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.36 vs. .44 "Stopping Power"

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I do love the banter, ideas, etc.
But i can only imagine what them old boys from 150 years ago who were shooting pistols used up from the civil war, passed down from grandpa vet and the timing was so bad they had to hold the cylinder with left hand to align to barrel, just to hit a rabbit to get food for a family of 4.
I think they would be amused. Maybe confused.
99% of them would sell the old pistol, pick up a Ruger single six in .22 LR and continue dropping rabbits and squirrels.
 
I've subscribed to Elmer Keith's theory, 'If it ain't big, it ain't sh*t!' for years. I think he knew a thing or two about 'big' calibers, having grown up with a 30-06 as his first rifle. Then going on to help develop both the .357 & .44 magnum. When concealability is an issue, I carry my NAA .22. When it isn't I carry my 1911 in ,45 ACP. Then if I am feeling particularly frivolous, I carry my New Army c&b in .44. At none of these times do I feel 'under armed' with even my NAA .22, Among other things, I believe that shot placement is important and often practice shot placement under stressful situations.
If you can not place your shot nothing else matters.
 
I’ve compared my .45 Old Army against a modern .36 revolver. The 7.5” barrel ROA can put all 6 in a paper plate at 100 yards. The 2” .36 (.38Spl) is good to 7 yards, tops. Too short of a sight picture.
.45 will hole a 5 gallon bucket of roofing tar, the long way. .36 will hole the same bucket, the short way. Both at 15 feet.
Both will go through a feral hog rib cage.
Both will penetrate a feral hog skull.
Step the .36 up to a 4” barrel, and it is accurate to 25 yards. I have to qualify with it yearly. One of the only agencies still issuing revolvers.
Both are lethal with goid shot placement. I actually want a pair of .36 c&b for SASS shooting.
 
I'm still of a mind that a handgun is only useful to fight your way to a rifle. Or a short barrel shotgun loaded with Neal Protocol, or alternating slug/buckshot.

FWIW, I hope none of us get shot, or have to shoot anyone.
 
The Confederates appreciated a round ball from a Navy.

Said it struck hard.

Elmer Keith interviewed CS vets and they spoke highly of round ball in them. Said they was better than conicals. From Keith's Sixguns.
 
Well I carried a 41 magnum and it was to shoot myself with. That was before bear spray. Now its in bear spray we trust.

The reality is that sans a lethal hit (to the hog brain etc. ) it is not stopping power, simply no such thing (20mm would do it)

A 22 hit in the right place will kill something and 10 rounds of 45 ACP in a non lethal place will not. Its why the behind the shoulder shot works on game. You take out the heart and or lungs and its dead even if it keeps moving a bit on momentum.

Penetration is not stopping. Using the same Gell formula to compare penetration is a comparison, not stopping power.

You do not want over penetration. You do want bullet expansion.

After that its a drop the ball on the roulette wheel.
 
"No such thing as stopping power" has become a made up truth by gun writers. Consider the truth that when we defend ourselves with a firearm, our intent is to stop the assailant, not to kill him. Or rather that should be our intent. Some calibers hit harder than others. A hard hit produces more shock than a weak hit. Shock has a huge impact on stopping. Death is incidental to stopping. Let's say a man gets shot with a hard cast projectile that doesn't expand and misses vital organs. (Think 90 grain FMJ .380.) He experiences less damage and shock than a man hit with a heavier and faster bullet that also misses vitals. (Think 300 grain lead flat point in 45Colt that also misses vital parts.) That scenario relates directly to black powder revolvers with extreme caliber differences. The 45 victim is done or stopped while the 380 guy is not. That truth holds true with those hit with rounds of different velocity/energy/size that DO strike vitals. And with game. A deer stops much quicker with the impact of a .54 caliber than with a .32. Stopping power is a very real aspect of self defense, war, and hunting.
 
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