These "versus" threads always come up as well as the questions about "energy" "momentum", etc. The terminal performance discussions are some of the most heated and hotly contested topics, short most likely only to the "ethics" discussions. Lots of opinions get bantered back and forth with very little factual information being presented while everyone involved believes they are right. The problem is that very few have the background, done the research and study, and have killed enough to overcome the mass of misinformation that we have been told, taught, read and learned about on the subject. Instead of sticking to simple facts the shooting and hunting industry and a lot of writers would rather delude you with article after article of mystical concepts such as "energy transfer," "neural shock," "Taylor knockdown power," "momentum," et al. Although this stuff makes for interesting and entertaining reading, it's really nothing more than a bunch of sophisticated junk-science they've invented to have something to write and because they truly have no idea what they are talking about.
When I do research I want to find the correct, factual information given objectively and without regards for my own preconceived notions and opinions. Something I have been meaning to do is to take a picture of the wound cavity that different bullets produce in tissue and overlay them on top of a picture of a deer to provide a visual reference as to the differences in performance. If you do not like reading and just want to stare at pictures skip to the bottom of the post.
First we need to define what terminal ballistics encompasses. Terminal ballistics is everything that the bullet does from the moment of impact with the target to its final resting place. For our desires it is really how bullets kill and how they do it.
These quotes from Dr. Martin L. Fackler who is probably the father of modern science based study of wound ballistics should start us off nicely-
There are four components of projectile wounding. Not all of
these components relate to incapacitation, but each of them must be considered. They are:
(1) Penetration. The tissue through which the projectile passes, and which it disrupts or
destroys.
(2) Permanent Cavity. The volume of space once occupied by tissue that has been
destroyed by the passage of the projectile. This is a function of penetration and the frontal
area of the projectile. Quite simply, it is the hole left by the passage of the bullet.
(3) Temporary Cavity. The expansion of the permanent cavity by stretching due to the
transfer of kinetic energy during the projectile�s passage.
(4) Fragmentation. Projectile pieces or secondary fragments of bone which are impelled
outward from the permanent cavity and may sever muscle tissues, blood vessels, etc.,
apart from the permanent cavity. Fragmentation is not necessarily present in every
projectile wound. It may, or may not, occur and can be considered a secondary effect.
Projectiles incapacitate by damaging or destroying the central nervous system, or by causing lethal blood
loss. To the extent the wound components cause or increase the effects of these two mechanisms, the
likelihood of incapacitation increases.
Kinetic energy does not wound. The much discussed "shock"
of bullet impact is a fable and "knock down" power is a myth. The critical element is penetration. The
bullet must pass through the large, blood bearing organs and be of sufficient diameter to promote rapid
bleeding. Penetration less than 12 inches is too little, and, in the words of two of the participants in the
1987 Wound Ballistics Workshop, "too little penetration will get you killed."42, 43 Given desirable and
reliable penetration, the only way to increase bullet effectiveness is to increase the severity of the wound
by increasing the size of hole made by the bullet
Whether we like to admit it or not, the primary purpose of military rifle bullets is to disrupt human tissue. Yet the effects of bullets on bodies - the characteristic tissue disruption patterns produced by various bullets - remains unclear even to many of those who design and produce bullets. Surgeons who are called upon to treat the damage bullets cause, with few exceptions, lack practical knowledge of bullet effects. Attempts to fill this information void with formulae, graphs, flawed experiments, invalid assumptions, and theories based on half-truth (or no truth at all) have only increased confusion.
The obvious - simply measuring, recording and describing the disruption produced by various calibres and bullet types - has largely been ignored in favour of more dramatic and complex methodology. To illustrate the problem: if a neighbour told you that a meteorite had fallen into his back yard, wouldn't you ask him how deep and how large a hole it had made? If he replied that he had, on good authority, an estimation of the meteor's striking velocity and the amount of kinetic energy it had "deposited" and gave you both these figures, you might be impressed by the sophistication of this information, but you still wouldn't know how big a hole he had in his yard.
Bullet mass and bullet striking velocity establish a bullet's potential; they set the limit on the tissue disruption it can produce. Bullet shape and construction determine how much of this potential is actually used to disrupt tissue; they are the major determinants of bullet effect.
Read them again. Nowhere is "kinetic energy," "hydrostatic shock," "knockdown power," etc discussed as measurements of wounding. In fact, quite the opposite. The discussion of kinetic energy and minimum Ft-Lbs of energy for hunting animals is a myth. Energy doesn't tell us anything about bullet performance. A 200gr round nose solid impacting at 3,000fps and a 200gr varmint bullet impacting at 3,000fps both have exactly the same "energy" and yet behave completely different in tissue. Yes, energy is a number. Yes, it can be measured. But it is a completely worthless number in regards to bullet performance in animals. Energy is not a wounding mechanism. The only things that matter are how deeply the bullet penetrates and how wide the path is. That is it. Given identical placement and two different types of bullets that both penetrate through the vitals, the one with the widest path will kill faster. If a 180gr 30 cal bullet and a 60gr 22 cal bullet both penetrate through the vitals, but the 22 cal produces a wider path, hence destroying more tissue, then the 22 cal will kill faster. There is simply no way around this.
The FBI, all organizations within the DOD- US Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, US Special Operations Command, Navel Crane and the International Wound Ballistics Association all use the same tests and standards to evaluate bullet performance. Ballistic gelatin that is properly calibrated and tested is used to simulate tissue. Bullets are fired into it and then the performance measured. Namely- neck length (how deeply the projectile penetrated before expansion began), max temporary cavity (how wide the tissue was damaged) and total penetration. With those three things we now have a very good idea how that bullet compares to others and what that bullet will do in flesh.
![[Linked Image]](http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx87/Vereor1/riflegeltestanalysis.jpg)
Picture taken by Dr. Gary Roberts.
With that I'll get to the pictures....
