The FBI is Going 9mm: Here Comes the Science

I mostly worry about accuracy. MY biggest curveball is keeping the loadings where they will both feed and be safe in my Winchester '73. And if I don't like the standard loadings for a cartridge, I find a better cartridge all together. That said, I would really like to hand load for both of them. 300+ feet per is nothing to scoff at.

 

They fear being sued if someone would fire a full house load in a antique Colt. It used to be the United States of America; now it is the United States of Litigation.

Are CAS loads full power? I've never shot CAS; however, I have shot a Ruger .45 LC using reloads and it has more muzzle rise than what I saw on TV. No hard extraction or flattened primers so what I shot was well within safe.

Modern powder, primers, and reloading can eek out every bit of performance and/or accuracy from any round.

In rifle I shoot a lot of clones of the military M193 or M855; same with 7.62x39 or the 5.45 version. I reload for bolt action and lever action. I've played with 7.62N; stayed around military specs; just to tighten groups up.
With bolt actions I can play with OAL etc. so it is a good bit of fun.

 

CAS/Cowboy loads are around 750 fps, when the stated literature from the time period place the original .45LC at around 1000fps, from a revolver.

If you shot a Ruger, be sure and shoot a Blackhawk. The Vaqueros are medium frame pistols, and the .45LC was designed for a large frame. It's the difference in shooting a hot .357 load from a snubby, and then shooting normal one from a 6" with a full sized grip. Been my experience, and I have run upwards of 8 45LC handguns over the years. Peacemaker 4.5", 78.5", 5.5", Schofield, Vaquero, Judge, Blackhawk. Only one that kicked was the Vaquero, and I sold it fter one cylind3er because I got tired of looking down the barrel after each shot.

 

I always get a giggle at many firearms instructors and gun writers who recommend against using your own reloads for anything but plinking or competition. Their biggest concern seems to be in the area of self-defense and the perception that some lawyer might try to paint of you as being some homicidal maniac loading ammo specifically designed to cause a lot of damage. Are you suggesting that premium factory ammo is designed to do minimal damage, counselor?

 

Potentially due to barrel length, most pistols and revolvers do waste powder. Small case volume snubs and as they use slower powders large case volume magnums also.

Every once in a while Jim's indoor range in Fayette-nam, NC has a floor fire from the unburnt powder on the concrete catching fire. The RO said it happens occasionally and it's no big thing. As I had never seen anything similar before; it was a big thing to me.

 

(On my less paranoid days I carry a 9 x 19mm. Usually, though, it's a 45 ACP!)

 

(In my best Zen Master voice) Remember Grasshoppers, a 9mm might expand, but a .45ACP won't shrink.

 

I would like to see the 44 magnum in that chart next to the 10 mm. 45 long colt. But Im with BTPOST. I dont think caliber is as important as shot placement. My wife and I both carry .22 Ruger pistols. They shoot a 40 grain velocitor at around 950 to 1000 feet per second which are copper jacketed hollow points. They expand to 36 caliber on soft tissue. One in each lung or one in the heart will kill pretty well. I dont consider these to be defensive weapons as much as deterrents or to keep someones head down while I get to my shotgun or rifle. The good thing is we hit what we aim at with these. Cheap ammo allows us to shoot them a lot and that makes for better shooters. I would rather have these two Ruger SR-22 p[istols then a 380,25 or 32 special. We sold a 9mm Ruger P-89 before we got the .22 PISTOLS.

 

Have you verified that from your gun, on live tissue or a suitable substitute? If not, you're assuming it will expand. Lots of people have been killed with .22 LR/.25/.32acp/.380acp but very rarely has it been the case that it was right then instead of minutes, hours, or even days later. The odds of incapacitating or killing a determined opponent with a .22, under duress, before said opponent causes serious bodily injury or death are not in your favor.


I have a S&W M29 .44 mag and a Blackhawk in .45 Colt. The latter is very potent with original spec loads. It was king of the hill until the .357 Magnum was introduced in 1935(IIRC). The .44 mag didn't show up till about 1955 I think. That said, I cast hollowpoints from fairly soft lead alloy and load them to around 1250fps for the .45 Colt. Still pleasant to shoot and capable of taking most game with ease. I load the .44 mag about the same.

 

I did an extensive penetration and ballistics test thread on Survivalboards.com a few years ago. Even blew a hole through a deer skull with a standard .22 40 grain exit hole was 3/4 of an inch. I had pictures and such. We have all that data on that thread with gel tests of the Velocitor from a .22 Ruger SR.22 hand gun speed ranged 950 to just over 1000 feet per send at like 20 feet The Data is all out there. Bottom line with the .22 hyper rounds are better from pistols at close range as they dont over expand . The Aquila, stinger and others that exceed 1400 fps from rifles are slowed down to the 900 to 1000 fps range. The velocitor is best 40 grain bullet. The very best you can shoot from a pistol. From a rifle they are real nice at like 50 to 75 yards. Good expansion without blowing up. Solids are better from rifles on bone at close range etc. If you dont want to believe me thats fine Im not going to try and find the thread again. It is years old news.

 

Here is a velocity test proving the bullet does over a 1000 feet per second out of my pistol.

 

Cant find the pistol shot into the gel any more but is out there. this shows the bullet expoand real nice from a 10-22 rifle the pistol at just under 1100 fps was 36 caliber when we did the test. The bullet is the best .22 long rifle for defense if you can call it that. Remember I dont claim its a defense round. I dont use it for that. But it will do lot more than the nay sayers believe.

 

I like to invite the naysayers of any round to put their bod where their mouth is and let me shoot them with the round in question

 

I don't advocate the round for defense. Our pistols are more for deterrent or as a last resort. Im out of rifle and shotgun ammo before Im down to .22. But if you are going to use a .22 pistol shoot Velocitors . They give you the very best the round is capable of. Center mass on a human is brisket, ribs and cartilage. I velocitor will expand real nice in that tissue and might even go right through. the entire body. Never know.

 

@BTPost
I know what you are saying...

This is a good article as it states any gun is better than no gun.
.22 LR for Self-Defense?

However when they imply make a CNS shot under real world conditions; let's be nice and say they are full of it.

From IX. Neurology. 4a. The Hind-brain or Rhombencephalon. Gray, Henry. 1918. Anatomy of the Human Body. Neurology

According my calculator, 3cm = 1.181102" long, 2cm = 0.7874016" and 1.25cm = 0.492126"

If we'd make an object of that size; how many people can hit it with a pistol at 25' even if it was still?

Admittedly a 22 does damage. However, acting as if as if CNS shot is easy is pure bull manure.

 

Seriously though. We only have just so many orifices on our bodies.
We tend to not like getting any more. So, once the hole poking starts, most will move away from the thing inflicting the holes.