I hate math. That's why, if I were offered a round trip ticket to any time travel destination, I'd go back and find that Greek guy Pythagorus and kill him slowly.
I don't care if Taylor came up with a formula or not, but I know when someone is going after dangerous game, they aren't normally packing a .308!
I know that after years of shooting steel and bowling pins, my revolvers and semi-autos all started in calibers with a .4 at the front. When shooting steel and bowling pins, it didn't matter if the nose had a hole in it, or was solid. The results were the same. When and if the hollow point fails - and they do fail, then the other metrics come into play. Mass!
This has been discussed so many times. A bullet needs to penetrate beyond the skeletal protection system to reach vital organs. Most bullets in the .38 to .45 range can do this. The difference is, the degree to which they are deflected from their intended path upon striking a hard object.
ALL bullets will deflect. Those with greater mass, will deflect less than those with lesser mass.
Too much is made of magazine capacity! Unless one is entering Falluja with the Marines, we tend to make our daily load out bit too enthusiastic. Something a deceitful prosecutor - or civil suit attorney could have a field day with in front of a gun unfriendly jury. Just like the deer hunter who enters the woods on opening day with 30 cartridges, instead of the 5 or so the old timers carried in their pockets.
If one were to tally the average number of rounds expended in defensive situations in the last 20 years since CCW started slowly crossing the nation, one - I firmly believe - would find that on average, the number of rounds expended by the defendant would be less than 5, and the number expended by the average police officer to be greater than 5.
Why? Because the average civilian shooter, is a better, more capable, and more confident shot, than the average police officer. Why? Cos they do it because they like to shoot and do it recreationally, and not because they have to fulfill a quarterly requirement on their off duty time.
So, I only carry single stack semi-autos anymore. Whether they be 9mm (one CW9), or .45 (three 1911s or variants and one XD-S). I like guns that start with .4 more than ones that start with .3...with the exception of guns that start with .2 for fun and practice.
