The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Suppressed .300 Whisper M16 vs. Suppressed .45 Submachine Gun

Nightcrawler · November 8, 2001, 11:31 AM

There's no need to shout. But please explain to me how a subsonic 250gr bullet in .300 whisper will penetrate body armor "like it was cheese" when a subsonic 250gr bullet in, say, .45 Colt, won't? It can't be just the smaller bore diameter. Even .30 Carbine can be defeated by some Level IIIA soft armors, and that's a 110gr bullet moving at 1950 fps.

Penetration is a function of velocity, primarily, and mass second. Smaller bored, lighter bullets can get higher velocities and have less surface area for there to be resistance against, but big heavy bullets have more mass, which means more momenthum, which means more force is required to stop them.

A subsonic bullet in any caliber or weight is going to have a hard time defeating modern soft body armors, unless I'm sorely mistaken.

November 8, 2001, 11:31 AM	#6
Nightcrawler Senior Member Join Date: September 22, 2000 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 2,945	huh? There's no need to shout. But please explain to me how a subsonic 250gr bullet in .300 whisper will penetrate body armor "like it was cheese" when a subsonic 250gr bullet in, say, .45 Colt, won't? It can't be just the smaller bore diameter. Even .30 Carbine can be defeated by some Level IIIA soft armors, and that's a 110gr bullet moving at 1950 fps. Penetration is a function of velocity, primarily, and mass second. Smaller bored, lighter bullets can get higher velocities and have less surface area for there to be resistance against, but big heavy bullets have more mass, which means more momenthum, which means more force is required to stop them. A subsonic bullet in any caliber or weight is going to have a hard time defeating modern soft body armors, unless I'm sorely mistaken. __________________ Nightcrawler- TFL Alumnus