I think that what has taken place in this thread is basically a whizzing contest over the DEGREE or AMOUNT of hydraulic shock, or hydraulic energy transfer..
Agreed, Rifles do far more TISSUE damage as a result of HYDRAULIC SHOCK because of the combination of weight and speed, and penetration..
Handguns have far less CATASTROPHIC TISSUE DAMAGE because they lack the speed required to produce the larger shock wave that high velocity rifle rounds do..
But BOTH produce a HYDRAULIC EFFECT WITHIN A BODY...
Where folks seem to be argueing is on the DEGREE or AMOUNT of hydraulic shock that is transfered or delivered..
Understand, that in a SD handgun round, we are looking for sufficient energy transfer to cause an IMMEDIATE disruption to the CNS to cause a a rapid, or immediate incapacitation.. Temporary of permanent, we will take either.. as long as it ends the fight quickly and to our advantage.. Unfortunately, to effectively do this with any hope of reliable and predictable desired effects, round or shot placement is critical... and to insure the desired effect, the rounds must me aimed at areas that also will result in death.. Center mass, or "the Fatal T".
While veins and arteries are conduits for blood, (fluid) throughout the body, the body is approximately 86% water. COmposed of blood, bile, and a host of other aqueous compounds, all that will act to transfer energy to a varying degree. the amount of fluid moving through the vascular system as a result of a bullet impact would be minuscule in relation to the wave that is moving through the body via the flesh and organs.. I think that we can all agree that abdominal areas are more aqueous than muscle, and that the facial area is loaded with sinus cavities that are mostly air, and therefore compressive and less likely to transfer hydraulic force.
This could explain why a rifle round across the front of the face would not destructively disrupt the brain.. I too have seen similar effect in a shooting victim with a 30-30, his brother managed to blow his lower jaw off, along with most of his tongue, and a few teeth out of the upper mouth, but he was alert conscious and oriented in the ER.. He was able to write us as to how stupid they were... I wish a had kept some of those pictures. Lower jaw area, bone, muscle and air.. little to transfer energy... But man it looked like it hurt!
It does not take a huge, flesh tearing, explosive force to render a person unconscious, or to cause their central nervous system to temporarily short circuit.. If would be interesting to see an EKG and an EEG of an individual at moment of impact of rounds of various types and placement.. but I would bet that the universal trait would be the EEG would go off the charts... The only question would be how far off the charts and for how long..
I think that everyone here agrees, that a hit from a 9mm is nowhere near as bad as a hit in the same spot from a 7 mag.. and I think that we all agree that a head shot with a 158gr 38, would not be near as "graphic" as a head shot from a 168 gr .308.. but the victim would be just as dead... for you see, as many bodies as I have viewed in my lifetime, I have never seen varying degrees of dead... it is only a matter of how fast they got there.. dead is dead...
However not everyone, or thing that absorbs the impact of a bullet, goes down immediately, that is just not the real world.. So what we all seek, is a round that will take as much ability to fight, or take flight in the case of game, as possible... This is done, in handguns, through the use of good hollow point ammunition, pushed as quickly as it can safely be... or in the case of rifles, with Soft Point or other expanding ammunition.. We seek antiquate penetration so that the maximum transfer of energy takes place along the entire length of the deepest wound track we can generate, and ideally not exiting the body, for both the maximum effectiveness of the round via energy transfer, and the liability reasons of the possibility of collateral damage.. This is why we chose different bullet weights for different game, or applications..
I think that we would all agree, that ether we are hunting or going into a combat situation, that we would be loading with the best rapid expanding handgun ammunition, or SP, or ballistic tip rifle ammunition we could get our hands on.. Why, because we want that, however tiny or catastrophic it may be, edge of hydraulic forces working for us...
But I too, am still looking for that .22 or 32 caliber pistol round that has no recoil, cannot miss, and has the terminal ballistics of a harpoon missile.. when they come out with that, somebody left me know.. I want two!