In a defensive rd for a handgun which is more important to consider....muzzle velocity or muzzle energy?
Excellent question,,,
I must have typed and then changed my answer a dozen times.
In all honesty - I'm stumped on this.
There's just simply too many ways it can be answered.
Y'know, muzzle energy is dependent upon the bullet's velocity so if you find velocity to be less important than muzzle energy, you are saying that you find muzzle energy to be less important.
True - very true... I typed something like that also, then got to thinking about it and erased the whole thing.
Just for conversation's sake,,
Let's say you were handed a round of ammunition.
You look at the base and see that it's a .357Mag case.
Other than what a visual inspection shows, you can't have any other information about that round - except -
It's muzzle energy
or
It's muzzle velocity.
Armed with that number, and, based on your experience usinng the caliber in question,,,
Which would you choose to make the most educated guess as to how effective that round would be?
I started to say, ME since if I knew the ME, and based on the thousands of .357" bullets I've loaded/shot over the years, if I knew the ME I could back out the MV.
Then the more I thought about it, the more I thought if I knew the MV, I could make a pretty accurate stab at the ME..that would be easier and quicker..
Then, the more I thought about it, the more I started to wonder,,,