Originally Posted By fast99:
In a discussion with a friend about 9mm bullet weights. This would be for personal defense, close range less than 50' with the same defense ammo other than weight.
He is saying 115 grain is better because of higher velocity and would not penetrate beyond one person. I suggest 147 would be preferred because a higher bullet weight would do more damage and it's unlikely to go beyond one person anyway.
Are either of us correct?
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Well, yes and no. Sorta.
Bullets work on three ways;
They poke holes in the peoples doing damage along the way. Damage that makes certain things non-functional. Depending on which parts of the human structure are broken, a "peoples" can remain functional for a long enough time to be a threat, even when "shot".
Second, they make the blood leak out or, interfere with the body's ability to supply blood to the affected area. Such as the brain. Enough blood leaks out there's not enough oxygenated blood for brain function and the peoples passes out. Damage the lungs/heart, same effect. Blood loss takes a bit to take effect.
Then there's the Central Nervous System shot. Damage these structures and the non-functional effect can be quicker.
Shot placement is key.
Bigger hits harder. Just like cars. Same principle. Bigger holes, bigger damage. Caliber. Expanding bullets do present "bigger" when they expand, which they sometimes don't always. Primarily, an expanding bullet designed for defensive use is more for limiting penetration. (preventing over-penetration)
Please note. Torso shots don't always mean the bullet stays in. Even with hollow points. Arms, legs, not always. Not even head shots will always stay in. Depends.
ANY bullet can over penetrate its target. If you shoot, be sure of your target and what's around/behind it.
Faster also hits harder but comes at a risk of over penetrating. A big bullet going fast in theory, would "work better" than a small bullet going slower.
The world isn't perfect. Bullets don't always do what we think they should.
So. Use a load that functions 100 percent in your gun. One that's accurate. Place your shots properly. Use enough. What happens next isn't up to you.
My pick is still Gold Dot when I can get it. In 9mm I prefer their 124gr+p but I'll use the standard velocity load if that's what I can get. Federal and Hornady both make excellent carry loads. As does SuperVel. If you can find it. Supply & demand.
Over forty years I saw people get shot a lot but still keep going. Then the one 22 to the chest, drops somebody like they were poleaxed. Go figure. Head shots that weren't fatal or even "stoppers", 5.56 rifle rounds that didn't penetrate a solid torso hit and some that did. Same went for handgun bullets.
In range testing, 10 percent ballistic gelatin using the FBI protocols one can see the relationship between controlled expansion, penetration, bullet weight, velocity and retained weight. Even that didn't always predict what happens on the street. Imagine that.
Police generally anticipate a range of scenarios they must account for, using one bullet. So their pick has to do well over a broad range on performance standards. People. People with light and heavy clothing. Vehicles. The ability to penetrate common materials and still perform on the peoples. Drywall. Wood. Etc. Regular folks probably worry about performance on peoples primarily and not so much on vehicles and such. However. One never knows, especially these days. Getting kind of weird out there.