Quote:
It is probable that all those years ago, the round was simply factory lead. The .44 was still at the time a rather uncommon critter and a novelty. hunting rounds that were available were almost certainly Remington scalloped HP rounds and maybe even double the price of lead.
So, my guess at the time was that it would have been factory lead.
Now, there is another part to that question. Would it have made any difference? A teenager who shot himself in the chest would have had little heavy meat there to allow the bullet to expand. I was always thinking that the round probably went through without anything but a little deformation.
It is my belief based on many things that the .44 magnum and .45 acp would have done almost identical damage to the heart.
The hard lead SWC round would have made a slightly more damaging wound, but it was in fact, only .429 rather than .454 and the wound would have been smaller. A .45 acp ball ammo round was almost all that existed in the real world back then. It would have whizzed right through the kid.
Velocity really doesn't matter when you are driving a heavy lump of lead at approximately 900-1,100 fps, the guy who worked for federal made that point quite well, as well as many of our members. Until the expansion and explosive force causes destruction of secondary tissues, all you have is a hole.
|
I have seen a few suicides and more than my share of shootings. Bullet construction is critical.
Say for the sake of argument that the bullet in question was a 240 grain LSWC. We know what it is going to do just about every time regardless of velocity. I carried a 44 magnum for a number of years and so did some other cops I knew. Loaded with a 180 grain JHP constructed with a light jacket like Remington uses traveling @ 1400-1500 fps it acts like a grenade when it hits, 30 to 40 grains of the bullet turning into fragments. That makes a devastating wound.
The same phenomenon happens with the 357 Magnum. The Border Patrol for a number of years issued Remington 110 grain 357 magnum ammo. The light jacket caused them to violently fragment, I saw a couple shootings with those, it creats a devastating wound. My US Marshal buddy related that he liked the 110 grain Federal 357 magnum as it penetrated deep in big game as well as BG's. Stacy Lim of the LAPD was shot with a 110 grain 357 magnum, lucky for her it was a Federal or Winchester bullet (I forget which one) and not a Remington bullet.
You see the same thing with the 9mm +P+, especially with old school loads such as the 9BPLE.
A friend of mine shot a car jacker thru the heart with a 45 ACP 230 grain +P Gold Dot. It blew a 3/4" hold thru the BG's heart. Similar bullets at similar velocities create similar wounds. Start changing those variables and you start changing the outcomes.
That is why, to me bullet construction is critical when discussing terminal ballistics. So when someone says this or that caliber failed with no more information than that and I usually dismiss it as there is not enough information to draw any conclusions.