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Handgun caliber arguments are dumb
- Thread starter Deleted member 79987
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As a criminal law attorney and former felony prosecutor, I've read a lot of autopsy reports, met with coroners and medical examiners, and talked to experienced homicide detectives. I have often asked specifically about the effectiveness of different caliber bullets / cartridges for self-defense.
They ALL say that bullet placement matters far more than the caliber, the velocity, or the construction of the projectile.
But, most of them do not recommend mousegun calibers, even though they all have seen plenty of murders where a person drops dead from a hit with a little 22 rimfire, or .25 or .32 bullet. They themselves carry medium caliber defensive pistols and that's what they recommend for friends and family --from 9 mm on up.
They ALL say that bullet placement matters far more than the caliber, the velocity, or the construction of the projectile.
But, most of them do not recommend mousegun calibers, even though they all have seen plenty of murders where a person drops dead from a hit with a little 22 rimfire, or .25 or .32 bullet. They themselves carry medium caliber defensive pistols and that's what they recommend for friends and family --from 9 mm on up.
So .22WMR... good to go? ;-)
What ever i can mix up...sometimes i just use str8 nitroWhat kinda black powder do you load those things with nowdays?
On a serious side, i run Unique or Bullseye with a 210swc hard cast
9mm is a range toy cali ber !
When a medical professional talks about bullet placement being the key factor, you have to remember that he's not talking about shooting a "tight group" at the range. We're talking about the very specific body structures that the bullet hits or passes by close enough to disturb through hydrostatic shock. This is a matter of millimeters, possibly centimeters, but not inches.
So while shooting a 4 inch diameter group right over the X ring of your silhouette target is great, inna man some of those shots through the X ring may not hit the specific nerves and organs that are needed to stop your adversary.
Skill with your firearm can cause you to have accuracy within inches. But really it's a matter of luck whether your bullets are on the correct course --millimeter by millimeter -- to hit what they need to hit.
THEREFORE I favor shooting multiple hits as rapidly as possible, rather than counting on a one-shot stop. The more tickets you buy in that lottery, the greater your chances of winning!
But there's a limit to how far I would actually bet my life on this information that I have been told and or deduced from years of study on the subject of stopping power of handgun bullets.
I "say" that having a rapid-firing semi auto gun in a modest caliber should be better protection than a very powerful magnum that holds fewer rounds, but in real life I don't know that I would choose a 12-round self-loading pistol in 380 caliber over a six shot 44 magnum revolver if I *KNEW* I'd be involved in a deadly force encounter later that day.
