How many shots with a Luger does it take to kill a cow?

unspellable · 05-20-2003, 06:11 PM

I did the ballistic pendulum thing for my classical physics project. (Fancy toting a revolver about campus today! I'm giving away my age!) The bullet in flight has a momentum equal to it's velocity times it's mass. On stopping in the target the momentum is conserved. Hence the target will move a distance corresponding to the bullet's momentum regardless of the bullet style, velocity, or what it strikes internally. More momentum is imparted to the shooter than to the target since for the shooter we must also account for the velocvity and mass of the propellent gas. It also explains why the concept of "knockdown" is utter nonsense.

Energy is a different matter altogether. This is why firing a firearm doesn't ruin your health.

Energy is proprtional to the square of the velocity, the firearm has only a small energy in recoil because it is moving so much slower. The bullet is moving fast, has a large energy, and must dump this energy in the target. This is where the bullet style becomes important. If the bullet is moving fast enough, is well placed, and dumps energy quickly enough, the shock effect will cause an animate traget to quickly collapse, hence the so called "knockdown effect".

Attend any silhouette and see how difficult it is to knock over an inanimate target and you will soon agree that the "knockdown" effect is fictional.

The stockyard tests were influential in the choice of the 45 ACP. Today we know the difference in stopping power between a 45 ACP and 9 mm hardball is statistically insignificant, apocryphal anecdotes notwithstanding. No hardball is a good stopper. The key to stopping power is high velocity and a good bullet design. Weight must play a poor third.

05-20-2003, 06:11 PM	#12
unspellable User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Iowa Posts: 768 Thanks: 0 Thanked 19 Times in 11 Posts	I did the ballistic pendulum thing for my classical physics project. (Fancy toting a revolver about campus today! I'm giving away my age!) The bullet in flight has a momentum equal to it's velocity times it's mass. On stopping in the target the momentum is conserved. Hence the target will move a distance corresponding to the bullet's momentum regardless of the bullet style, velocity, or what it strikes internally. More momentum is imparted to the shooter than to the target since for the shooter we must also account for the velocvity and mass of the propellent gas. It also explains why the concept of "knockdown" is utter nonsense. Energy is a different matter altogether. This is why firing a firearm doesn't ruin your health. Energy is proprtional to the square of the velocity, the firearm has only a small energy in recoil because it is moving so much slower. The bullet is moving fast, has a large energy, and must dump this energy in the target. This is where the bullet style becomes important. If the bullet is moving fast enough, is well placed, and dumps energy quickly enough, the shock effect will cause an animate traget to quickly collapse, hence the so called "knockdown effect". Attend any silhouette and see how difficult it is to knock over an inanimate target and you will soon agree that the "knockdown" effect is fictional. The stockyard tests were influential in the choice of the 45 ACP. Today we know the difference in stopping power between a 45 ACP and 9 mm hardball is statistically insignificant, apocryphal anecdotes notwithstanding. No hardball is a good stopper. The key to stopping power is high velocity and a good bullet design. Weight must play a poor third.