So I spent the week in the mortuary...

[Porramedic]

Last week we spent our forensics block at the medico-legal mortuary

Having an interest in wound ballistics, the gunshot cases were obviously of particular interest to me. I've seen my fair share of gunshot wounds from the "outside" and occasionally from the "inside" in theatre but only at a postmortem do you have the opportunity to examine gunshot wounds in true detail. I only saw handgun wounds, as these are more prevelant.

What amazed me is how little apparent damage there was. No great shredding and chopping of insides, just fairly neat holes through the organs. I did a bit more research on the forensic side and found a great book in our library by Vincent Di Maio titled Gunshot Wounds: Practical Spects of Firearms, Ballistics and Forensic Techniques.

I have taken an excerpt from the Chapter "Stopping Power" and Hollow-Point Ammunition: Myths and Facts. This is really just another take on a popular topic. I have avoided the sections of rifle bullets because of space and the fact that most of us depend on handguns for SD. I'll add other interesting stories to the relevant forum topics.

For those that haven't heard of him, Prof. Vincent J.M Di Maio is a Forensic Pathologist and Chief Medical Examiner of Bexar County (San Antonio) Texas as well as a Professor of the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas. He is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology and author or co-author of four books and 75 articles concerning forensics and related matters. He has won several awards for his work.

"Solid bullets may even be more lethal than expanding bullets. As a general rule, expanding bullets do not penetrate as deeply as solid bullets because they mushroom. If the aorta, for example, is 14 inches from the skin surface and the mushrooming bullet stops after 12 inches of penetration but the solid bullet travels for 18 inches, then the solid bullet is more lethal than the hollow-point. Note that this was written in 1999 before the focus on penetration in hollowpoint ammunition came to the fore

There is no objective proof that in real-life situations mushrooming of a bullet plays a significant role in increasing lethality or the "stopping power" of the bullet. This is because of the other factors that can also influence the amount of tissue destruction and incapacitation, e.g., the organ injured, the state of the organ at the time of impact (distended or collapsed), the stability of the bullet, and the emotional state of the victim, etc.

As a bullet moves through the body, not only does it directly injure tissue, it also creates a temporary cavity. The size of this cavity is directly related to the amount of kinetic energy lost by the bullet in the tissue. A hollow-point bullet should lose more kinetic energy in a vital organ than a non-expanding bullet. This is because as a hollow-point bullet travels through the tissue, it expands, creating greater resistance to its travel, decelerating more rapidly, and losing more kinetic energy than a solid bullet. As a result of this, the temporary cavity produced by the hollow-point bullet will be greater in size than that from a solid bullet. The key word in discussing cavity formation is "temporary." This cavity lasts only 5 to 10 msec before the tissue springs back into position as a result of the tissue's inherent elasticity and resiliency. In the case of handgun bullets, the size of the temporary cavities produced by hollow-point bullets versus non-deforming bullets is not significantly different so as to effect the severity of wounds. In other words, the temporary cavity phenomena is of little or no significance in wounding when dealing with handgun bullets.

Whether using either a hollow-point or a solid-lead handgun bullet to inflict a mortal injury, the bullet must strike a vital organ. Although hollow-point bullets, in comparison to traditional solid lead bullets, theoretically have a greater ability to kill by virtue of greater physiologic injury to an organ, such differences are only theoretical. An individual shot through the heart with a solid, round-nose bullet is just as likely to die as an individual shot through the heart with a hollow-point bullet.

There are a number of myths about hollow-point handgun ammunition which tend to impart a bad reputation to this type of ammunition. First, it should be said that hollow-point bullets do not mutilate organs or destroy them any more than their solid-nose, all-lead counterparts of the same caliber. The wounds in the skin, as well as those in the internal organs, are the same in appearance and extent for both types of ammunition. One cannot examine the wounds in a body and say that the individual was shot with a hollow-point rather than a solid-lead bullet. No organs are reduced to a "chopped meat" by a handgun bullet.

The second myth is that hollow-point handgun bullets fragment or "blow up" in the body. Fragments, both jacket and/or core, may break off a hollow-point bullet especially if it strikes a bone — but this breakup is not significant.

Is there any situation in which a hollow-point handgun bullet will invariably stop an individual "dead in his tracks"? Yes, if the bullet injures a vital area of the brain, the brain stem, or the cervical spinal cord. But any bullet, regardless of style or caliber, injuring these organs will cause instant incapacitation. It is the nature of the structure injured, not the nature of the bullet, that causes the incapacitation. Aside from areas in the central nervous system, while a bullet may produce rapid incapacitation, there is no guarantee that it will produce instant incapacitation. This is because in these other areas incapacitation is produced indirectly by depriving the brain of blood and oxygen. Since the brain can function for 10 to 15 seconds without oxygen, even if all blood is cut off by the wound, the individual can function for this time period"

[Corné]

Interesting..... confused0083

It make you think about our discussions regarding bullets in handguns for Self Defense.....

One thing that remains important is sufficient penetration either in FMJ or Hollow Point or in Cast as to reach the vital organs....

[Thorkind]

Good stuff. The article puts the hollowpoint in the correct context. There are still a lot of people out there that believe in magical, exploding hollowpoints.

[SWATG]

Great stuff, we have allways advocated that somedy shot in the vitals can fight for at least 4-5 seconds, now we see it can be considerably longer, 15 seconds a lot can happen in that time, good work, thanks lv29

[Anwar]

Interesting....very interesting. So what's the verdict......hollow point of FMJ for stopping power?

[BigT]

Interesting....very interesting. So what's the verdict......hollow point of FMJ for stopping power?

A deep penetrating hollow point well placed followed by more. But still dont expect any magic.

[Thorkind]

Interesting....very interesting. So what's the verdict......hollow point of FMJ for stopping power?

There will be no "stopping" with either unless either round strikes the CNS or causes rapid blood loss (or if the BG decides to stop). Penetration being equal, the hollowpoint causes greater permanent crush cavitation. To quote the article:

In other words, the temporary cavity phenomena is of little or no significance in wounding when dealing with handgun bullets.

[Porramedic]

Interesting....very interesting. So what's the verdict......hollow point of FMJ for stopping power?

A deep penetrating hollow point well placed followed by more. But still dont expect any magic.

+1 BigT
I'll still fork out big cash for a decent hollowpoint. When my life is at stake I would like to optimise my chances, even if only by a few percent. As you said, just don't expect any magic

[Corné]

Interesting....very interesting. So what's the verdict......hollow point of FMJ for stopping power?

A deep penetrating hollow point well placed followed by more. But still dont expect any magic.

+1 BigT
I'll still fork out big cash for a decent hollowpoint. When my life is at stake I would like to optimise my chances, even if only by a few percent. As you said, just don't expect any magic

I would say that the emphasys is on a Hollow Point that has the abaility to properly expand and still manage good penetration (+P or +P+ velocities where applicable)......