The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - 9mm vs .357 Sig (penetration, expansion, armor piercing)

stephen426 · December 11, 2006, 06:47 PM

There is one other thing I forgot to mention. While the 9mm can be pushed to +P+, is the gun actually designed to handle those pressures. How many rounds are you going to fire to test the reliability in the gun? I know most people could care less if they had to throw away the gun if it lasted long enough to win the gun fight. The point is that the .357 Sig is designed to handle those pressures and can probably be loaded even hotter.

Please refer to this website

nobody_special...
You have some impressive credtials. My bad for questioning them. Do you have proof that arrows do more damage than pistol rounds at close range? Lets refer to field points rather than broad heads since we are talking about penetration rather than hemmoraging. Arrows have excellent penetration due to their momentum from their greater weight. The produce very little shock though since they don't expand. Like I said, broad heads are another story since they have a larger wound channel with the sharp blades.

Now if you say that there is little difference between many handgun rounds (according to Marshall and Sanow's research) why does the .357 Magnum has such a high one stop shot percentage compared to the .38 special and even the 9mm. If you use the heavier .38 special loads, you will get the deeper penetration, but not the tissue damage of the .357 magnum.

I know that the human body is composed of "stuff" other than water, but the human body is a little over 50% water (55% - 60%). Even if the bullet hits bone, it will most likely break it and send secondary fragments throughout the wound channel.

Like I said, if penetration is the most important factor, why does almost every law enforcement agency use hollow points instead of full metal jacketed rounds? Maybe because they have money to waste. Maybe they have no clue what they are doing. Maybe it just gives them a psychological advantage and that puts the bad guys down faster. I still assert that the transfer of energy from the round to the person shot is what causes the damage, as long as there is sufficient penetration and vitals are hit.

December 11, 2006, 06:47 PM	#17
stephen426 Senior Member Join Date: March 11, 2005 Posts: 3,840	There is one other thing I forgot to mention. While the 9mm can be pushed to +P+, is the gun actually designed to handle those pressures. How many rounds are you going to fire to test the reliability in the gun? I know most people could care less if they had to throw away the gun if it lasted long enough to win the gun fight. The point is that the .357 Sig is designed to handle those pressures and can probably be loaded even hotter. Please refer to this website nobody_special... You have some impressive credtials. My bad for questioning them. Do you have proof that arrows do more damage than pistol rounds at close range? Lets refer to field points rather than broad heads since we are talking about penetration rather than hemmoraging. Arrows have excellent penetration due to their momentum from their greater weight. The produce very little shock though since they don't expand. Like I said, broad heads are another story since they have a larger wound channel with the sharp blades. Now if you say that there is little difference between many handgun rounds (according to Marshall and Sanow's research) why does the .357 Magnum has such a high one stop shot percentage compared to the .38 special and even the 9mm. If you use the heavier .38 special loads, you will get the deeper penetration, but not the tissue damage of the .357 magnum. I know that the human body is composed of "stuff" other than water, but the human body is a little over 50% water (55% - 60%). Even if the bullet hits bone, it will most likely break it and send secondary fragments throughout the wound channel. Like I said, if penetration is the most important factor, why does almost every law enforcement agency use hollow points instead of full metal jacketed rounds? Maybe because they have money to waste. Maybe they have no clue what they are doing. Maybe it just gives them a psychological advantage and that puts the bad guys down faster. I still assert that the transfer of energy from the round to the person shot is what causes the damage, as long as there is sufficient penetration and vitals are hit. __________________ The ATF should be a convenience store instead of a government agency!