The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Help with an Argument on "knock down" power

MandolinMan · February 8, 2018, 05:37 PM

Have you clarified what exactly he means by the term knock down power? Even though we agree that its a myth, people uses the phrase in different ways.

For example I frequently hear fellow hunter say things like, " .308 has better knock down power than .223", etc. What they mean is that .308 incapacitates the deer quicker than .223, not that it literally knocks the deer off its feet.

I would be inclined to think that your friend is trying to say that 45acp is more effective at incapacitating bad guys than 9mm, 380, etc. If this is the case, challenge him to appeal to any credible statistics that prove his case. That said, I have met people naive enough to think that shotguns can send people crashing backwards through walls like in the movies...

February 8, 2018, 05:37 PM	#21
MandolinMan Senior Member Join Date: May 8, 2013 Posts: 339	Have you clarified what exactly he means by the term knock down power? Even though we agree that its a myth, people uses the phrase in different ways. For example I frequently hear fellow hunter say things like, " .308 has better knock down power than .223", etc. What they mean is that .308 incapacitates the deer quicker than .223, not that it literally knocks the deer off its feet. I would be inclined to think that your friend is trying to say that 45acp is more effective at incapacitating bad guys than 9mm, 380, etc. If this is the case, challenge him to appeal to any credible statistics that prove his case. That said, I have met people naive enough to think that shotguns can send people crashing backwards through walls like in the movies... __________________ " The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles." Col. Jeff Cooper