Hollowpoint ammo and headshots?

[twoclones]

would Hollowpoints penetrate a skull in these calibers?

On the farm, we used 22LR to shoot steers and hogs in the head for butchering. It was from a small rifle but one tiny bulllet to the head = one freezer of meat.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

On the farm, we used 22LR to shoot steers and hogs in the head for butchering. It was from a small rifle but one tiny bulllet to the head = one freezer of meat.

Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. This lady had to be put down by officers because she pointed her gun at them AFTER shooting herself in the head.

Police: Suicidal Woman Killed after Pointing Gun at Officers
Last Edited: Thursday, 04 Sep 2008, 7:58 AM CDT
Created: Thursday, 04 Sep 2008, 7:40 AM CDT


FORT WORTH, Texas -- A woman who was apparently intent on ending her life pointed a gun at a Fort Worth police officer who shot her twice in the chest killing her, according to Lt. Paul Henderson, police spokesman.

Two patrol officers driving through a park in the 4300 block of Sansom Drive Wednesday night noticed a car parked with the lights out.

The officers checked out the vehicle and found a woman sitting in the front seat slumped over the steering wheel crying. Investigators said the woman had been writing a suicide note when the officers approached her car.

Henderson said one officer reached through the driver's side window and put his hand on the woman's shoulder to see if she was OK. As she leaned back, she allegedly revealed a small .22 pistol.

The officer stepped back from the car and the woman put the gun to the side of her head and pulled the trigger, but she was not fatally wounded.

Police said she then cocked the gun and pointed it at the other officer who was near the passenger side window.

That officer fired his service weapon through the windshield striking the woman twice and killing her.

"We are deeply saddened for the woman and the loss her family has experienced. We are equally saddened for the officers who went through this ordeal, " said Lt. Henderson.

The officers will be allowed to take time off but the Fort Worth Police Department does not have a policy of putting officers involved in shootings on administrative leave.

Major Case Detectives are investigating. Their findings will be turned over a Grand Jury which will decide if the officer was justified in shooting the woman.

The Medical Examiner's Office has not released the woman's name.

For those of you who say things like...

Second, no other part of the human body is harder to penetrate for incapacitation than the front of the skull.

This is both sort of true and absolutely false. The sort of true part is that the frontal bones TEND to be some of the thickest bones of the skull that cover a wide area. On some individuals, the occipital bones are as thick or thicker. The thickest and hardest to penetrate would be the mastoid processes, last digit of your thumb-sized protuberances at the base of the skull. Few people get shot in the mastoids, however.

The frontal bones are thicker than the top, sides, and most of the bottom of the skull. HOWEVER, the front of the skull also includes the eyes and behind the eyes are some of the absolute thinnest bones of the skull and they are located on the front side. So the stereotypically toughest part to penetrate is located just above the stereotypically easiest part. Below that are the nasal passages, also very easy to penetrate. Both the eyes and nose are hard to shoot into, being small targets, but the point here wasn't the ease of hitting the target, but whether or not they are hard to penetrate.

 

[indie]

Very informative posts in here. Thanks everyone.

 

[Eyesac]

They were having a PCP and body armor buyback down the street yesterday - I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Haha!

Anywhoo, while I'll agree that all handguns are underpowered, I'm not personally going to worry about HP ammo not punching through skull. If some how I've managed to get a forhead shot off on a BG in a fight I'll be too proud of myself to care...

 

[The Canuck]

I have personally put Speer Gold Dot 9x19 124gr JHP ammo through a 1/4" aluminum plate at 15m with my P229R. It punched a neater hole than the ball ammo. I'm willing to bet that odds are it will go through the front of a person's skull when called upon.

 

[wep45]

If you are concerned about your safety, then why take chances

Get your self a S&W model 629 .44 magnum AND a S&W model 686 .357 magnum (barrel lengths of your choice). Fill them with loads.

step one: empty the model 629 at the neck and head of the interloper

step two: (if its still twitchin) pick up the model 686 and aim for the knees
and groin.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I have personally put Speer Gold Dot 9x19 124gr JHP ammo through a 1/4" aluminum plate at 15m with my P229R. It punched a neater hole than the ball ammo. I'm willing to bet that odds are it will go through the front of a person's skull when called upon.

Funny thing, that same round will go through a car windshield when fired perpendicularly to the glass, but may not penetrate when fired from a position directly in front of the car. The angle of the glass from that position can be enough to deflect the round enough such that the round does not penetrate.

The issue isn't just one of whether the round is capable or not. There are several other factors involved as well...such as the angle of impact. Think of it as 'skipping' off an incline, only since much of the skull is rounded, you have more potential to hit a spot that inclines/declines than one that is perpendicular to you.

 

[mike7465]

One shot to the head with a hollow point will drop them.

 

[Fred Fuller]

And that's enough of that.

lpl