Sadly I fear the problem today is many folks, including a fair number of LEO’s, do NOT practice enough to insure they can hit what they’re shooting at, relying instead on the 15, 20 or more rounds they have in each magazine rather than in shooting skill. And that completely ignores where all the “misses” go-and they ALL go somewhere, into property or, in the worst case, other people. I find the whole “spray and pray” concept very concerning, yet that is “the” thing for a lot of folks these days. In the real world the first round or two ON Target, will typically resolve the issue. One hit will beat 20 misses, every, single, time.
3 Myths About Handgun Stopping Power
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
The Night Rider
Professional
I don't trust anything smaller than this.
1canvas
Alpha
It’s a bit difficult to make good hits when your surprised, the target and you are both moving, the bad guy is shooting back at you, and you are having an adrenaline dump
. Something that can’t be duplicated on the range 
.
Lab4Us
Custom
Hard to get those acorns to fall on the range…It’s a bit difficult to make good hits when your surprised, the target and you are both moving, the bad guy is shooting back at you, and you are having an adrenaline dump
Model 457
Custom
I have a lot to say about this one. First and foremost, I couldn't agree with you more on the "spray & pray" mentality. In my day of being LE, a very brief day I might add, we did not have semi autos readily available. Some neighboring departments issued the new S&W semi auto 9s. We had wheel guns with a minimum two speed loaders hanging on our belt. We trained, practiced, and drilled relentlessly because the spray and pray option didn't exist. You had 6 shots. Every single one had better count.
As for the "stopping power" argument - As most before me have stated, shot placement makes all of the difference in the world. I have zero doubt that I can effectively defend myself with a 9, 45, 357, etc. However, one study most of the pundits avoid talking about discusses the mental impact of being shot. This article touched on it but didn't really peel the onion back. I speak from experience in that during my short lived LE career, I was involved in three shootouts and sustained gunshot wounds in two of them. Jokingly nobody in the department wanted to be a backup on any of my calls because I seemed to always end up on the calls that ended 11-99.
What I can tell you from experience is that when you sizzle 4 rounds of 9 through a hopped up tweaker, more times than not he'll keep advancing. However, hit the same dude with 2 rounds of 45, he goes into shock pretty quickly. In, or about 1995ish, the S&W Model 457 was approved for carry by my department provided you could qualify with it. I've carried a Model 457 as my EDC since the first time I personally witnessed the difference between the 9 and the 45 when trying to drop a hopped up tweaker.
A decent article and it WAS only about common handgun calibers/loadings. So that is that, no argument. Now then, to pick a nit: this comment here "If a bullet had enough energy to knock someone down? The recoil would knock you down, too. Conservation of momentum isn’t just a suggestion. It’s physics." Absolute nonsense. For those of us who've knocked game right off their feet with either shotguns or rifles - we didn't get knocked off our feet using such hunting systems. I've knocked running hogs right off their feet just as I've knocked deer off theirs. Dead before they hit the ground. But Trader, there are no handguns that deliver rifle/shotgun slug power. Uh huh. The .500 sw mag? Doesn't knock me off my feet and I can place the rounds easily into a dinner plate target. There are other rounds that are in that ballpark. Editors take note - don't ruin an otherwise decent article with needless hyperbole.
I was involved at the same time. And you might agree with my observation.
One of the issues is back in the late revolver days through the early 90’s with the autos there was incentive to shoot good.
1 It was drilled into our heads if we didn’t get it skne in 6 rounds we were dead. And there were no chasing of .16 split times (good luck ona. Revolver or a DA auto) but we were trained to make deliberate trigger pulls for every shot as we were responsible for every round fired and it had to be legal and constitutional
2. incentive to shoot better, boxes upon boxes of ammo given iyt as profeciency practice AND it was a real environment in Saturdays to shoot PPC matches throughout the area representing your agency a small the agencies took turns hosting matches.
3 cops actually would be failed out of the academy or FTO if they screwed up especially in firearms. So they confirmed and instructors back then were true instructors and diagnoseed shootjng errors and could correct uiu. Today instructors are tuber stamped saftey monitors and test (counting holes) administrators and the only diagnostic ability is to yell “quit jerking the trigger”
And Many places don’t fire cops for that in the new “no cop left behind” era
And don’t get me started in the ones that are making in duty TikTok BS posts. Cringe
I have said this multiple times LE has a 10/80/10 breakdown
To 10% are your top shooters and always train on their own dime and time and take it serious
80% while a few near the top the bulk are the ones barley qualified every year and quip “good enough til next year” and are the ones that look horrible on body cam with a mag dunp and if the perp is hit at all it’s in the elbow.
bottom 10% they are the ones that should have been fired but cry to the Inion and the union gets the admin to dumb down the wual course because they are the no cop left behind crowd