iMagUdspEllr
New member
A discussion on the handgun board inspired me to ask a question about rifle terminal ballistics.
There has always been many debates about .45 ACP vs 9mm. But, I want to talk about how rifle bullets stack up against each other as far as terminal ballistics are concerned.
When people select rifle bullets for long range shooting they are racked and stacked by their ability to get to the target and buck the wind (ballistic coefficients, higher muzzle velocities, etc.).
But, when a bullet gets there what makes one rifle bullet superior to another? Since the desired properties of a bullet change depending upon what the target is (e.g. What is good for coyote is not good for bear)... Let's stick to human targets.
Are all rifle bullets of the same design (FMJ, soft point, open-tip, etc.) the same near the end of their range?
I know a .50 BMG will sever limbs (obviously does wonders for causing someone to bleed out as fast as possible) but are there other types of damage going on? Handgun people talk about hydrostatic shock... well when does that start to happen? What causes that to occur?
There has always been many debates about .45 ACP vs 9mm. But, I want to talk about how rifle bullets stack up against each other as far as terminal ballistics are concerned.
When people select rifle bullets for long range shooting they are racked and stacked by their ability to get to the target and buck the wind (ballistic coefficients, higher muzzle velocities, etc.).
But, when a bullet gets there what makes one rifle bullet superior to another? Since the desired properties of a bullet change depending upon what the target is (e.g. What is good for coyote is not good for bear)... Let's stick to human targets.
Are all rifle bullets of the same design (FMJ, soft point, open-tip, etc.) the same near the end of their range?
I know a .50 BMG will sever limbs (obviously does wonders for causing someone to bleed out as fast as possible) but are there other types of damage going on? Handgun people talk about hydrostatic shock... well when does that start to happen? What causes that to occur?