Knock down/stopping power... Fact or Fiction?

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TheRaskalKing

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Ok, this is a constant battle some friends and I have. Is stopping/knock down power fact or fiction? I certainly don't want to get shot by any gun of any caliber, but I'd much rather get hit by a .22lr than a 500 Mag. So my question is this: is stopping power necessary? I'd like to hear some of your opinions before I give my own.
 
Knock down power isn't the same as stopping power, the former meaning to physically knock a person down and the latter one to get a person to cease doing whatever it is that you think requires lethal force or the threat of lethal force. Both are steeped in limited data to substantiate the claims and a lot of folklore.

There is no way any handgun round has the ability to knock down an adult person.

Stopping power is problematic for a variety of reasons. One significant problem is that stopping power only pertains to hits. However, it is fairly common to get bad guys to cease what they are doing by being verbally threatened with a gun, seeing the gun, or by shots fired at the bad guy but miss him.
 
"There is no way any handgun round has the ability to knock down an adult person."

Define "knock down".

A 9mm to the chest and a non-superhuman person goes to the ground. Whether he is "knocked down" or just collapses, the result is the same.

But you're right, stopping power can be psychological as well.
 
'member that Newton guy? All that equal, and opposite stuff. If it will knock him down, it will knock you down.

Stated many times, many ways. 3 ways that a human hits the ground when shot.

1. Massive destruction to the central nervous system eliminating all muscle control.

2. Physical shock due to extreme pain.

3. Mental shock, passing out, due to realizing they have been shot.

Knock down, no such thing.
Stopping power, yes due to one or all of the above.
 
A bullet can only physically impact as much force on the target as it did to the shooter during recoil. "knock down" power is pretty much a non-factor.

Stopping power is a relative term to represent how well a projectile would stop an assailant. Such as "a 12g has much more stopping power than a .22lr". But pretty much its a non-numerical or definitive unit and is pretty useless overall.
 
I think if I could hold it steady and not let it roll with the recoil it could knock me down. Just a thought. Maybe some Buffalo Bore 500 gr magnum loads.
 
As was stated above, there is no such thing as "knock down power". If it knocked him down, it would you too.

I have a friend who was a sniper in the military. He said that they would bet new guys which way a target (person) would fall when shot. Most thought they would be blown backward. Too many movies! He said that a person always falls forward.
 
game animals

Whitetails get shot all the time / RIFLE calibers, and 12 ga slugs, whose energy and power are far superior to near any handgun. None get "knocked down" though lots go down on the spot. (lots more don't!)
 
Excellent video Count, much more dramatic than any words on physics could express. This should put this one to bed FOREVER!!!
Now it's time for the OP's reserved opinion, and if it has changed.
 
Both are Fact.

However, small arms don't have enough knockdown power to matter against human targets, and stopping power is such a complex subject that only when a given round is superior in some attributes and at least equal in all others can it be clearly said to have more stopping power.
 
HA! Countzero, that very episode of Mythbusters was what got me really thinking about this! small world, eh?

But I agree- "knock down power," as demonstrated in the video, is a huge misnomer. Stopping power, I'm not all that sold on either. As stated earlier, I'd much rather get hit by a small caliber bullet than a large one, but I don't want to get shot period. Sure, It would take more .22 than .45 rounds to incapacitate someone, assuming shots to the center of mass, but getting shot is still painful and traumatic. My brother as a teenager was camping with some friends and one idiot friend shot another dude in the foot with a .22 and the trauma and shock that ensued was pretty intense. Normal, rational people don't want to be shot. Period.

However, I want fire as few shots as possible to stop an assailant. That's one reason I bought a .40 rather than something smaller. Not to say that a smaller caliber wouldn't do the job, and that my .40 or any other caliber is by no means a guarantee. Just because you have a big gun doesn't mean you can hit with it.

I guess at the end of the day what I'm trying to get at is that one caliber isn't the be all, end all. Stopping power isn't an absolute, quantifiable term.
 
Knock down power? Who cares.
Stopping power is the issue. First off lets assume we are talking about physical stopping power rather than Mental.
As stated the OP would rather get hit with a 22 than a 45. One well placed round with a 22 will stop a person were as 3 misplaced rounds of a 45 wont. So lets clarify exact target. Lets assume center mass from the front. And for the scientific method heads out there distance 25'.
That evens the parameters. Now the deciding factor comes down to basic physics...speed, mass, resistance...all that. A 22lr has an average muzzle velocity of +/- 1000fps with a average 38grain projectile.
The 45 average MV is right about the same, but with a 180 - 230 grain projectile.
The primary and secondary cavities created as the bullet strikes and travels through the body is your true damage unless the bullet physically strikes a vital point. Obviously the 45 round will do more damage than the 22lr because of the force it transfers to the body is greater and does more damage.
Some charts say 22lr have about a 25% "One Shot Stop" capabilities where as the 45 will have a 90ish% "One Shot Stop" capability.
 
Fact or fiction---for handguns: fiction. But, I saw a guy get shot in the shoulder with a .50 cal from a M2 at ~50m and his upper body looked to have exploded. He was certainly 'knocked down' :D
 
To me, stopping power is what matters. Whether a perp went down after being hit is irrelevant, as long a his intentions against me were stopped, as in running away.
 
Knock down power isn't the same as stopping power...Both are steeped in limited data to substantiate the claims and a lot of folklore.
Click to expand...

Sums it up nicely... now, can we talk about bear defense? :D

Seriously, no handgun is capable of stopping a determined aggressor unless your shot placement is on the money
 
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