I'm thinking about typical handgun calibers, from 9mm to 40s&w to 357sig as those are the choices I have for my P320--but I think this discussion could apply to "proper" woodland calibers as well, that start with a 4 and end in mag.
Reading a lot of forums and watching a lot of youtube, the standard advice for woodland ammo is to go for the hottest, heaviest FMJ you can find, and ideally a FMJTC/FMJFN. Lots of people will then suggest lead hardcast underwood or buffalo bore. These are claimed to have the best penetration, and penetration is supposed to be what you need if you shoot a 4 legged critter, especially head on where the round has to penetrate a long way to get to vitals, or punch through some thicker animal bone--and especially if that 4 legger is a growling thing with sharp claws.
But, a lot of other people will point out that the most dangerous critter in the woods still walks on two legs, and statistically you may be better off preparing for that encounter than for the infamous but rare bear vs pistol debate.
Then I watched a lot of those online ammo tests where they shoot at gelatin through several layers of denim, or sometimes through a wood board, and so on. And in these videos they go on to complain that older JHP rounds don't work very well because they act like FMJ rounds and over-penetrate.
That got me to thinking: Are the older style, and pretty cheap, JHP rounds exactly what you need in the woods? Like the old-school Winchester whitebox "personal defense", old federal JHP's or even Hydroshocks. Online these seem to routinely fail the "FBI test" by over penetrating when they go through some thick clothing.
But those older rounds also work pretty well. They are not as good as modern rounds like HST for confronting a home invader, but they work a lot better than a FMJ round. They still do frequently expand, and they sometimes even expand pretty well. Just not as well as the newer stuff.
So, is that maybe exactly what you want in the woods?
A round that, if it strikes a 4 legged critter, will "over penetrate", and do the job? While still being a not bad choice against a more common 2 legged threat?
Just wondering about this and wanted to hear what others think
Reading a lot of forums and watching a lot of youtube, the standard advice for woodland ammo is to go for the hottest, heaviest FMJ you can find, and ideally a FMJTC/FMJFN. Lots of people will then suggest lead hardcast underwood or buffalo bore. These are claimed to have the best penetration, and penetration is supposed to be what you need if you shoot a 4 legged critter, especially head on where the round has to penetrate a long way to get to vitals, or punch through some thicker animal bone--and especially if that 4 legger is a growling thing with sharp claws.
But, a lot of other people will point out that the most dangerous critter in the woods still walks on two legs, and statistically you may be better off preparing for that encounter than for the infamous but rare bear vs pistol debate.
Then I watched a lot of those online ammo tests where they shoot at gelatin through several layers of denim, or sometimes through a wood board, and so on. And in these videos they go on to complain that older JHP rounds don't work very well because they act like FMJ rounds and over-penetrate.
That got me to thinking: Are the older style, and pretty cheap, JHP rounds exactly what you need in the woods? Like the old-school Winchester whitebox "personal defense", old federal JHP's or even Hydroshocks. Online these seem to routinely fail the "FBI test" by over penetrating when they go through some thick clothing.
But those older rounds also work pretty well. They are not as good as modern rounds like HST for confronting a home invader, but they work a lot better than a FMJ round. They still do frequently expand, and they sometimes even expand pretty well. Just not as well as the newer stuff.
So, is that maybe exactly what you want in the woods?
A round that, if it strikes a 4 legged critter, will "over penetrate", and do the job? While still being a not bad choice against a more common 2 legged threat?
Just wondering about this and wanted to hear what others think
