n 1991, a privately funded research group began studying the physiological effects of bullet impact on medium-sized animals. The primary objective was to isolate the physical mechanism responsible for rapid incapacitation of man-sized targets. This became known as what some consider the mythical—meaning, never happened—Strasbourg Tests. Supposedly, 611 goats were terminated, generating 580 valid tests, providing average incapacitation times for the most popular defensive handgun loads at that time.
The Strasbourg Tests had two important findings. First; frangible bullets like the Glaser Safety Slug and hollowpoints that violently expand and transfer a great deal of energy very quickly produce the fastest incapacitation times. Second; when bullets impact ribs—this happens about 50 percent of the time in defensive shootings—incapacitation times are usually increased.
