On many of the gun forums, whenever a discussion of sufficient penetration of bullets vs. the overpenetration of bullets on a body arises, I often see posts similar to the following:
"The bullet is transferring a tremendous amount of energy into the target as it decelerates in the body. For me over penetration is considered wasted energy since the bullets energy is not competely transferred into the target."
One camp, reflected in the quote above, seems to believe that a bullet which penetrates deeply, but not through and through, somehow "dumps" more energy into a body since the round stops before exiting.
The other camp, the one to which I tend to subscribe, believes that a bullet which blows through a target tends to dump lots of energy all the way through the target and also leaves another hole through which more blood/ air might leak out of the goblin.
So, in your opinion, which is it? Does the 44 Magnum tend to transfer more energy to a target during a "through and through" than a .45ACP coming to rest in the body? Or, does the deceleration of the round somehow contribute to some sort of "energy dump" due to the round coming to a stop?
My opinion is that the 44 Magnum ripping through a person would tend to send a shockwave through them from front to back and would continue to have energy emitting from it as it continued on its merry way past the target! Yes, the 44magnum has more energy to give to targets past your primary one, but isn't a through and through the epitome of the maximum transfer of energy to that primary target resulting in the round continuing to destroy tissue all the way through???
I am not here to address the issue of environmental considerations (i.e. bystanders hit by overpenetrating bullets) in this discussion, because, of course, one must consider this in choosing a defensive handgun. However, I am simply wanting to talk about the myth/ truth of this idea of "wasted" energy or bullets coming to rest in the body somehow "dumping" more energy into the body because they have come to rest.
What are your thoughts? If you are being charged by a 300 lb. goblin and have the .45 in one hand and the 44 Magnum in the other, which do you feel confident would do more to slow him down/ dump more energy into him?
Vanguard.45
"The bullet is transferring a tremendous amount of energy into the target as it decelerates in the body. For me over penetration is considered wasted energy since the bullets energy is not competely transferred into the target."
One camp, reflected in the quote above, seems to believe that a bullet which penetrates deeply, but not through and through, somehow "dumps" more energy into a body since the round stops before exiting.
The other camp, the one to which I tend to subscribe, believes that a bullet which blows through a target tends to dump lots of energy all the way through the target and also leaves another hole through which more blood/ air might leak out of the goblin.
So, in your opinion, which is it? Does the 44 Magnum tend to transfer more energy to a target during a "through and through" than a .45ACP coming to rest in the body? Or, does the deceleration of the round somehow contribute to some sort of "energy dump" due to the round coming to a stop?
My opinion is that the 44 Magnum ripping through a person would tend to send a shockwave through them from front to back and would continue to have energy emitting from it as it continued on its merry way past the target! Yes, the 44magnum has more energy to give to targets past your primary one, but isn't a through and through the epitome of the maximum transfer of energy to that primary target resulting in the round continuing to destroy tissue all the way through???
I am not here to address the issue of environmental considerations (i.e. bystanders hit by overpenetrating bullets) in this discussion, because, of course, one must consider this in choosing a defensive handgun. However, I am simply wanting to talk about the myth/ truth of this idea of "wasted" energy or bullets coming to rest in the body somehow "dumping" more energy into the body because they have come to rest.
What are your thoughts? If you are being charged by a 300 lb. goblin and have the .45 in one hand and the 44 Magnum in the other, which do you feel confident would do more to slow him down/ dump more energy into him?
Vanguard.45