I'd like to start with the statement that I'm not looking for a caliber war regardless of how fun those might be.
Really, I'm trying to update my understanding of appropriate cartridge based on modern research. I made some of my initial opinions in the 1980's and 1990's (as did my instructors) and things have changed quite a bit since then.
When I carry it's generally:
Intuitively, and after talking with some friends with MD after their name on their business cards, I have to think that the size of the permanent wound cavity matters when talking about dangerous mammals of the two- or four-legged variety. And the permanent wound cavity of these new rounds seems significantly larger than with traditional hollow points.
Here's something listed on the G9 defense web page from a third party (that I've never heard of, honestly) evaluating their rounds. The G9 and Lehigh Defense ammo (below the blue line) had a permanent wound cavity (in the red boxes) that's nearly an order of magnitude greater than from traditional rounds, at least when measured volumetrically which is non-traditional:
I can't find it now, but the 45ACP has an even larger permanent wound cavity - I remember it being 50% to 100% greater.
We've all seen the results of the Extreme Defender and G9 bullets vs pork shoulders too, with the huge holes they leave.
So I guess my question is this:
This fluid dynamics thing seems to be working, and it's been long enough that it's not really a passing fad.
So why isn't everyone choosing one of these sorts of rounds as their carry ammo of choice? I can't in my 9mm 1911s because the overall cartridge length is long enough to present feeding issues, but if your gun feeds it why aren't you using it?
I'm missing something here. What is it?
Really, I'm trying to update my understanding of appropriate cartridge based on modern research. I made some of my initial opinions in the 1980's and 1990's (as did my instructors) and things have changed quite a bit since then.
When I carry it's generally:
- A 9mm 1911 loaded with 124gr HSTs or GDs
- A 45ACP 1911 loaded with 230gr HSTs
- A 357 loaded with 125gr JHPs of some sort - generally Federal or Remington SJHPs that are cheap old technology that still seem to perform as well as they ever did.
Intuitively, and after talking with some friends with MD after their name on their business cards, I have to think that the size of the permanent wound cavity matters when talking about dangerous mammals of the two- or four-legged variety. And the permanent wound cavity of these new rounds seems significantly larger than with traditional hollow points.
Here's something listed on the G9 defense web page from a third party (that I've never heard of, honestly) evaluating their rounds. The G9 and Lehigh Defense ammo (below the blue line) had a permanent wound cavity (in the red boxes) that's nearly an order of magnitude greater than from traditional rounds, at least when measured volumetrically which is non-traditional:
I can't find it now, but the 45ACP has an even larger permanent wound cavity - I remember it being 50% to 100% greater.
We've all seen the results of the Extreme Defender and G9 bullets vs pork shoulders too, with the huge holes they leave.
So I guess my question is this:
This fluid dynamics thing seems to be working, and it's been long enough that it's not really a passing fad.
So why isn't everyone choosing one of these sorts of rounds as their carry ammo of choice? I can't in my 9mm 1911s because the overall cartridge length is long enough to present feeding issues, but if your gun feeds it why aren't you using it?
I'm missing something here. What is it?