"Stopping Power"

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John Lawson

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I've been a Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor since 1954. I have never believed in either "the magic Bullet" or "One Shot Stops."
Elmer Keith said it best in 1929: A well designed semi-wadcutter is best. I have used the H&G 68 bullet in .45 acp loads since 1946. I use foundry type to cast my bullets.
Phil Sharpe, in his book "Handloading" tells of a soldier who took his H&G mould with him to the South Pacific.
In this state, we teach a minimum response of two shots. Personally, I believe in keeping up the fire until the situation is in hand. You get the "one shot stops" with your .458 Win mag, not your handgun (on a regular basis, that is.)
Ed (Deputy Dawg) Sanow is a typical gun writer. Evan seems deeply impressed with his own abilities. History will judge us all.
 
John, as a fellow LE firearm instructor (but only a puppy compared to you), I'm with you too. I don't believe in any mythical magical bullets which will stop an assailant with a single shot and shot placement is more important.

Anybody who has read Charles Henderson's book on Carlos Hathcock, Marine Sniper should recall the time when Carlos shot some VC/NVA with his 30-06. The response was the VC/NVA charged him. Several more shots followed before the VC/NVA dropped. If a rifle bullet isn't guaranteed to do it, what chances does a handgun bullet have?

Stay safe!

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Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
 
Gray Area mantra..........Hard Fast Often Hard Fast Often Hard Fast Often.................

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"All my ammo is factory ammo"
 
It is true, it has been proven that at least two shots must be placed on the target. If this two shots will be almost on the same area then it will create bigger hole diameter that cause death.

One shot kill, seems hard to believe for if a gunner start squeezing the trigger there is always a tendency to make follow-up shots.
Thus, the "one shot stop" is a sort of sales promotion of a brand.
 
Gary, Somebody " borrowed" my tape on "The Newhall Incident" where the CHP officers were killed. It was the CHP training tape made up from slides. Do you have any idea where I could obtain another?
 
During my academy, we were shown a reenactment which was made by Motorola (they made a lot of training films back then). You may want to contact Motorola. Alternatively, try the CHP itself in Sacramento. I'm sure they're still using it as the lessons of Newhall are as relevant today as it was back then. Let me know if you need info on the CHP academy. I'll dig it up for you.

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Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
 
Shot placement is almost everything. As Ray Chapman used to say "two thru the chest and two thru the head and even the Jolly Green Giant will fall down dead."
 
I think it's good to have a common sense approach to the matter of stopping power. I have pretty good experience shooting and can plug bullseyes all day long, but no experience in actually stopping a rascal. Therefore, instead of trying to objectify stopping power thru pseudoscience (as some gun writers do), I have to rely on experts whose experience and judgement I trust, admittedly a subjective solution, but without personal experience, the best I can do.

After consideration, I have come to the conclusion to trust those who have gone before me in believing the 45 Auto to be the best compromise for personal defense. When Jeff Cooper says that the 9mm is not the solution, I have to defer to his expertise. Elmer Keith, is another of my battery of experts, the 1907 US Army Pistol Testing Board, another. IMHO, half the battle of winning a life and death struggle is preparation in advance, i.e., awareness, and having confidence that you can place your shots in the target area with speed and precision. The other half is having the right hardware to do the job.

M&S makes interesting reading, but I wouldn't bet my life on it.

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We don't have a chaplain here, but I don't view that as any major problem... You can rest assured that you will not go in that bag until I've said a few appropriate words over you
R. Lee Ermy as Sgt Major Haffner, from The Siege of Firebase Gloria



[This message has been edited by BigG (edited October 25, 1999).]
 
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