of energy we all know is required to achieve adequate wounding. Then shooter A is actually statistically increasing his/her ability to survive the confrontation by using the smaller caliber.
If we can show that shooter A is able to present the same amount/number of missiles on target in the same length of time with a larger caliber (.45acp) handgun then he/she will be increasing stopping power from a statistical standpoint.
If we can complete this exercise then our next step is to define our environment and develop an average number or standard if we must compromise and depend on the same firearm for multiple environments.
I will continue this post tomorrow and we will define our environments then.
