Federal HST 147 gr for all my pistols

[WebHobbit]

Why?

Liability. I don't want my rounds going through a bad guy and hitting someone else. I'd rather they stay in place....even if that means a risk of not quite reaching the vitals.

 

[cosermann]

... I would opt for 115 before I would 147....

There are more poor and inconsistent HP loadings for 9mm in 115gr than any other bullet weight in that caliber. 115 gr DPX is one of a couple possible exceptions, but is pretty expensive comparatively.

Liability. I don't want my rounds going through a bad guy and hitting someone else. I'd rather they stay in place....even if that means a risk of not quite reaching the vitals.

The risk of over penetration is overblown when it is considered that the hit rate in the SOP-9 stats has never cracked 26%. In other words, 74%+ of rounds fired miss the perp entirely and are de facto "over penetrators."


"An issue that must be addressed is the fear of over penetration widely expressed on the part of law enforcement. The concern that a bullet would pass through the body of a subject and injure an innocent bystander is clearly exaggerated. Any review of law enforcement shootings will reveal that the great majority of shots fired by officers do not hit any subjects at all. It should be obvious that the relatively few shots that do hit a subject are not somehow more dangerous to bystanders than the shots that miss the subject entirely.

Also, a bullet that completely penetrates a subject will give up a great deal of energy doing so. The skin on the exit side of the body is tough and flexible. Experiments have shown that it has the same resistance to bullet passage as approximately four inches of muscle tissue.

Choosing a bullet because of relatively shallow penetration will seriously compromise weapon effectiveness, and needlessly endanger the lives of the law enforcement officers using it. No law enforcement officer has lost his life because a bullet over penetrated an adversary . . . On the other hand, tragically large numbers of officers have been killed because their bullets did not penetrate deeply enough." [1]

[1] - From "Handgun Wounding Factors and Effectiveness," U.S. Dept. of Justice, pg 12, http://www.firearmstactical.com/pdf/fbi-hwfe.pdf

 

[WebHobbit]

Good points. It's something to think about for sure