In the gun community, there is an idea that stopping power and knockdown power are a myth.
SCIENCE!, yanno, the stuff that actually involves real research, study, lots of maths, empirical evidence and so forth disagrees.
SCIENCE!
These links will not convince any of the gun nerds (Hi fam!) otherwise. Cool. And in other news some people refuse to accept, the earth is a sphere, not flat.
EDIT: Me bud Mike Moore passes along this article by a real expert who did real research.
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/an-alternate-look-at-handgun-stopping-power
But lets take a look at the two ideas in a way some people will understand.
EDIT: Me bud Mike Moore passes along this article by a real expert who did real research.
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/an-alternate-look-at-handgun-stopping-power
But lets take a look at the two ideas in a way some people will understand.
STOPPING POWER
What is stopping power? This is the problem. Ask 10 gun nerds and you can get anywhere from 2 to several dozen opinions.
To me, stopping power is the ability of a projectile to interrupt how fast a bullet stops what I shoot. Period.
Just for the record, two elephants were killed with a 22 Long Rifle, considered one of the weakest cartridges you can get. A very few are even weaker. These pachyderms were shot behind the front leg and the bullet nicked an artery. The critters bled to death.
That is pretty weak stopping power. In this case, Dumbo and Jumbo had plenty of time to turn around and stomp the shooter into a bloody hole.
Just for the record, two elephants were killed with a 22 Long Rifle, considered one of the weakest cartridges you can get. A very few are even weaker. These pachyderms were shot behind the front leg and the bullet nicked an artery. The critters bled to death.
That is pretty weak stopping power. In this case, Dumbo and Jumbo had plenty of time to turn around and stomp the shooter into a bloody hole.
Dangerous game guns are capable of dropping an elephant, rhino or Cape buffalo in its tracks. That is stopping power. These bullets penetrate very tough hide, thick and very dense bone and still manage to deliver enough wallop to disable the shot critter. Lulu and Ellie collapse without taking another step.
Stopping power.
Stopping power.
Bah. If you still think stopping power is a myth, here is another example.
If you shoot an A-10 Thunderbolt with a 22 LR, the pilot will likely never notice. Shoot a Warthog with a Sidewinder missile and the pilot will certainly know, if he survives. The Sidewinder stops the plane.
If you shoot an A-10 Thunderbolt with a 22 LR, the pilot will likely never notice. Shoot a Warthog with a Sidewinder missile and the pilot will certainly know, if he survives. The Sidewinder stops the plane.
KNOCKDOWN POWER
Is knockdown power real? Absolutely.
Knockdown power, to me, is the ability of a projectile (bullet) to knock down, flip, etc. the target. In other words, will it make a target move, as in fall down move? Will the bullet knock a target backward? It is almost the same thing as stopping power. You need a fine measuring device to see the difference.
This does has something to do with how sturdy the target is. Shoot a piece of paper not attached to anything and it will move. Shoot it with a BB gun and the paper will move. Shoot the same paper mounted to a frame and it does not move.
Knockdown power, to me, is the ability of a projectile (bullet) to knock down, flip, etc. the target. In other words, will it make a target move, as in fall down move? Will the bullet knock a target backward? It is almost the same thing as stopping power. You need a fine measuring device to see the difference.
This does has something to do with how sturdy the target is. Shoot a piece of paper not attached to anything and it will move. Shoot it with a BB gun and the paper will move. Shoot the same paper mounted to a frame and it does not move.
Go back to the two elephants above. A 22 LR has almost no stopping power where they are concerned.
Don't take my word for it. Shoot some ballistic gel and find out. Again, take that 22 LR and shoot a block of gelatin and it barely moves.
My friend Scott at Kentucky Ballistics should put the idea that knockdown power does not exist to rest. He proves it pretty thoroughly by shooting a 4 Bore rifle into gel blocks.
If knockdown power is a myth, then why do gel blocks react like that?
BULLET DESIGN
At some point, a gun nerd is going to bring up bullet design. Good. Bullet design does affect stopping power and knockdown power. Scott's 4 Bore video demonstrates that pretty well. Witness the flat point v. the round nose. MAJOR difference.
Bullet design is intrinsic to knockdown and stopping power. Anyone who shoots enough to know the difference between hardball and JHP should be able to see that.
SEMANTICS
The real issue here is a matter of semantics, language. Some in the gun community are hidebound to hard and fast and never-changing definitions of certain words. Language does not work that way.
The myth folks are stuck to their definitions like stink on a roadkill skunk. Other folks are willing to adapt to the changes.
The myth folks are stuck to their definitions like stink on a roadkill skunk. Other folks are willing to adapt to the changes.
A great example of this in the gun community is the difference between clip and magazine. The general public does not see or care about any difference. Gun nerds do.
An even more esoteric gun nerd difference is handgun v. pistol. A pistol is a handgun, always, but a handgun is not always a pistol. Really.
Wanna spin your head a little more? In the US under ATF regulations, we have pistols, revolvers. Under actual US law, we have handguns. That last link may or may not work. For some reason, it has "terrorism" as a key term and I did not use terrorism to find 18 USC 921: Definitions.
Wanna spin your head a little more? In the US under ATF regulations, we have pistols, revolvers. Under actual US law, we have handguns. That last link may or may not work. For some reason, it has "terrorism" as a key term and I did not use terrorism to find 18 USC 921: Definitions.
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