115 gr 9mm lacking penetration?

[Ben86]

The FBI has an excuse for everything. Even egotism and the selection of poor ammo design.

So would seem that penetration/expansion would be about 75% bullet design and 25% weight?

Bullets with larger weight do have greater sectional density, which should mean more weight rention through barriers. Right?

 

[tipoc]

Since the Miami shootout few handgun rounds have gone through as much development as the 9mm. In general the bullet design has been improved to prevent early expansion. To get the same penetration or close to it with the 115 gr. as the heavier rounds +P pressures must be used. These presssures are not all that much higher than standard pressures though.

Remington's 115 gr. JHP+P gets 1250 vel. with muzzle energy of 399. Black Hills 115gr. jhp +P does 1300 fps with muzzle energy of 431. Cor Bon produces a load of 1350 fps with energy at 460.

9mm bullets these days tend to penetrate and expand as they should against a number of barriers. Not all are equal of course but most will do the job that a fella looking for a good self defense round could expect of them.

tipoc

 

[tipoc]

Bullets with larger weight do have greater sectional density, which should mean more weight rention through barriers. Right?

Not necessarily. After the Miami shootout and while the FBI was working on reviewing it's ammo selection it switched for a time from the 115 gr. Winchester Silvertip to a 147 gr. load thinking that the greater weight would provide more penetration. But the bullet design was not right and they proved less effective at penetration than the 9mm they had been using. From that time till now many law enforcement organizations distrusted the 147 gr. loads. The ammo manufacturers went to work and improved the design of the bullets in the heavier loads and they improvced greatly. They did the same for the lighter loads as well. Winchester Ranger line is one result, Federal's Hydra Shok another. So, yep weight does aid penetration but only if the bullet is right for the job.

tipoc