Stress can find a way of revealing weak points. In handguns the aforementioned weak link is usually a cartridge-and-platform combination that appears good on paper but fails miserably when performance, penetration, recoil management, and real world constraints come together.
The yardstick long used by the FBI of 12 to 18 inches of penetration in calibrated gel is still being discussed today. It is not magic but that number provides a hard floor on which to reach vital structures when the clothing, bone, or odd angles present. These are the areas of common problems that continue to appear when loads are pushed out of their comfort zone.
1. .22 LR out of defensive handguns
Low recoil and easy shooting are characteristics of 22 LR, but there are also rimfire ignition. Misfires are frequent enough to be relevant when the gun is supposed to be on demand, and the average power of the cartridge does not give much room when penetration begins to reduce with heavy clothing or when firing at angles other than the optimum. Despite the fact that a .22 load is performing on a gel, the platform reality is that big carry guns are often equipped with extremely small controls, tiny sight radii, and not very tolerant of ammo variation. Combination of rimfire reliability risk and narrow terminal margin is the common failure point under real stress.
2. .25 ACP in vest-pocket pistols
It is center fire, with its core handicap being output. It has a very low energy and poor bullet performance, and is often incapable of achieving the same penetration standards that are the motivator of modern defensive design. It also inhabits primarily older micro-pistols with often poor sights and poor handling. What is created is a cartridge that is able to operate in a mechanical way but still does not pass the test of the job as it provides too minor tissue disturbance and too uniform penetration at the time when something is not working.
3. .32 ACP as a soft substitute of service calibers
32 ACP is simple to shoot and that counts. The problem is that most of the loads of .32 are in a grey zone: recoil is welcoming, yet penetration and expansion can be unpredictable, particularly on fabric, since there is not a great deal of velocity and mass to utilize. Couple in some scanty modern platform options and uneven distribution of ammunition and the true weakness of the caliber manifests not only as poor performance in all conditions, but also in raw power.
4. .410 shotshell defensive loads using revolvers
410-from-a-handgun is the term of art that is frequently used in lieu of taking a shortcut: point, pull, and leave the pattern to do the work. Practically, it is opposed by short barrels and revolver construction. Pattern spread is rapid, and the pellet payload is capable of providing shallow or irregular penetration with regard to shot size and distance. The precision issue is found even with buckshot, in that inaccurate shots will not terminate anything, and a large scattering pattern increases the chances of hitting unintended targets. In defensive applications there is no mystery in the failure mode, it is distributed without reliable repeatable penetration.
5. 0.380 ACP loads which are under loaded in short barrels
The 380 ACP is on the border of good performance and the load it carries is more important than many carriers have thought. There are hollow points which swell prematurely and cease; those which swell, but act like non-expanders. But more recent designs have demonstrated the extent to which the engineering can alter the result. In gel testing of Hydra-Shok Deep 99-gr., two shots broke out of a 16-inch clear gel block and one came to rest at 13.5 inches during expansion, reinforcing the fact that some.380 loads can penetrate the penetration window with very small pistols. It should not be concluded that .380 always works, but it makes the caliber a coin flip in poorly-performing loads.
6. 10mm Auto selected on account of power, and carried like 9mm
10mm Auto can provide deep penetration and good expansion but requires discipline in the management of recoil and choice of ammunition. The current factory products are diverse; some will be in the range of .40 S&W, others will run fast enough that not fast enough to be considered actually in the 10mm range bullets may exhibit erratic behavior.
Five of eleven loads in one structured gel series were found to fit the FBI penetration window and expand with ease whereas other loads either over-penetrated or did not expand at all. The failure mode is dependable: excessive recoil to strike consistently, or excessive penetration to the setting, or designs of bullets which do not fit within their nominal velocity range.
7. .38 Special snubbies with ammunition of wrong job
It is not a matter of 38 Special, but rather of ultra-short barrels. Snub revolvers lose velocity and most of the old hollow points require the velocity to expand. In the case of expansion failure, it becomes more erratic when attempting the penetration and terminal effect, and when trying to follow the shot accurately, the recoil of the +P loads may slow down the process in small-weight frames. Short barrel loads are designed; and even non-expanding wadcutters have been reported to perform in gel. One example is of short-barrel-specific load such as Gold Dot Short Barrel 135gr +P, which has been reported to reach about 13.5 inches of penetration with a 2-inch barrel in published gel discussions. The regular failure occurs when snubs receive generic ammunition which was never adjusted to low velocity.
In all these problem cases, it is not bravery or aristocratism of the tribe. It is the wrong fit: ignition systems which beckon failures, bullets performing beyond the design window, platforms which magnify recoil and loads which will not consistently achieve minimum penetration when clothing and angles complicate the shot. The sure route is tiresome in nature: a load which every time, every time, reaches its aim in the gun, penetrates uniformly, and can be accurately hit at speed. When stress presents itself, then these basics become the entire game.
