Alternative look at Stopping Power

[TheTman]

I came across this article entitled "An Alternative Look at Handgun Stopping Power". I found it an interesting read and thought I'd share it.
My intentions are not to rekindle the never ending debate over which caliber is best or has the most stopping power, but rather to look at stopping power from a different point of view. The author did come to a conclusion I absolutely agree with: If you really want to stop someone, use a shotgun or rifle. It's a fairly short piece, and doesn't take up much time. The article is here:
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7866

[jmk1138]

I'm not sure if I understand statistics.

The .38, 9mm, .40, and .45 all had failure rates of between 13% and 17%.

Doesn't that mean that there is a 25% spread in failure rates (4 out of 17 is about 1/4)?

If my understanding is correct, I think that's a big difference. If I'm missing something, please let me know.

[georgepittenger]

Well a long gun might be a tad uncomfortable for an EDC , but my .357 Magnum , S&W revolver , may get their attention .....

I don't yet have a shot gun for home-defense but I can see one in my future .

[TheTman]

I dunno. I just breezed through it this morning, and didn't take a lot of time to analyze the data, just kind of got an overall picture of what he was trying to show.
I basically took it to mean there is no magic caliber that is going to stop a guy 100% of the time. I was going to look it over better this evening. And I think he is meaning to say shot placement is critical like a .22 right between the eyes is going to be more effective than a .44 mag to the shoulder. And that some people will just "give up" after being shot no matter what caliber, while someone determined to cause you harm might take a few rounds before he drops.

[TominCA]

I really liked his analysis. It says that caliber is not as important as was shown in the very comprehensive Marshall and Sanaow (sp) test. I think he has a point. He also recognizes "psychological stops" which basically says that a lot of people stop resisting no matter what - or where - they are hit or hit with. This has nothing to do with bullet type or shot placement.

His numbers show that everything 38 through 45 cal is really in a close range of effectiveness if you survey for multiple toso and head shots, but exclude bullet type. It is pretty interesting and for me at least, in keeping with what I see when hunting. Obviously shot placement is important and big, poweful calinbers are more effective than smaller, less powerful calibers, buit caliber and bullet type is not as definite as an analysis based on "one shot stops" would show.

This doesn't mean that one shot stops data is worthless; it just means that the one shot stop data sample really analyzes bullets, not gunfights. Which is waht it was desigend to do. This new study is very valuable in understanding what is likely to happen in a shooting.

[Dietrich]

Thanks for posting a very interesting piece.I was particularly interested in his findings concerning psychological stops versus physical stops.He`s right about one thing.As much as I love my handguns give me a 12 gauge with #4 buckshot any day.Great anti-personnel rig.

[TheTman]

Yep, a shotgun will make someone think twice about comin in, or stop thinking entirely if they do come in. I wonder how those little .410 Judge pistols would do loaded with 3" magnum, with BB's or bigger? I keep my 20 gauge youth model handy, loaded with birdshot, at the distances in my apt. 8-12 ft to the front door, it's gonna be effective no matter what it's loaded with. If I was on the farm, i'd definately have at least BB sized shot or bigger in my shotguns.

[ltxi]

Excellent....thanks.

[Gray_Rider]

Concerning pistol rounds and "stopping power" history favors large caliber bullets.

Read that as calibers starting with a [4] children.

History favors heavy calibers. Decade in and decade out for hundreds of years. There's no debating the facts when history is taken into account.

Gray_Rider
Deo Vindice
We warned you in 1862!

[Longitude Zero]

Outside of CCW I recall a range instructor intoning, "The on reason to carry and used a handgun is to fight you way back to the rifle you should have never put down."

Shotgun pellets are not as effective as many think. But a slug, now that can be a great attention getter.