[Forte S+W]

As long as the FBI/IWBA continues to use the same old overly simplistic, dated Ballistics Gel Testing Protocol, there's no point in anyone bothering to develop any new handgun cartridges because the current testing protocol makes all handgun cartridges look more or less the same until you get into Super Magnum territory.

Consider the .357 SIG cartridge, by all accounts it is a fantastic round which statistically duplicates the performance of the legendary .357 Magnum Law Enforcement loads, yet it has practically fallen completely out of the race when it comes to what Law Enforcement officers and civilians alike are carrying. Why? Because if you shoot it into a block of gelatin it just doesn't appear to do anything that the 9mm Luger cartridge cannot. But how can that be? It's just a more powerful 9mm, right? It's higher velocity and delivers more energy than 9mm Luger, so in must be better. Indeed it is, but without a proper testing medium to adequately showcase the advantages, it just doesn't look any better.

Same goes for other pistol cartridges that came out in recent decades. Until you get into Magnum territory, the advantages just aren't visible in Ballistics Gel, and other variables which used to be extremely important such as straight line penetration through hard barriers has been dialed back in recent years, so even the advantages which are visible in that category are no longer considered important.

I still say that FBI/IWBA Ballistics Gel Testing Protocol ought to be updated to include those high tech simulated torsos made by the likes of Ballistics Dummy Labs with simulated bones, organs, and even blood. Then we'd start to see more differences between handgun cartridges. But lets face it, that's the last thing that the FBI wants to do when their existing protocol successfully enabled them to save money in the long run by switching back to the less expensive 9mm Luger cartridge by convincing everyone that unspecified advances in ballistics technology made 9mm Luger more or less equal to more powerful cartridges, to heck with the laws of physics.

That being said, evidently there may still be some room for new pistol cartridges of greater power, as the 7.65 FK cartridge seems to have made some waves as a new Hunting/Bear Defense round. So as long as cartridge manufacturers use 10mm Auto as a benchmark, aggressively market the cartridge for Hunting/Bear Defense, and ship it out to every YouTuber for T&E, they might be able to make some headway there.