There can be no doubt that the ammunition available to both law enforcement and private citizens now is far superior to what was available thirty years ago
Is it far superior? Or just marginally better? Is 9mm Federal HST +P an order of magnitude better than .38 Special 158 gr semi wadcutter hollow point, circa 1985? Or 230 grains of .45 caliber ball?
Or are pistols pistols and a compromise from the start? I am sure everyone that had to pull a S&W Model 10 revolver would have loved for it to transform into a Garand at the very instant they needed it for social purposed but certainly didn't want to lug around 9 pounds of battle rifle on foot patrol.
Can the performance difference really be measured with real world results? I don't think that's possible. To start, how do you calculate the shot placement value into your graph?
According to the available info, current 9mm +p hollowpoints are in in the same ballpark as the old 125g .357 mag, which was the gold standard when I became a cop. I don't know that you could consider either an order of magnitude better than the 158 +p .38, but I think the argument can be made that they are far superior to 230 .45 ball.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think it is still more shot placement than caliber or bullet.