What's the real reason 9mm is so popular?

[jdg30]

Wow I never expected this thread to get this long. Thanks to everyone who actually answered the original question and discussed it.

You guys who took up half of the 200+ posts with your own argument that has nothing to do with the original question should start your own thread or at least just knock it off, it really makes it hard to read/scroll past your posts to read responses that pertain to the original question and discussion.

[elSquid]

I am open to correction. I am encouraged to know that we appear to have reached similar conclusion regarding caliber choices, albeit for different reasons ... and perhaps better ones on your part. Are you of a mind that BG testing supports your opinion, and why?

First off, I'm not an expert. I am an adhoc student of wound ballistics. People should not rely on my personal opinions wrt that subject. People need to research and come to their own conclusions. That said...

I think a reasonable case can be made for any of the common service calibers. The tradeoffs between them are obvious and don't need further explanation here. Ballistic gel is not a big factor in this, as long as the load selected 1) is a modern, reliable expanding bullet that 2) has adequate penetration. The FBI specifies 12 inches minimum, and that seems a reasonable standard.

I don't have a CCW and I've never carried a handgun for personal protection. My HD gun is a Remington 870. YMMV.

I'd appreciate knowing how accurate you think BG testing is, how closely it models real structures (and which ones)

Ballistic gelatin is "accurate enough"...enough to provide a reasonable means to do comparative testing. It was designed to model muscle tissue. It does not accurately model the human torso in the truest sense.

and any suggested reading you'd recommend as such.

WRT ballistic gel...

1) There is a lot of material online written by Fackler, Doc Roberts (DOCGKR), etc that can be googled. FirearmsTactical has a good reference section.

http://www.firearmstactical.com/hwfe.htm

2) "Bullet Penetration"

http://www.amazon.com/Bullet-Penetration-Modeling-Incapacitation-Resulting/dp/0964357704

is probably the most hard-science centric overview of the subject. A significant portion of this book goes beyond gel into the mathematics underlying the subject. It's not for the faint of heart.


For those folks reading this thread that don't want to spend a significant portion of their life learning about wound ballistics ( )

Read this...

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19887

And this...

http://www.firearmstactical.com/hwfe.htm

And then don't worry about 9mm vs 45ACP, ballistic gel, Marshall&Sanow...

-- Michael