Gentlemen and ladies,
In the Sept. issue of American Rifleman ( NRA Magazine ), they have an article on "Handgun Stopping Power". I am sure you all have experience with a buzzilion such articles so I hope you can bring some clarity to a concern that the article raised for me.
The issue is the following : this article's data suggests that the performance between the .380 ACP and the .38 SPL is virtually identical. The data is as follows :
Average .380 ACP 941 fps @ 10feet, 12.6 inches penetration, and 1.48 expansion factor.
Average .38 SPL performance 947 fps @ 10 feet, 11.8 inches penetration, and 1.44 expansion factor.
Expansion factor is the recovered diameter of the bullet divided by the unfired bullet diameter.
So , I am interested in your take on this as I always thought empirically that the 38 was considerably superior to the 380.
Of course in this article the 9mm and above was clearly superior to either the 38 or 380.
Thanks in advance for your help, I am a novice and this just adds to the confusion about calibers.
Jim
In the Sept. issue of American Rifleman ( NRA Magazine ), they have an article on "Handgun Stopping Power". I am sure you all have experience with a buzzilion such articles so I hope you can bring some clarity to a concern that the article raised for me.
The issue is the following : this article's data suggests that the performance between the .380 ACP and the .38 SPL is virtually identical. The data is as follows :
Average .380 ACP 941 fps @ 10feet, 12.6 inches penetration, and 1.48 expansion factor.
Average .38 SPL performance 947 fps @ 10 feet, 11.8 inches penetration, and 1.44 expansion factor.
Expansion factor is the recovered diameter of the bullet divided by the unfired bullet diameter.
So , I am interested in your take on this as I always thought empirically that the 38 was considerably superior to the 380.
Of course in this article the 9mm and above was clearly superior to either the 38 or 380.
Thanks in advance for your help, I am a novice and this just adds to the confusion about calibers.
Jim