The debates on handgun caliber are typically set up as a choice between stopping power and recoil. Within a house, the more practical tension is dissimilar: reliability, sufficient penetration and controllability all have to co-exist, and some cartridges cause some serious trade-offs exactly where margins are low.
Gel tests, barrier testing do not simulate actual individuals, but will show patterns that are important, particularly when a round is repeatedly failing to get to the penetration window used as a standard of defense, or when the recoil and platform constraints cause the probability of successive, accurate follow-up shots to be reduced.
Such calibers and designs are frequently found in nightstand guns and pocket pistols. It is not a matter of whether they can be lethal, it is whether they are reliable in terms of providing the sort of performance a defender can rely on in the pressure.
1. .22 Long Rifle
The reason 22 LR is still popular is that it is soft shooting, and it is more commonly available, yet rimfire ignition puts a reliability limit that centerfire cartridges do not limit. Moreover, even standard handgun velocities frequently deposit.22 LR beneath 200 ft-lbs of energy and penetration is unreliable, particularly following heavy clothes. A heavy-fabric barrier testing protocols that continuously have small projectiles that are barely able to combine sufficient depth and any significant deformation. Where repeatability of performance is the aim, the better than nothing argument of .22 LR is likely to be more appropriate than the built to defensive consistency argument.
2. .25 ACP
25 ACP was developed as a way to provide centerfire functionality in small pistols, however, it can be used with very minimal power – typically less than 70 ft-lbs and contemporary hollow points have very minimal velocity to operate with. When doing gelatin work on pocket calibers, the loading of .25 ACP is often shallow and somewhat inconsistent, and there is little leeway to consider such real-world variables as angled shots, intermediate barriers, or thick clothing. The biggest strength of the cartridge, however, is that it can still cycle extremely small and simple guns, even though the margin of ballistics is narrow.
3. .32 ACP
32 ACP is in an awkward intermediate position: it is often convenient to carry and more pleasant to shoot, but often cannot provide consistent penetration and expansion through clothing. Trial with dedicated pocket-caliber loads has demonstrated that full metal jacket loads are capable of going deeper than most.32 hollow points, although that comes at the cost of fix which adds its own issue of shooting projectiles which do not expand are likely to continue on their path. The final product is a cartridge capable of being used in certain configurations, although often this requires compromising between shallow expansion or deep non-expanding behavior instead of providing both.
4. .410 Shotshell From a Revolver
Revolvers that are bore 410 and advertise a multi-shot per trigger experience the velocity is lowered by short barrels, and most loads do not have sufficient penetration to achieve the depths needed to achieve reliable incapacitation. Lightweight birdshot in.410 revolver gelatin testing: Once again lightweight birdshot failed to perform adequately in penetration tests, whereas 000 buckshot was best in bare gel and much worse when used through heavy clothing. The information provided by Brass Fetcher also shows how constrained each pellets energy can be on this platform making the shotgun in a handgun idea more of a series of short-range results as opposed to a general use defensive strategy.
5. .380 ACP and Low-performance loads
380 amp can be workable, only that the caliber is inordinately ear-sensitive to the choice of ammunition and barrel length. Most of the compact.380 pistols do not shoot straight till they bleed and on most common loads this causes under-penetration in comparison with the 12-18 inch window most trainers are talking about. The reality risk is foreseeable: a defender has done all correct things, he or she receives hits, but the projectile fails to hit the structures where the threat is consistently stopped. .380 ACP discourages slap of the shelf decisions; it rewards thoughtful loading decisions.
6. 10mm Auto
10mm Auto has excellent velocity and energy, usually more than 600 ft-lbs, but home defense is no wilderness problem set. In standard defensive pistols, recoil and blast may slow follow up shot, and the additional momentum of the cartridge may cause rounds not to lose energy due to passing through tissue or obstacles. Wall penetration testing between handgun cartridge loads has demonstrated the penetration depth, and quantity of common loads, in multiple layers of drywall, and higher-powered rounds have a greater range; in most homes, the 10mm would be on the wrong side of that curve.
7. .38 Special Out of Ultra-Short Barrels
The fame of the .38 Special had been gained in service-length revolvers, but there is a drastic change of performance when the barrel drops to snub-nose size. Loss of velocity decreases the probability of consistent hollow-point expansion, especially in the form of fabric. Gel work comparing short and long revolver barrels has repeatedly shown the effect of barrel length to be real and one of the sets of tests observed that: Keep in mind that the loads with the best numbers may not necessarily be the best choice to your defensive revolver when the effect of recoil is considered. In ultralight snubs, that tradeoff is made worse, with recoil growing and with certain types of bullets bringing up further reliability issues.
8. .44 Magnum
44 Magnum has headline power, usually more than 1,000 ft-lbs and penetration which, however, fail to scale to close-range defense inside residential construction. There is a slower shot to shot recovery associated with heavy recoil and the results of both misses and through and through shots increase due to the penetration capabilities of the cartridge. Multiple-layered sheetrock barrier testing indicates that numerous handgun rounds will travel beyond multiple walls inside the building; loads of magnum-class handguns do not lessen the issue and in many cases increase it.
The moral of the story, which recurs throughout these calibers, is that the same thing can be both lethal and be relied upon. With Home defense, repeatability of ignition, sufficient depth of the post-clothing, and manageable recoil are the premiums in the gun being used.
Where these three conditions can not be met simultaneously, the cartridge is a gamble a gamble which requires the defender to disarm package failures at the time when they can least afford it.
