psychophipps wrote:Grey Death wrote:You cant always rely on a hollow point to open, or perform well against different materials and conditions. In that case a larger bullet hits the target with more force than a smaller one. Therefore a bigger is better. A thick winter coat like a carhart can keep a bullet from mushrooming, or performing as otherwise expected.
This is pretty much not an issue with modern JHPs. It was a recognized issue with the older Hydra-Shok ammo but modern JHPs will mushroom pretty much 100% of the time regardless of baggy or padded clothing as has been demonstrated in countless testing examples found (with video and/or photographic examples) with a simple google search. In fact, I have yet to see an example of a modern JHP completely failing to mushroom during such testing.
I'm sorry but bigger is always better. Especially when it comes to stopping power. Let give you a little example from history. In response to problems encountered by American units fighting Moro guerrillas during the Philippine-American War, the then-standard .38 Long Colt revolver was found to be unsuitable particularly in terms of stopping power, as the Moros had very high battle morale and frequently used drugs to inhibit the sensation of pain. The U.S. Army briefly reverted to using the M1873 single-action revolver "Peacemakers" in .45 Colt caliber, which had been standard during the last decades of the 19th century; the slower, heavier bullet was found to be more effective against charging tribesmen. After this and the Thompson-LaGarde pistol round effectiveness tests, it was determined to quote Colonel John T. Thompson "should not be of less than .45 caliber". Because it could not be trusted to bring down a target. Now you claim that advanced bullet design has made this a moot point. I say to you if a 9x19mm with JHP is great, than .45 ACP JHP is an unstoppable juggernaut.
Lets look and compare some ammo shall we.
9x19mm 147Gr Hornady TAP-FRD (Which is their top of the line self defense JHP)
at the muzzle 975 ft per sec and 310 ft lbs of energy
at 50 yds 935 ft per sec, and 285 ft lbs of energy
at 100 yds 899 ft per sec, and 264 ft lbs of energy
now lets compare that to
.45ACP 230Gr Hornady FMJ
at the muzzle 850 ft per sec, and 369 ft lbs of energy
at 50 yds 818 ft per sec, and 342 ft lbs of energy
at 100 yds 788 ft per sec, and 317 ft lbs of energy
So lets take a look at the stats. The big .45 does move a lot slower at all ranges. But it consistantly delivers 50+ lbs more energy to the target.
Velocity is great, but it means nothing if you dont have the power with it, when it makes contact. Bigger heavier bullets reguardless of bullet style will always prove to have more stopping power.
Even though I do carry a little mouse gun loaded with JHP in the summer time. (Loaded with Hornady .32 auto 60gr JHP/XTP and yes Hornady is one of my favorite ammos, if your wondering. Have had good luck reloading with their bullets, and ammunition.) Even though its loaded with these "Modern JHP". I'm not thinking that one or two rounds of these always mushrooming bullet as you say will be sufficent to stop an assailant. I train to if facing a single opponent to fire to entire 7 rounds magazine. If facing multiple opponents no target would recieve less than 2 rounds. Now if in the same situation one on one with the 357. Two rounds center of mass is more than enough. If facing multiple a single round per target is acceptable. Now all my ranting here probably wont change your mind about smaller caliber JHP. Conversely I cant believe in the idea of relying on design, over sheer brute force.