OIS and the 9mm round

Ratfink · Sep 21, 2019

ferret427 said:
I used to be friends with a forensic pathologist for the FBI. I got to see some really cool X-RAYS and photos. To be honest, your average pistol round tends to make a hole. A rifle round when striking bone cause some really nasty wounds..I mean like really nasty.

Your average pistol cartridge, fired from a pistol are for the most part similar. There can be mitigating factors such as barriers, angle of attack and whatnot.

Overall, the energy differentials and how a given projectile works in flesh for such cartridges is marginal at best. Ballistic gelatin is a nice comparison between rounds for rate of energy transfer. However, gelatin does not show anything about a given cartridge's efficacy when encountering actual flesh. In addition BG will give no indication as to stopping probability. In many wounds, the majority of damage is due to secondary characteristics. For example, a pelvic girdle shoot with a 9mm fired from a short barreled pistol may not even crack bone. A 5.56 round fired at SD distance out of a carbine will not only crack bone, but can cause significant spalling of ossic material throughout surrounding tissue, and may we'll make a huge mess on exit (not from the bullet, but from bone fragments).

For pistol cartridges, when evaluating BG profiles, remember that gelatin is FAR more prone to tearing (this makes for pretty pictures manufacturers like to say simulate wound channels, hydrostatic and permanent cavities, and the like). Tissue is nothing like homogenous gelatin. Gelatin is a useful measure for comparing the differences in the energy between different loads, not the ability of a load/bullet profile to damage an area of tissue somewhere on a body the projectile happens to strike.

Pick a pistol caliber, cartridge and firearm you like and learn to shoot it. Just understand that you will not get rifle wound characteristics from a pistol of any common SD round. The trade off is size of firearm, ease of carry, cost of ammunition, and convenience to use.

True but.... When having to shoot through an object like a vehicle, penetration changes with some calibers. Saw it first hand

Certaindeaf · Sep 21, 2019

ferret427 said:
I used to be friends with a forensic pathologist for the FBI. I got to see some really cool X-RAYS and photos. To be honest, your average pistol round tends to make a hole. A rifle round when striking bone cause some really nasty wounds..I mean like really nasty.

Your average pistol cartridge, fired from a pistol are for the most part similar. There can be mitigating factors such as barriers, angle of attack and whatnot.

Overall, the energy differentials and how a given projectile works in flesh for such cartridges is marginal at best. Ballistic gelatin is a nice comparison between rounds for rate of energy transfer. However, gelatin does not show anything about a given cartridge's efficacy when encountering actual flesh. In addition BG will give no indication as to stopping probability. In many wounds, the majority of damage is due to secondary characteristics. For example, a pelvic girdle shoot with a 9mm fired from a short barreled pistol may not even crack bone. A 5.56 round fired at SD distance out of a carbine will not only crack bone, but can cause significant spalling of ossic material throughout surrounding tissue, and may we'll make a huge mess on exit (not from the bullet, but from bone fragments).

For pistol cartridges, when evaluating BG profiles, remember that gelatin is FAR more prone to tearing (this makes for pretty pictures manufacturers like to say simulate wound channels, hydrostatic and permanent cavities, and the like). Tissue is nothing like homogenous gelatin. Gelatin is a useful measure for comparing the differences in the energy between different loads, not the ability of a load/bullet profile to damage an area of tissue somewhere on a body the projectile happens to strike.

Pick a pistol caliber, cartridge and firearm you like and learn to shoot it. Just understand that you will not get rifle wound characteristics from a pistol of any common SD round. The trade off is size of firearm, ease of carry, cost of ammunition, and convenience to use.