DocGKR's take on Overpenetration

[rsa-otc]

My take for what it's worth:

My carry ammo MUST penetrate sufficiently to reach the vitals of my assailant and be effective.

The danger of the more likely 45-85+ percent (depending on whose stats you use) misses are an issue that must be given consideration and addressed to reduce the likely hood of unintended injuries. (this is not a criticism of the membership here, I don't think the members of this forum or some of the other more responsible forums feel otherwise, in fact we are doing our best to address this in ourselves and our students)

BUT it is also dangerous liability wise to minimize the danger of over penetration based on our statistical likely hood of missing the intended target, especially on a public forum. I'm pretty sure this logic will not fly with John Q jury person and they will not look kindly at such comments. They expect us to hit what we're shooting at. Lets face it, if we hit an unintended target we're paying for it. The amount paid can & will be based on our actions and comments leading up to, during and after the shooting.

I want a round that if I do my part it will do it's part with a minimal possibility of passing thru the assailant with enough energy to endanger innocents.

[MikeO]

My take for what it's worth:

My carry ammo MUST penetrate sufficiently to reach the vitals of my assailant and be effective.

I want a round that if I do my part it will do it's part with a minimal possibility of passing thru the assailant with enough energy to endanger innocents.

We seemed to have determined the 9 minimeter Silvertip is too little, and FMJ is too much, so how much is enough?

The FBI's sweet spot of 12 - 18 inches sounds good to me, and NYPD's current duty round (Speer 124 +P GD IIRC) fits, as do many others.

Depending on your software, your hardware could do more w less, or less w more.

[CAW]

I think the most important job for a bullet to do is penetrate far enough to go through(preferably straight through without change of course) the vitals. Nothing less, maybe more… I'm not going to consider carrying anything less. If i need the tool for the job, I need the tool for the job.

I won't carry HP's in .380. I don't load birdshot in shotguns unless I am hunting birds or paper. You also won't see me shooting up the neighborhood with an AK-47

[WDW]

Just to follow on to what Tam and MTechnik said...

I don't think much about overpenetration. (that's what she said) Because I'm always cognizant of the possibility of a miss -- especially when things are dynamic and one or more parties involved may be moving -- my concern is much more about what's downrange.

Don't worry about whether the bullet will go through the guy's chest, out his spine, and hit the nun standing behind him. Worry that the guy might zig when you thought he was going to zag, and you accidentally shoot the nun dead.