Trigger Trainers is
dedicated to personal protection and
defensive firearms use. From this
perspective, you should select the
most powerful ammunition you can shoot
comfortably, consistently and accurately.
Remember these 3 words:
COMFORTABLY, CONSISTENTLY, ACCURATELY.
For this discussion,
Comfortably means that you can shoot it all
day, every day. You do not mind the recoil,
noise, or flash. You do not flinch while
firing, and you can place a second and third
shot near the first in rapid succession.
It does no good if you
can't hit your target, again and again and
again.
To understand more
about choosing your ammunition, you should
understand what ammunition is and how it is
used.
The modern cartridge
was revolutionary in its design, because
before the cartridge, each component that
makes up the cartridge (primer, charge and
bullet) had to be individually put into the
firearm through its muzzle and rammed into
place. Click
HERE for more information about
the evolution of the cartridge and muzzle
loading firearms.
When most people talk
about ammunition, they usually refer to
bullets, however the bullet is only one part
of the cartridge. Some people also refer to
an individual cartridge as a 'round', as in
'rounds of ammunition'.
The
following diagram depicts the 4 parts of a
cartridge:
The
following diagram depicts the firing
sequence of the cartridge in the handgun:
This Photo
Depicts Common Pistol
Calibers. From Left to Right:
In firearms, caliber or
calibre is the approximate diameter of the
bullet used, measured in inches or
millimeters. When the barrel diameter is
given in inches, the abbreviation "cal" is
used in place of "inches." For example, a
pistol with a diameter of 0.22 inch is a .22
cal; however, the decimal point is generally
dropped when spoken, making it "twenty-two
caliber" or a "two-two caliber". Similarly,
a pistol with a diameter of 9 millimeters is
a 9mm; generally referred to as a 9 mil.
Click
HERE for information about different
types of ammunition.
When we talk about how
'powerful' ammunition is, we are generally
referring to its 'stopping power'. That is
to say, how much force is contained in that
bullet once it has been shot from the gun.
Muzzle energy is
the
kinetic energy of a
bullet as it is expelled from the
muzzle of a firearm. It is often used as
a rough indication of the destructive
potential of a given firearm or load. The
heavier the bullet and the faster it moves,
the higher its muzzle energy and the more
damage it will do.
The following table
shows some muzzle energies for common
pistol cartridges:
It must
be stressed that muzzle
energy is dependent upon
several factors
and that even velocity is
highly variable depending
upon the length of the
barrel a projectile is fired
from. While the above list
mentions some averages,
there is wide variation in
commercial ammunition. A 180
grain bullet fired from a
.357 magnum handgun can
achieve a muzzle energy of
580 foot-pounds. A 110 grain
bullet fired from the same
gun might only achieve 400
foot-pounds of muzzle
energy, depending upon the
manufacture of the
cartridge. Some .45 Colt
ammunition can produce 1,200
foot-pounds of muzzle
energy, far in excess of the
average listed above.
(For
you numbers types, I went to
www.ballisticsbytheinch.com
to get some data on the
velocity of various brands
of ammunition used with
various barrel lengths and
various calibers in a
controlled environment. I took
their results spreadsheet
and calculated the muzzle
energy using the Wikipedia
formula
to compare these different
calibers based on muzzle
length, bullet
weight and velocity. Click
HERE for my excel
spreadsheet with the muzzle
energy (in
bold green)
calculated for common
defense calibers, barrel
lengths and ammunition
brands.)
The 'typical' size
ammunition for personal defense ranges from
.380 at the low end, to .45 ACP at the
high end. Some say that anything less than
.38 is too small to have enough stopping
power, and that a .45 ACP is too large for
most people to use accurately. I believe
that a person who is practiced and skilled
in the use of their handgun can use just
about any size gun and ammunition if it is
right for them. Even a .22 'right between
the eyes' at close range can be effective.
However, the whole point is to find out what
is right for YOU.
For most people,
particularly new shooters, the largest
caliber they can comfortably and reliably shoot is a 9 mm
Luger. Some people can comfortably shoot
.45. Most police officers still carry 9mm
handguns. With defense ammunition, 9mm is
perfectly acceptable for defensive use. It
is also very cheap to shoot, as ammunition
is readily available everywhere.
Another common
defensive caliber is .40 S&W (Smith &
Wesson). This is intermediate in recoil,
power, and flash between a 9mm and .45 ACP.
For those who can comfortably shoot the
round in their gun, this is a better choice
for defense. The ammunition is a bit more
expensive than 9mm or even .45 ACP, which
should be considered as well.
Another common
cartridge is the .357 Magnum. This cartridge
started the "Magnum"
era of handgun ammunition. This cartridge
has sufficient energy to produce
hydrostatic shock (remote wounding
effects) in living targets, which
significantly contributes to its positive
reputation for
stopping power. (Hydrostatic shock is
the injury caused by the pressure wave
resulting from the high-speed impact of the
bullet.) Hydrostatic shock can produce
remote wounding and incapacitating effects
in living targets (in addition to the local
tissue damage caused by the direct impact)
through a hydraulic effect in liquid-filled
tissues. There is also scientific evidence
that hydrostatic shock can produce remote
neural damage and cause incapacitation more
quickly than blood loss effects. As such,
the smaller .357 Magnum may be a better
choice than the larger .45 ACP.
This
picture illustrates the
expansion upon impact of
Jacketed
Hollow
Point (JHP) ammunition of
various calibers.
From left
to right: Top View, Side View,
Bottom View
As you can
see, the difference between the
largest and
smallest is 0.12", which is
about an eighth (1/8) of an
inch.
However,
the diameter is not the most
important measurement.
Even though
the diameters vary slightly, it
is the AREA of the
object that
makes the biggest difference.
Caliber
9mm
.357 cal
.40 cal
.45 cal
Before
Area SQ Inches
0.09861
0.11341
0.12566
0.15904
After
Area SQ Inches
0.30190
0.31172
0.36316
0.43007
As you can
see, the area of the bullet
after impact is approximately
3 TIMES
GREATER with the hollow point
than the round nose.
This
video illustrates the
power of the hollow-point v/s
round nose bullets
Regardless of the
caliber, practice is
vitally important for everyone with
firearms.
I stress again, the
caliber that you should choose is the
caliber that
YOU can shoot COMFORTABLY, CONSISTENTLY &
ACCURATELY is what is important.
Defensive handgun use
is about stopping the threat.
Shoot to wound is a
concept only used by cops on TV or
Movies. Center mass is difficult enough
to hit in a stress situation. You need
to do what Law Enforcement does. Shoot
to stop the threat. Shoot as many big
bullets as necessary to stop the threat.
If he dies, that's his problem. He
should not have threatened you or your
family in the first place.
A recent deputy
buddy of mine said: "Stopping the threat
is between me and the bad guy. Whether
he lives or dies is between him and his
maker. Its not my responsibility."
Since bigger bullets
make bigger holes, larger calibers are
better. But, only shots that hit the target
count, which means that a miss is completely
useless regardless of caliber. Larger
handgun rounds are harder to accurately
shoot, especially under stress. Therefore,
choose the largest round that YOU (not
someone you know) can shoot . . .
