Help Settle a Bet

[kdailey4315]

What bullet penatrates more? A 9mm or a 45ACP. Both being shot from a semi auto hand gun. Just speaking in general terms without getting into what material the bullets are being shot at.
I think a 9mm will have further penatration but a 45 will do much more damage.

[JNickel101]

I think you have to consider distance and what you're shooting at, plus the grain bullet you're shooting for each caliber...

I'd go with .45ACP, I've never shot one, but I've shot the wimpy 9mm Beretta (M9) and a 9mm Springfield XD....I know my .40 XD would outdo the 9mm....

[KarlVP]

www.theboxotruth.com

should solve all your problems.

[HaleYes]

Too many variables.

[KarlVP]

9mm according to a lot of the tests on the BOT website.

Somewhere on the web, there is a site for ballistics gel penetration testing.

[fiyerbirdie]

When shot into 2.5 inch yellowpages phonebooks that were duct taped tightly closed and then soaked in water for 12 hours, which made them about three times heavier...... so figure 66% water 9mm fmj penetrated to the 9th phone book. The .45 acp penetrated all 12 and was found not far into the hardpacked dirt. .45 semi wad cutters were well into the dirt.

Hollowpoints varied greatly

Homeloads with different amounts of powder were fun.

All this was very un-scientific, and fun.
yes I was a big gun nerd before I joined the USMC.

[5-90]

While the 9m/m has a history of overpenetration, it's not simply "penetration" that is the issue in terminal ballistics. You don't want "penetration" on a defensive round - you want "energy transfer."

That's why hollowpoints and wadcutters are popular as defensive rounds - because they transfer more energy into the target. The best defensive bullet is the one that stops about halfway to two-thirds of the way through, because it's transferred all of its energy into the target (and is a fairly large bullet. A .45 JHP that uses a soft alloy for a core fill is excellent. The JTC commonly used in the .40S&W is OK, at best - but still better than the 9m/m.)

[Me007gold]

if its in to water, the smaller the bullet the deeper it will go.

gotta love mythbusters.

[kdailey4315]

if its in to water, the smaller the bullet the deeper it will go.

gotta love mythbusters.

All of the bullets shattered within 2 feet making that kind of a moot point.

[HaleYes]

Hey, did you guys see the one about the plane and the treadmill?


:D

[beakie]

All of the bullets shattered within 2 feet making that kind of a moot point.

one thing about that, they were all fired near point blank at the water. So yes they did shatter.
I think if it they fired from the distance each gun was designed for it would be a different story.
Hand gun close range, 10+m
Rifle atleast 100m or so
It would give each round time to slow down a tad, and get a good spin going to it.
Would be neat if they did it again to see if makes a difference.

That was little off topic, sorry.

[SCW]

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/docgkr/myhomepage/Handgun_gel_comparison.jpg