I learned something the easy way!

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Hokkmike

Hokkmike

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Went shooting at the club today. While the fellows were sighting in their deer rifles I took my Steyr M-40 out. I set up a 4X4X6" block of wood to shoot at from 15 yards. Well, two others took out nine's that they had with them and emptied a couple of magazines.

The big difference was that every time we shot the .40 S&W we had to go and reset the target up. The nines DID NOT knock it over.

One of the guys with the 9mm looked at me, and said, "Hmmmm....Makes me wonder!".
 
Gravity, it's a helluva drug. I'd be more interested in where each person was aiming at the block. Leverage, center of mass and all that physics stuff...

Honestly though, ~50 ft-lbs one way or another isn't going to make much of a difference when it's going through a person, and neither will 'knock down' somebody.
 
Round nose bullets vs flat nose bullets more than likely. Round nose 9mm bullets zip through the wood fibers where a flat nose .40 round would deliver more energy to the block of wood.

Quality HP's from either round would probably be a different story.
 
Seconding the "rounds not transferring their energy" theory.

For example, awhile back I was shooting some bowling pins with an AR and my Uzi. The 9mm out of the Uzi would knock the pins down much easier than the 5.56mm out of the AR because the 5.56mm FMJ would just pass right through the pins whereas the 9mm wouldn't.
 
If you have ever been plinking and shot at aluminum cans, a can that has been hit perfectly in the center will barely even quiver when you hit it, but you will find a bullet hole in the middle of it. To make it jump or fly you have to hit the base of it or even the dirt slightly below it.

The slower, heavier bullet has more momentum and therefore imparts more of a push to the object. If you want to drive a stake into the ground, you don't whack away at it with a 6-oz. hammer, you use a sledge or maul. ;) Momentum is not a good indicator of how much power a cartridge has, IPSC "power factor" notwithstanding.
 
Throw some Gold Dot 124 gr. SJ hollow points in that nine and be ready to count splinters.
 
I think it's more about shot placement. The last time at the range, I was knocking over bowling pins at 50 yards with my Ruger 10/22. The only way I could do that was with either a head or neck shot. I also had the same results as CleverNickname in that .223 rounds did not knock the pins over but drilled neat little holes in them. But 9mm rounds would knock them over if they were placed high enough on the neck or head of the pin.
 
One way or another, I'd bet balls to bucks that noone here would trade places with that chunk o' wood. (and I'm a 40sw fan).
 
Long time ago, the range had random plates popping up. My .40 wouldn't knock them over if it hit the bottom, but my .22 would knock them down if you hit the very top. Won a couple of competitions because nobody took my .22 serious. It's all about leverage.
 
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