Ethan Verity
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- Joined
- May 8, 2021
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What type of damage is the smallest production handgun on the market truly capable of? This post will shed some light on that question.
Here are the results of my ballistic test with the NAA 22 Short, using a simulated head made by Ballistic Dummy Labs. This accurately simulates the human head in both flesh and bone, and gives us a better understanding of what this humble little revolver can actually do in a defensive situation. My observations are written out in detail below.
Test Setup: The fake head was shot 13 times, from different angles, with the North American Arms 22 Short mini revolver from a distance of 3 feet. The ammo used was the CCI 29gr CPRN (Copper Plated Round Nose) high-velocity round, with a box advertised velocity of 1,080fps and a TRUE velocity of ~750fps from this 1-1/8" barrel. Total of ~36ft/lbs of energy per shot.
After shooting the head and getting some pics, I cracked the skull open to see where the internal bullets had gone in the "brain". Most of my aftermath pictures are taken after peeling the skin off, since it had become stained with the fake blood making it difficult to see the extent of damage.
The location and results of the different shots are described below:
Center of forehead shot- The bullet blasted clean through the skull, and traveled through the entire length of the brain. It came to rest at the very back of the skull, on the inside. No damage was done to the back of the skull, so there was not much energy left at that point. The photographs below show the skull, and the "brain" after being removed. The last pictures shows the stopped bullets at the very back of the skull.
Left eye shot- The bullet passed into the skull at the back of the eye socket, entering the brain, where it again passed the entire length of the brain coming to rest at the back of the skull on the inside.
Cheek bone shot- The bullet mushroomed and deflected off the cheek bone without so much as a crack to the bone. Only a small chip was present on the bone where it had made initial impact. The bullet deflected upward off the cheek bone under the skin, and came to rest inside the 'eye ball' area.
Lower Maxilla bone shot (right side of nose ridge)-The bullet mushroomed off the corner of the nasal ridge of the maxilla without severely damaging the bone, apart from a small chip. It then continued into the sinus cavity, but with little energy left. The bullet did not enter the brain.
Upper Maxilla bone shot (corner of left eye)- The bullet blasted through the skull, traversed the entire length of the brain, and came to rest at the back of the skull.
-Results continued in the next post:
Here are the results of my ballistic test with the NAA 22 Short, using a simulated head made by Ballistic Dummy Labs. This accurately simulates the human head in both flesh and bone, and gives us a better understanding of what this humble little revolver can actually do in a defensive situation. My observations are written out in detail below.
Test Setup: The fake head was shot 13 times, from different angles, with the North American Arms 22 Short mini revolver from a distance of 3 feet. The ammo used was the CCI 29gr CPRN (Copper Plated Round Nose) high-velocity round, with a box advertised velocity of 1,080fps and a TRUE velocity of ~750fps from this 1-1/8" barrel. Total of ~36ft/lbs of energy per shot.
After shooting the head and getting some pics, I cracked the skull open to see where the internal bullets had gone in the "brain". Most of my aftermath pictures are taken after peeling the skin off, since it had become stained with the fake blood making it difficult to see the extent of damage.
The location and results of the different shots are described below:
Center of forehead shot- The bullet blasted clean through the skull, and traveled through the entire length of the brain. It came to rest at the very back of the skull, on the inside. No damage was done to the back of the skull, so there was not much energy left at that point. The photographs below show the skull, and the "brain" after being removed. The last pictures shows the stopped bullets at the very back of the skull.
Left eye shot- The bullet passed into the skull at the back of the eye socket, entering the brain, where it again passed the entire length of the brain coming to rest at the back of the skull on the inside.
Cheek bone shot- The bullet mushroomed and deflected off the cheek bone without so much as a crack to the bone. Only a small chip was present on the bone where it had made initial impact. The bullet deflected upward off the cheek bone under the skin, and came to rest inside the 'eye ball' area.
Lower Maxilla bone shot (right side of nose ridge)-The bullet mushroomed off the corner of the nasal ridge of the maxilla without severely damaging the bone, apart from a small chip. It then continued into the sinus cavity, but with little energy left. The bullet did not enter the brain.
Upper Maxilla bone shot (corner of left eye)- The bullet blasted through the skull, traversed the entire length of the brain, and came to rest at the back of the skull.
-Results continued in the next post:
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