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This video uses the data from Greg Ellifritz's 10-year stopping power study of real-world gun fights to shed the light of actual data on several common beliefs about handgun calibers including: 22 rifles are the best bug out guns, 45s have the best stopping power, 380s are too small to be effective, 410 guns are gimmicks, and more. Here is the link to the original data and study by Ellifritz:
http://www.activeresponsetraining.net...

 
One thing that I think is often overlooked in studies of the "What is the best / most effective...?"
Is that what is the best or most effective for one person , may not be for the next.

It may be that according to a given study that a 9mm or 10mm or .357 magnum or whatever handgun caliber is best or most effective...
But...
The handgun that I shoot the most , can shoot the best and am most familiar with is my Colt series '70 in .45acp using 230 Speer Gold Dots...this is the best and most effective handgun and cartridge for me....which may or may not jive with any given study.

It is always good to do research and read various studies...I am not against that at all.

But no matter what anyone or any studies say...
If you are most comfortable with and do your best shooting with a______ handgun , using the _____ cartridge ...then that is the best / most effective combination for you which is the important thing...since your life may depend on it.
Andy
 
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The idea of a .22lr as a bug out rifle is not predicated upon it's human stopping ability but upon the idea of being able to carry a lot of perhaps "effective enough" ammo for the same weight as better killers, while being way better for game procurement.

That said, if I'm bugging out, my oldest kids have the .22lr duty. I'm going 7.62x39 or x51. I want something that dissuades even those behind some cover.
 
Didn't the British have some huge big bore revolvers back in the late 19th early 20th century? Big heavy bullet. Low velocity. Man stoppers? I wonder how those big bore revolver cartridges would measure up today? Dunno.
 
Didn't the British have some huge big bore revolvers back in the late 19th early 20th century? Big heavy bullet. Low velocity. Man stoppers? I wonder how those big bore revolver cartridges would measure up today? Dunno.

Actually, those big bore revolvers were horse stoppers. If it worked to stop the animal, it was considered enough to drop a man.

All along, with the .36 and .38 revolvers and then the 7.65 and then 9mm autos, there's been a counterpoint made that perhaps easier to shoot fast was the way to go, with the debate dragging on long past the horse cavalry leaving the scene.
 
Didn't the British have some huge big bore revolvers back in the late 19th early 20th century? Big heavy bullet. Low velocity. Man stoppers? I wonder how those big bore revolver cartridges would measure up today? Dunno.

I haven't shot enough of English turn of the century handguns to have a valuable opinion...

But I have shot plenty of .45 Colt in its blackpowder loads and various smokeless loads to know that it does work well on game and sure seems like it has enough "knockdown" on steel plates , even with loads that copy 19th century loads....
Andy
 
I posted my findings of my very short and nondefinitive study on here a few months ago, Ballistic Research - A very short non-definitive study and found a few things...

No such thing as best, there are definitely better calibers to use.
Shot placement will always be king, short of that, the smaller the caliber the more paramount shot placement is.
Pistol bullets don't have the power to be a reliable stopper in any caliber unless the shot goes in the snot locker...too many variables in the human body that affect it.

Andy hit it on the head...find a pistol/caliber you can shoot very well and call your shots with, go with the reliable expanding performing bullet, then train like your the third monkey on the ramp to Noah's Ark...and my friend, it's starting to rain.
 
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As stated before, only hits matter. My wife will never shoot .45 ACP well but she can dot your i with a .38 Special. Ergo her best caliber is the .38.
IMHO these studies are great for fun discussion but not much else.
 
The main problem I see with most studies such as this, they need to post the bullet performance with it.

What did the bullet come in contact with, what was the path, penetration depth, distance from muzzle to target, bullet expansion, crush cavity etc. Then as I experienced as well, those that should not have died from the shot(s) they received...yet still were added which skew the result.

Some bullets will fail miserably in their performance, which in turn skews a certain calibers standing...when the bullet design is at fault, not the caliber.

More credibility exists when just the facts are posted vs a comparison is presented...too many unknown variables to keep this useless "The best caliber" conversation going.

The conversation should be more along the lines of, what bullet designs for each caliber show consistent performance, when placed in the body for the best chance of incapacitation.
 
Yeah very hard to control the variables in a broad study like this. What we need are a bunch of volunteers in similar physical shape with similar builds to volunteer to be shot in precise conditions with each caliber.

Short of that, we're just spitballing and the selection of caliber is based on the individual ability to handle the weapon as Andy stated.

For me that's 9mm and a whole mess of them in the blood pump region.
 
It might be better to approach a study like this on the non effective uses of the calibers. Studies often look for effective use but perhaps a trend should be looked at in non-effective uses.

What failed? Penetration? Shot placement? Sufficient damage to neutralize the threat? Stress?
 
What I found in my short study is that bullets within a certain caliber failed to perform as advertised.

Some were advertised as being the next best thing to sliced bread, and some were gimmick garbage...had multiple projectiles that spun off, or incredible expansion diameters etc.

Yet the tried and true designs seem to come through more often than not.
 

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