What is the difference in foot power for calibers? What am I not understanding? IE, for an extreme difference, a 55 grain 22 bullet going 3200 fps has about 1100 pounds of energy at 100 yards vs. a 240 grain 44 bullet going about 1800 fps with 1100 pounds of energy at 100 yards. They are both ballisticly possible. Please also understand that I would also rather shoot the 44. What am I missing?

To take the bullet equation out of the way, lets just say that both of the projectiles are partition or Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullets™ .

Duane

without going into a lot of detail ft/lbs of energy has to do with weight and velocity hence the 55 gr bullet needs to be going faster than a 240gr bullet to have the same amount of energy. think of it as being hit by a Mack truck doing 40mph or a hyundi going 110mph. hope this helps you understand the concept

That help a little. I tried to put enough information down to let you know the extent of knowledge of the subject, which is limited. Is there any publicized information that anyone would recommend about the subject? I subject has always been vague to me. I grew up shooting a 7mm mag loaded with a 162 gr. spbt going over 3100 fps. I now know that a 708 is more than adequate for white tail hunting. That is one of the reasons that I have always underestimated the abilities of a 44 mag, which I know is more that sufficient for hunting deer.

I know of people that hunt deer with 22-250s and others that have shot elk with 243s. I did say that I promoted or recommended it. But these people are also crack shots.

With that being said, my 7mm mag will NOT knock a 150 pound pig over at 25 yards. I have shot two of them that just trotted off, not far but they didn’t drop. But a 45-70 will completely overwhelm it. On paper, the 7mm has more foot pounds of energy. That is why I know I am missing a variable. That is also why I have never owned a straight walled case cartridge, which I am remedying. I have realized that there some great straight walled case cartridges and I have underestimated them for to long because of my ignorance.

Duane

Duane , A great answer to your question is waiting for you at John Linebaugh`s (the custom gun maker) website. Click on his "writing`s" heading and refer to his article entitled " A
common sense look at handgun hunting". In it he brings up John Taylor`s (the African hunter) "knock out" formula which I believe is a better way to gauge a hunting handgun bullets efectivness. http://www.customsixguns.com Good hunting, James

Thanks for the help!!

Duane

You can enter your data and get TKOV, FPE and Thornily Relative Stopping Power on Beartooth Bullets site.

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/rescources/index.htm

Basically, the figures are a measure of kinetic energy, not a measure of stopping power. Kinetic energy varies with the square of the velocity and hence fast moving projectiles have a high kinetic energy figure. Living tissue is good at absorbing energy without too much effect. At typical handgun velocities, energy levels haven't crossed the threshold where it overcomes the energy absorption levels of living tissue (this may not apply to some of the rifle type cartridges fired from some of the specialty handguns like TC etc). Stopping power has a whole lot of factors (plus random chance and dumb luck) Will the projectile penetrate far enough to reach vital organs? Penetration is largly influenced by momentum, sectional density and projectile construction. If the projectile reaches the vitals, will it cause enough damage? Will it leave a large enough wound channel to cause a rapid loss of blood pressure? These issues are often related to diameter.

Don't worry, even Governments with massive budgets and immense research capacity frequently fail to understand the parameters. Plenty of police departments and military make the mistake.

Thanks for help!

When it comes to this particular subject, I do not like being ignorant. That is the reason I am trying to remedy the situation.

The beartoothbullets and customsixguns were very helpful in several ways.

Tracking!!!

Duane

I think you also need to consider the loss of energy of a bullet exiting the animal. A smaller diameter bullet with a certain amount of energy is much more likely to punch straight through tissue and carry energy with it than a bullet of a larger diameter with the same energy. The larger bullet is going to shed a lot more of its energy into the tissue before it exits. The 22 bullet will most likely go right through with little loss of energy (unless it hits a bone and becomes a ping-pong ball) than the 44. Its the energy absorbed by the tissues that knocks the animal down or makes for the quick kill from massive hemorrhage. A 243 hit right below the spine will probably still allow the animal to run off. A 44 hit right below the spine will still immidiately incapacitate the animal.