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Webleymkv · November 7, 2008, 05:52 PM

I assume you're referring to the Marshall/Sanow figures. As Pax noted these studies are widely debated with some taking them as gospel and others claiming that Marshall and Sanow "cooked the books" and discounting them altogether (these people typically subscribe to the work of Martin Fackler). The best approach is, as usual, somewhere in between. It is true that there are statistical errors than can skew the results, they are typically most evident and significant when looking at calibers or loadings that have a very small amount of data (examples would include calibers such as 7.62x25 Tokarev or loadings like Glasers) as well as factors such as shot placement and psychological effect that aren't taken into account. When looking at comon calibers with popular loads, we can probably draw some generalizations. For example, a .357 Magnum loaded with Federal 357B (125grn semi-jacketed hollowpoint at 1450fps) rates a 96% one-shot-stop. Does this literally mean that that particular loading will stop 96 out of 100 attackers with one shot? Absolutely not as there are too many other factors that play into the equation. However, it's probably safe to say that a revolver loaded with this ammunition is very good as far as handguns go as this was a very popular loading among police and thusly there was a great amount of data to base this percentage on. In general, I look at any common caliber and popular loading rated above 75% by Marshall/Sanow as "good" and leave the debate about effectiveness among them to other factors.

November 7, 2008, 05:52 PM	#7
Webleymkv Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 10,446	I assume you're referring to the Marshall/Sanow figures. As Pax noted these studies are widely debated with some taking them as gospel and others claiming that Marshall and Sanow "cooked the books" and discounting them altogether (these people typically subscribe to the work of Martin Fackler). The best approach is, as usual, somewhere in between. It is true that there are statistical errors than can skew the results, they are typically most evident and significant when looking at calibers or loadings that have a very small amount of data (examples would include calibers such as 7.62x25 Tokarev or loadings like Glasers) as well as factors such as shot placement and psychological effect that aren't taken into account. When looking at comon calibers with popular loads, we can probably draw some generalizations. For example, a .357 Magnum loaded with Federal 357B (125grn semi-jacketed hollowpoint at 1450fps) rates a 96% one-shot-stop. Does this literally mean that that particular loading will stop 96 out of 100 attackers with one shot? Absolutely not as there are too many other factors that play into the equation. However, it's probably safe to say that a revolver loaded with this ammunition is very good as far as handguns go as this was a very popular loading among police and thusly there was a great amount of data to base this percentage on. In general, I look at any common caliber and popular loading rated above 75% by Marshall/Sanow as "good" and leave the debate about effectiveness among them to other factors.