Originally Posted by
9.3X62AL
LA Man--
This whole "wounding potential"/"stopping power"/"lethality" question as discussed EXHAUSTIVELY over the years has generated a lot more heat than light. As a trainer and as one of the people going in harm's way at work for a long time, getting at the truth was a strong motivator. After some 45 years as a very active shooter in a lot of roles, I'm not sure that we can couch our conclusions as "facts" or even as "knowns". The results (terminal ballistics and the recipient's response to same) are just too variable, as opposed to the "exact science" statuses of internal ballistics and external ballistics. To corral terminal effects prediction is like herding cats.......a surplus of effort for a surfeit of results. In short, Caliber Wars are the wrong answer to the question raised (How do I enhance handgun defensive performance?) A better and more reliable answer should be "TO SHOOT WELL". Placing hits on assailants in meaningful locations is the best predictor of ballistic performance, and for darn sure when 91% of your defensive shots fired do not connect with their intended target, none of those background bullets will do you a bit of good irrespective of diameter, weight, or velocity. I'll take an X-ring hit with a 200 grain 38 bullet at 600 FPS over five 230 grain 45 ACP SXTs in the assailant's background any day of the week.