Well, that didn't work! Here it is.
One of the great things about working in a prison is that you get to talk to alot of people who have been shot.
Yesterday, I observed what appeared to be old bullet wounds on an inmate who is slightly over 6 ft. tall, around 230 lbs., and physically fit. Several years ago during a drug deal gone bad, he was shot five times with .45 ACP Ball ammo at about five yards. One shot fully penetrated his left hand; one his left bicep; one his left lung; one clipped his aorta; and one entered his right side damaging his upper intestine, his liver, and destroying one kidney. He said that it felt as if he had been cut open and a hot poker inserted into each wound.
Stopping power of the mighty .45? He said that he made it to his car and drove himself to a hospital about ten minutes away, exited the car and collapsed at the emergency room entrance. This occurred while he was operating with one lung and loosing most of his blood into his body cavity.
Overpenetration? Of the five ball rounds, the the only two that exited were the hand shot and the bicep shot. The effective shots all stayed in the body and penetrated just deeply enough to be effective.
Would a 185 gr. JHP that actually expanded have penetrated deeply enough to be effective? Would any weight JHP that had actually expanded? Would any bullet lighter than 230 gr.?
It appears that in this case, Hardball was as effective a load as could have been used. Years ago, Hornady loaded .45 ACP Flatnose Ball ammo. This is a slightly more efficient design than round ball and is much less likely to ricochet. I would sure like to see some manufacturer make it available again.