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THE 2ND AMENDMENT / Re: ATF EXPERT
« Last post by Michael Bush on Today at 06:29:23 am »Deadliness of a cartridge isn't simple and straightforward. It's not just about ft lbs. It's not just about bullet performance. It's not just the diameter of the bullet. All these things have different effects. A 45/70 doesn't have any more ft. lbs of energy than an .25-06 (there are actually a wide variety of factory loads for a 45/70 that are all over the map). A .22 lr is amazingly deadly for its size. The requirements for deadliness are penetration and wound channel. The .22 penetrates well. But if you want reliable stopping power (making sure the threat stays down) ft. lbs are helpful, penetration is helpful, but not as important as it is when hunting. Etc. Part of the problem with ft. lbs of energy can be illustrated with hammers. You can swing a 16 oz framing hammer hard enough to get the same ft. pounds as a sawed off 6 pound sledge gets with a little tap. But the results are drastically different.