All,
Please bear with me because I just couldn�t stand to read every post in this very controversial thread. I would like to chime in on this issue with a bit of logic.
Before we can discuss KE vs. penetration ad-nauseum, perhaps we should cover something the article missed. What causes incapacitation.
The quickest and most impressive method of incapacitation is neurological interruption. Essentially killing the brain or it�s pathway (the spine). Do this and you have the proverbial �bang-flop�
The second quickest way to �stop� a man or animal is to break down the skeletal system that physically holds it up. Generally this is by pelvic shots that incapacitate the legs or hind quarters. Break the pelvis and the animal either stops or slows WAY down.
The last method of incapacitation is hypovolemia, which is a 2.00 word for bleeding out. We do this by destroying the tissue that holds blood, and causing a huge leak. This leak will eventually lead to a rapid (if you�ve done your job right) loss of blood. A rapid loss of blood overwhelms the body�s ability to maintain blood pressure which is what keeps oxygenated blood in the brain. Without oxygen, the brain stops working correctly and we begin to see loss of consciousness. As mentioned in the article, when everything goes 100% right (in this category), incapacitation may still take a few seconds to a few minutes.
Now we can throw around KE numbers or we can talk about how much penetration we get. Both are worthless unless they lead to something that actually destroys tissue that is critical to maintaining blood pressure.
I�ll agree that KE is WAY overrated, but it�s not worthless. For rational people, it is a quantifiable yardstick to help them make a decision about a cartridge, bullet or load. The whole 800-1000 FPE thing was a guideline for people who are too lazy to apply any critical thinking to the problem of killing game. I happen to think for the stupid and the lazy, it�s a good guideline. For everyone else (which is probably most on this forum) we make our conclusions based on a number of things (far too many to list).
Neither KE or penetration figures by themselves add up to success. Cartridge design, bullet design, laboratory testing, and finally years of field testing are what add up to a winner or looser. We live in good times in that there are very few losers these days where bullets and cartridges are concerned. The single biggest variable in the big game hunting equation is the shooter. Most killing is won or lost before the shot is even taken.
So, you want a sure fire way to determine if your cartridge, load or bullet is going to work? Sorry, ain�t no such thing. So you have to use that matter between your ears just like the rest of us. Gather as much information as you possibly can, practice with your preferred shootin-stick and go do the deed. FPE & penetration are small pieces of the puzzle, not the entire mural.
PS � There is one other method of incapacitation, but It�s almost exclusive to humans, which is the psychosomatic response to being shot or shot at. When Barney Fife pulls out his heater and goes to work on the bad guy, who politely falls down dead like a good bad guy; 9 times out of 10, it�s from a psychosomatic response to being shot, rather that what Barney�s .38 did to the bad guys. We as humans are somewhat pre-programmed by our entertainment media to fall down when shot; it�s a rather interesting phenomenon. I was a big city Paramedic for most of my professional life and as such, I�ve treated hundreds of gun shot wounds. The most interesting are the people who are writhing on the ground, graphically describing the pain of their GSW, but there are no additional holes in them. They were instantly incapacitated without ever being struck by a bullet � So there goes ALL theories of KE and penetration.
