re: Spinoff Thread -- Handgun Stopping Power

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Don't most bigger departments run their own SD gun, caliber, and brand bullet tests every couple of years? I'm almost positive LSP, STPSO, BRPD, and JPSO do.

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Most rely on the FBI's list of ammo that they have tested and approved.

FBI test protocol, using calibrated 10% ordnance gelatin, requires the bullet to penetrate a minimum of 12" and a maximum of 18" from a distance of 10 feet. They have deemed that this level of penetration is typically sufficient to reach vital (heart, aorta, spinal column) organs. Lungs are "semi-vital" organs. [Bones are rarely considered to be targets that will yield physiological stops with handguns.]

FWIW 12" of penetration in 10% ordnance gelatin (ballistics gel) does not necessarily mean it will penetrate 12" in a human or an animal. 10% gel replicates human muscle tissue pretty well (I'm told that 20% gel is a better, but most of the world has migrated to using 10% gel), and assuming it's properly calibrated, it affords "apples to apples" comparisons. That's all balllistics gel is -- a comparator.

Getting adequate penetration into people or other animals often means shooting through cartilage and bone. Really small caliber bullets (like .22's and .25's) are lethal, but don't consistently do a very good job of penetrating ribs/bones/skulls. (In fact very few handguns consistently do well at penetrating skulls.)

So take the gel tests for what they are -- a means of comparing one cartridge against another.