(no subject)
Friday, December 12, 2008
"Meditations on stopping power
(http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2008/12/meditations-on-stopping-power.html)
One of the Holy Grails of the gunny world is "stopping power".
Arcane formulas combining bullet weight, velocity and diametre in various
proportions are proposed, established, fretted over and adopted -- or discarded
-- in search of a pistol/round combination that will "guarantee" that the
user will emerge victorious in an armed confrontation. And choices once made
are defended with religious fervor.
*sigh*
To my mind, none of these formulas are capable of quantifying the most
important part of stopping power.
This is not to say that your choice of sidearm and your choice of calibre
aren't important in your search for "stopping power" ... but there is another
variable that is much more important than bullet size and velocity.
You.
It doesn't matter how big a hole the bullet makes ... if you don't carry the
gun that fires it.
It doesn't matter how fast that bullet is going ... if you never practice
with the gun that fires it.
I see that I have lost some of my Gentle Readers. Allow me to explain.
One of my training officers carried a Colt Lightweight Commander in .41
Avenger. This round was -- and is, to the best of my knowledge -- a custom
affair, involving a .45 Winchester Magnum case trimmed to .45ACP length and then
necked down to .410 inches. From what I've read about the .41 Avenger, it is a
perfectly adequate self-defence round.
This officer bought the pistol in the late 1980's, and fifty rounds of the
bottle-necked ammunition came with it.
In 1994, he still had 36 rounds left of the original 50. In ten-plus years
of carry -- patrol and otherwise -- he had only fired two magazines worth of
ammunition out of that pistol.
Now, some of the canyons that dot the Panhandle caprock are full of prickly
pear cactus. On slow patrol days, it wasn't unusual for gun-savvy officers to
utilize these plants for impromptu shooting challenges of the "Right, ten
yards, low, two fruits -- GO!" sort.
The one time we were able to chivvy this officer into shooting with us -- he
was unable to consistently hit a prickly pear pad at seven yards.
Folks, .410 inches; 170 grains; 1100 feet per second looks almighty good on
paper -- but if you haven't practiced enough to hit what you're aiming at ...
what good are those numbers doing you, exactly?
Another gentleman of my acquaintance -- not a peace officer, but a gunny
type -- had become enamoured of the 10mm. My paw to Freyja, the man had a
ten-minute speech -- spiced with multiple quotes from Colonel Jeff Cooper (pbuh) --
regarding the merits of the 10x25mm.
Not being able to get his paws upon Messers Dornaus and Dixon's Bren Ten
pistol, this gentleman had settled for the next best thing: a Smith and Wesson
1076 "FBI Special". And -- as with the round it fired -- he would happily
opine at length as to the man-stopping abilities of that particular pistol.
The thing is, didn't matter where he was, what time of day it was, or what
he was doing -- if you asked to see this wonder of gunfighting tools ... he'd
go and get it out of the safe.
.400 inches; 200 grains; 1200 feet per second are "stopping power" stats you
can't argue with -- but if they're in the gun safe at home when you're
face-to-bad-breath with a critter in the mall parking lot ... what bloody good are
those statistics doing you, exactly?
In contrast, allow me to introduce an older gentleman. He carries a
three-inch Smith and Wesson revolver in .38 Special.
Now, most tactically-aware gunnies will be quick to tell you that the .38
Special is towards the low-end of the so-called "stopping power" spectrum.
Matter-of-fact, most would tell you that .358 inches; 158 grains and 900 feet per
second is the bare minimum.
Thing is, that old gentleman shoots a minimum of 200 rounds out of that
pistol every month. He plinks dirt clods and charcoal briquettes with it; he
hunts jackrabbits on his oil lease and turtles in his stock tank with it; he's
taught his children, grandchildren and multiple acquaintances to shoot with it;
and he shoots in several formal and informal matches each year with it.
That pistol is a part of him. He puts it on each morning, and takes it off
each evening. The bluing has etched away from the thousands of draws from
leather he's practiced; and the grips are worn to match his hands.
If the eco-friendly fertilizer hits the rotating, oscillating, vector-flow
cooling unit that .38 is not going to be sitting useless in a gun cabinet:
it's going to be where it's been for the past several decades -- because he
carries it.
He's not going to flinch, he's not going to fumble his draw or muff his
shot; and each round is going to go exactly where he wants it to -- because he
practices with it.
That, Gentle Readers, is stopping power.
LawDog"
At the time of my posting, the first paragraph of the last comment, by a person billed as "Chris," reads:
"Lawdog!
I am completely unarmed except with Scripture. The 1 or 2 times where the world has nearly gone tits-up and a gun might have been appropriate were times when non-violence was the key to success. YMMV. In fact, I expect an LEO to be very concerned about issues such as caliber and stopping power. For myself, Scripture is far more deadly. A bullet can only take a life. The Word of God can send to Hell."
That individual gets slightly more reasonable shortly thereafter, but that was enough to make me dismiss him as a moron.
I like this post, because it makes a very good point, and trips to my parents' house (where I currently sit) always remind me that yes, it is cold; yes, I do still need to go practice.
Wonder if the Domain would accept an underground shooting range? Hmmmmmmmmm....
"Meditations on stopping power
(http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2008/12/meditations-on-stopping-power.html)
One of the Holy Grails of the gunny world is "stopping power".
Arcane formulas combining bullet weight, velocity and diametre in various
proportions are proposed, established, fretted over and adopted -- or discarded
-- in search of a pistol/round combination that will "guarantee" that the
user will emerge victorious in an armed confrontation. And choices once made
are defended with religious fervor.
*sigh*
To my mind, none of these formulas are capable of quantifying the most
important part of stopping power.
This is not to say that your choice of sidearm and your choice of calibre
aren't important in your search for "stopping power" ... but there is another
variable that is much more important than bullet size and velocity.
You.
It doesn't matter how big a hole the bullet makes ... if you don't carry the
gun that fires it.
It doesn't matter how fast that bullet is going ... if you never practice
with the gun that fires it.
I see that I have lost some of my Gentle Readers. Allow me to explain.
One of my training officers carried a Colt Lightweight Commander in .41
Avenger. This round was -- and is, to the best of my knowledge -- a custom
affair, involving a .45 Winchester Magnum case trimmed to .45ACP length and then
necked down to .410 inches. From what I've read about the .41 Avenger, it is a
perfectly adequate self-defence round.
This officer bought the pistol in the late 1980's, and fifty rounds of the
bottle-necked ammunition came with it.
In 1994, he still had 36 rounds left of the original 50. In ten-plus years
of carry -- patrol and otherwise -- he had only fired two magazines worth of
ammunition out of that pistol.
Now, some of the canyons that dot the Panhandle caprock are full of prickly
pear cactus. On slow patrol days, it wasn't unusual for gun-savvy officers to
utilize these plants for impromptu shooting challenges of the "Right, ten
yards, low, two fruits -- GO!" sort.
The one time we were able to chivvy this officer into shooting with us -- he
was unable to consistently hit a prickly pear pad at seven yards.
Folks, .410 inches; 170 grains; 1100 feet per second looks almighty good on
paper -- but if you haven't practiced enough to hit what you're aiming at ...
what good are those numbers doing you, exactly?
Another gentleman of my acquaintance -- not a peace officer, but a gunny
type -- had become enamoured of the 10mm. My paw to Freyja, the man had a
ten-minute speech -- spiced with multiple quotes from Colonel Jeff Cooper (pbuh) --
regarding the merits of the 10x25mm.
Not being able to get his paws upon Messers Dornaus and Dixon's Bren Ten
pistol, this gentleman had settled for the next best thing: a Smith and Wesson
1076 "FBI Special". And -- as with the round it fired -- he would happily
opine at length as to the man-stopping abilities of that particular pistol.
The thing is, didn't matter where he was, what time of day it was, or what
he was doing -- if you asked to see this wonder of gunfighting tools ... he'd
go and get it out of the safe.
.400 inches; 200 grains; 1200 feet per second are "stopping power" stats you
can't argue with -- but if they're in the gun safe at home when you're
face-to-bad-breath with a critter in the mall parking lot ... what bloody good are
those statistics doing you, exactly?
In contrast, allow me to introduce an older gentleman. He carries a
three-inch Smith and Wesson revolver in .38 Special.
Now, most tactically-aware gunnies will be quick to tell you that the .38
Special is towards the low-end of the so-called "stopping power" spectrum.
Matter-of-fact, most would tell you that .358 inches; 158 grains and 900 feet per
second is the bare minimum.
Thing is, that old gentleman shoots a minimum of 200 rounds out of that
pistol every month. He plinks dirt clods and charcoal briquettes with it; he
hunts jackrabbits on his oil lease and turtles in his stock tank with it; he's
taught his children, grandchildren and multiple acquaintances to shoot with it;
and he shoots in several formal and informal matches each year with it.
That pistol is a part of him. He puts it on each morning, and takes it off
each evening. The bluing has etched away from the thousands of draws from
leather he's practiced; and the grips are worn to match his hands.
If the eco-friendly fertilizer hits the rotating, oscillating, vector-flow
cooling unit that .38 is not going to be sitting useless in a gun cabinet:
it's going to be where it's been for the past several decades -- because he
carries it.
He's not going to flinch, he's not going to fumble his draw or muff his
shot; and each round is going to go exactly where he wants it to -- because he
practices with it.
That, Gentle Readers, is stopping power.
LawDog"
At the time of my posting, the first paragraph of the last comment, by a person billed as "Chris," reads:
"Lawdog!
I am completely unarmed except with Scripture. The 1 or 2 times where the world has nearly gone tits-up and a gun might have been appropriate were times when non-violence was the key to success. YMMV. In fact, I expect an LEO to be very concerned about issues such as caliber and stopping power. For myself, Scripture is far more deadly. A bullet can only take a life. The Word of God can send to Hell."
That individual gets slightly more reasonable shortly thereafter, but that was enough to make me dismiss him as a moron.
I like this post, because it makes a very good point, and trips to my parents' house (where I currently sit) always remind me that yes, it is cold; yes, I do still need to go practice.
Wonder if the Domain would accept an underground shooting range? Hmmmmmmmmm....