[TaurusPT945]

What happens when a 9mm and .45 caliber bullets penetrate the body?

Does it pass through or stays inside?

[Mr_Moore]

What happens when a 9mm and .45 caliber bullets penetrate the body?

Does it pass through or stays inside?

I have heard of .22s going through. I have heard of .357s not going through.

You might want to look at penetration ballistics in gel.

http://www.firearmstactical.com/wound.htm

Of course when you hit bone and clothing you are going to get different results.

Also, look at the pictures of the wound channels, they are interesting.

[Sunray]

Depends on the bullet, its velocity and where it hits.

[C-grunt]

Like the prvious posters stated, it depends.
A FMJ will more likely go through a person than a HP will. Thats not saying a FMJ will go through a person and a HP wont. For lack of a better term the FMJ is more aerodinamic and therefore will go through tissue with less resistance.
It also depends on if the bullet turns or is deflected somehow. I have seen 7.62 ball not pass through. If a bullet enters the chest and is deflected downward after it goes through the ribcage, then it has a long way to go to reach the other side and might not make it.
People generaly use HP because they not only get bigger when they hit, but are more likely not to exit the body...in theory. A HP that expands correctly is more likely the hit that vital organ or blood vessel that the FMJ might have narrowly missed.
I hope that answered your question.

[MachIVshooter]

I would venture to say that the only cartridges that could be counted on to penetrate a human through and through would be the big, begins-with-a-four (or five) magnums, or rifles of .244" caliber or better. Most handgun cartridges will not get much over 12", and that is without hitting bones or otherwise deflecting.

[JohnKSa]

Depends more on the bullet than the caliber.

Non-expanding bullets penetrate very well. Even out of a handgun, they'll often penetrate 2 feet or more if they don't hit a bone.

Expanding bullets may penetrate very poorly. Some of the new defensive rifle rounds designed to expand violently only penetrate a few inches.

[NMshooter]

There is an excellent book titled "Bullet Penetration" by Duncan MacPherson available on the Firearms Tactical website that will answer all your questions and then some.

It even shows you how to conduct your own ballistic testing just like the factory and FBI do, and how to get meaningful results out of the data collected.

[trueblue1776]

I would venture to say that the only cartridges that could be counted on to penetrate a human through and through would be the big, begins-with-a-four (or five) magnums, or rifles of .244" caliber or better. Most handgun cartridges will not get much over 12", and that is without hitting bones or otherwise deflecting.

hmmm...

wait... what?

Bullet penetration is like 50% science 50% chance. The gellatin is the science part, the center mass shot a wee bit more chance.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not confusing penetration with stopping power.

Too many variables for me to be able to tackle such a broad question(in one post), have fun guys.



Ps. yeah, read a book

[Lennyjoe]

We first must ask the thread starter the real reason why he is asking such question.

Is it for personal protection? Is it the liability of the shooter as to where his bullet is going? Is it an energy transfer reason?

Or is it just because he wants to learn more about ballistics?

[The Tourist]

You know, fifteen years ago I would have thought that this question needed some study. I no longer think so.

By whatever standard used by any agency, the conventional wisdom is that hollowpoints should open (even if filled with debris) penetrate about 10 inches, fully mushroom and dump all available energy.

I think almost all combat ammo, of any calibre and make, does that now.

It's old news that round-nose .38 SPLs are too weak and that 10mm Autos are too strong. A .40 SW is about right, and so are the 9x19 and hollowpoint .45 ACPs which are designed to mimic those performance figures.

When Super Vel came out it was ground breaking. Cartridge companies now make ammunition that feeds in automatic pistols (and the pistols are better, as well) and performs to give LEOs a bullet that works and does not over penetrate.

After all, why would you continue to make a bullet that fails when your competition is building a round that everyone buys?

[MachIVshooter]

hmmm...

wait... what?

Bullet penetration is like 50% science 50% chance. The gellatin is the science part, the center mass shot a wee bit more chance.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not confusing penetration with stopping power.

Too many variables for me to be able to tackle such a broad question(in one post), have fun guys.



Ps. yeah, read a book

Reading comprehension:

cartridges that could be counted on to penetrate .

Did not say that a smaller round would not perforate, or that a large magnum gaurantees it. But when one considers velocity, energy and bullet construction you could reasonably assume that such a round as a .454 Casull launching a 360 hard cast slug at 1600 FPS is not going to stop within the 8-14" front to back confines of the average human torso, regardless of bone, etc., since it was designed to kill much larger animals.

I suppose I tried to sum it up in too few words, but the point I was trying to make is that I don't think one could expect a standard handgun round to reliably penetrate a human body completely. But using cartridges and bullets that were designed to penetrate large game animals would likely result in complete, or over, penetration on a human target.