9mm Ballistics

[Mac66]

I'll be running various 9mm loads through my chronograph over the next couple of weeks.

First up Wolf 115 gr. Steel cased fmj

Ruger LC9 PRO 3.12" bbl- 1040 fps

UZI carbine 16" bbl- 1420

[David]

That’s a pretty substantial bump up. Nearly 400 FPS is impressive.

[cityfarmer]

I remember reading about a shooting case Massad Ayoob wrote where somebody was shot with 9mm 115gr JHP fired from a carbine and survived. Because the bullet jacket was not designed for such high velocity, when it hit the guy the bullet expanded immediately and shattered leaving a nasty surface wound but had very little penetration.

[David]

I remember reading about a shooting case Massad Ayoob wrote where somebody was shot with 9mm 115gr JHP fired from a carbine and survived. Because the bullet jacket was not designed for such high velocity, when it hit the guy the bullet expanded immediately and shattered leaving a nasty surface wound but had very little penetration.

That is a concern with PCC's. You have to make sure that the bullet design is capable of handling the velocity increase. I'm pretty happy with the 124+P Gold Dots in my PCC's.

[Mac66]

I remember reading about a shooting case Massad Ayoob wrote where somebody was shot with 9mm 115gr JHP fired from a carbine and survived. Because the bullet jacket was not designed for such high velocity, when it hit the guy the bullet expanded immediately and shattered leaving a nasty surface wound but had very little penetration.

But...did it stop the fight? That is the question.

I have a hard time believing that a fast moving metal projectile would expand on skin/muscle or even light bone and/or at least not penetrate significantly. Humans are pretty soft.

[cityfarmer]

I remember reading about a shooting case Massad Ayoob wrote where somebody was shot with 9mm 115gr JHP fired from a carbine and survived. Because the bullet jacket was not designed for such high velocity, when it hit the guy the bullet expanded immediately and shattered leaving a nasty surface wound but had very little penetration.

But...did it stop the fight? That is the question.

I have a hard time believing that a fast moving metal projectile would expand on skin/muscle or even light bone and/or at least not penetrate significantly. Humans are pretty soft.

I don't remember the whole story but the guy was shot on the chest and survived. During this period I was carrying the Corbon 115gr JHP +P+ which had the reputation of being the fastest 115gr in the market. I changed to Corbon 147gr JHP +P soon after that.

I'm not so sure as there are even cases of fast moving rifle bullet fired from rifles with excessive twist rate coming apart in flight.
I believe it was 22-250 caliber.

Years ago I saw a small buck take a shot on the shoulder with 45gr JHP fired from varmint rifle run off and never to be seen again. Came back next day but didn't see any vultures circling.

[David]

During this period I was carrying the Corbon 115gr JHP +P+ which had the reputation of being the fastest 115gr in the market. I changed to Corbon 147gr JHP +P soon after that.

Good decision. I did testing at our agency range on the Corbon 115gr +P+. It consistently had limited penetration (8-9 inches) and the jackets separated from the core and fragmented pretty badly.

[David]