Entry wounds/Exit wounds

[cargaritaville]

This makes me kinda wonder which is best to carry...your thoughts?

[tracker]

My guess is that the four entry holes on the top right side have iced more people than the four larger ones on the left. The best to carry may be the one that puts the holes in the right place.

[johnny]

  Well,if you have Kindle,99 cents,there was a book published in 2010,entitled FBI-Handgun Wounding Factors and Effectiveness by John Veit.It may or may not be of help
       

[tracker]

This subject has as much to do with the indian as it does the arrow. Special forces, Special Ops, SWAT teams, etc., are much more proficient with the heavier calibers and greater stopping power than the average person on this forum because of their innate skills, initial training, and tactical recurrent training regularity. I suggest that most of us who carry a lot and shoot a little may be more effective with the 9mm, for example.

[JoshA]

I tend to be all over the place on this discussion. For instance.

The one you will carry is better than the one in the safe.

Sounds great. So does that mean I can shoot an R9 as well as a G33 or 30? No but it's with me.

So I don't shoot the R9 as well as the 30 or 33, but it's with me all the time. Now I care to have more firepower with me due to going in a little sketchy area or the news is rife with psycho terrorists and the moon is full blah blah blah. So I'm packing the G33 and now I've changed platforms and not going to be as proficient with it. Hmmmm.

I think in the end this is the way it is right here FOR ME:

1) always carry
2) 9 and larger is best, but I would take a 25 over nothing
3) practice as regularly as practical
4) one platform is best but it's likely that a few handguns will be needed for the multiple situations of life
5) the chances of me getting in a gunfight if I'm smart about where I go are pretty slim. If I do and I have a gun and I've practiced I hope to help an innocent out of a jam. The minutiae that ensues is all up in the air and there are no promises.

The guy always carrying a 45 and 3 extra Mags and a bug is a prepared fellow. I will give him that, but how many of us are that threatened seriously? If I was LE or lived/worked in the hood I would feel differently but I don't.

I've been packing the R9 lately. 1 Spare mag. Getting more comfortable with it.

If there was only one gun I could own in a similar social environment as I go through each day these days the R9 would be it. It would be different if we had martial law or something crazy. On that note, if i knew WW III was going on in the streets of America I would likely carry a .45 or .357 Sig as a handgun honestly. I tend to believe I would like to be shot in the chest least with those handgun calibers.

I was talking to my us marshal buddy and he is going 9mm by choice. I asked him which he would least want to be hit in the chest with. He is still going 9. He believes in its capability. Says a lot to me. I still like .40, 357 and 45 though.

[tracker]

Josh,
Have you had your hearing checked after firing the Glock 33 without hearing protection like you have on the range?

[DDGator]

I would add that the exit holes shown presume good expansion of high performance ammunition.

A lot of the small guns we carry won't acheive high enough muzzle velocities to ensure that type of bullet performance.

(Of course, the best case scenario is that you don't have an "exit" wound and the bullet dumps all its kinetic energy into the target).

That being said, I prefer to carry 9mm, but will sometimes carry .380 ACP, and sometimes (when necessary) .22 Magnum.

[tracker]

My uncle was a highly respected cardiologist and chief of staff at a hospital in East Texas. Unfortunately, one evening, for whatever reason; stress, overwork, or something unknown to this day he stepped out into his backyard one evening and fatally shot himself in the chest with a .22 rifle. This tragic incident is one reason for my initial comments about the four small entry holes. He didn't have any exit wound but certainly knew where to fire the bullet.

[JoshA]

Josh,
Have you had your hearing checked after firing the Glock 33 without hearing protection like you have on the range?

Whatcha say Tracker?

Seriously though...

I never fire without hearing protection.

What are you thinking of sir? Did I post a pic of some wimpy hearing protection at the range that you are referring to?

[tracker]

The .357 Sig can cause hearing loss, especially when fired from a short barrel. I assume you do not wear hearing protection when you carry your 33.

[JoshA]

The .357 Sig can cause hearing loss, especially when fired from a short barrel. I assume you do not wear hearing protection when you carry your 33.

If you mean in case I am become randomly engaged in a fire fight... No I do not.

If you mean on the range when practicing... Yes I do.

[tracker]

Now, we are communicating.

[JoshA]

Josh,
Have you had your hearing checked after firing the Glock 33 without hearing protection like you have on the range?

I believe I understand what you are asking. If you are asking "Have I fired my G33 with no protection and then had my hearing checked?" The answer is no. A few weeks ago I did fire one round off to see what it was like without any hearing protection. It was impressive to say the least. And I obviously wasn't in a building that would cause for much better (worse really) accustics.

One thing that makes me shrug it off is the amount of men who went through the armed forces during war time. I can't even imagine a full out battle with mortar fire, artillery, machine guns, carpet bombing etc. But I guess I figure if in the off hand chance I had to become engaged my ears would likely recover (mostly anyway) from 3-8 rounds of .357.

Am I overly naive here?

[tracker]

Not naive; you just may not have thought it out completely. The scenario during war you described did in fact produce a lot of deaf veterans.

[backupr9]

In my youth, my cousins and I wandered the backwoods in the Appalachians in Western Maryland with .22 and 30-30 rifles, a .45 1911 and a Persian Mauser.  None of us wore ear protection.  None of us are actually deaf 60 years later, but I do suspect we suffered damage.  Interestingly, I don't remember the sound being as painful, as it was last year when I forgot to replace my ear protection and fired the R9 at an outdoor range (in a berm cut into a hill).

Point to consider, i.e.: the case of the "car gun."  I've been told firing a 9mm (high pitched sharp "crack", or a 357 will likely cause damage while a .38 might be a better choice.  Nevertheless, in an extreme situation the risk of some hearing loss would be an easy choice.