Handgun “stopping power” is incapable of being proved in the locations that count the most, the autopsy room and the operating room. Even the training materials of the FBI say that an operating room surgeon or a Medical examiner is unable to detect the difference between the wounds inflicted by the projectiles of caliber ranging between.35 and.45. It is that single line, more than any caliber meme, which explains why the Bureau had to revert to 9mm, not as a lapse into nostalgia.
A retired FBI expert at the Ballistic Research Facility at Quantico, referred to as “Scott,” outlined a movement towards the professional aspect of the culture of the informal sidearm that once consisted of: “Hey, this works well with us.” In his story, the modern FBI no longer regarded pistols as personal talismans, but as fleet gear, in which recoil, ruggedness, and practical dependability are now system variables, in thousands of shooters, rather than in the few who templeselect themselves to the hard-recoiling stuff.
It was not that “9mm failed,” but a particular load failed. Scott linked the modernisation of the Bureau in the area of wound-ballistics to a shortfall in a 115-grain 9mm hollow point in the real world where two tasks could not be performed consecutively: to penetrate intervening material and reach vital depth. It lacked capability to crack intervening barriers and subsequently make inroads into the human target and into the body deep enough to meddle with an essential organ, he said. Two special agents were buried as a result of it. The bitter experience was now, procedural: what is meant by “good,” then we make ammunition demonstrate it on a regular basis.
That is where the Bureau’s eight-test gelatin-and-barrier protocol matters. It shoots bullets through repeatable barriers, heavy clothing, steel, wallboard, plywood, angled auto glass and then marks what gets through the other end. The official guidelines of the FBI note that 12-18 inches of penetration is the scientifically proven range due to the fact that less penetration results in the most rapid transformation of a “good hit” to a non-penetrative hit whereas too much penetration is also associated with its own dangers and punishments. The protocol also points out a reality that must never be compromised: expansion is not only desirable but it can be blocked by obstacles that can seal hollow places and take away mass and alter behavior in such a manner that marketing copy cannot wish it away.
The 10mm Auto appeared to be the clean fix when the Bureau pursued more penetration margin. Practically, it revealed the speed of the breakdown of such a program of national issues as the “paper solutions.” “We had tremendous problems with 10 millimeters,” recollected Scott, and recoil and reliability problems that were magnified by a large population of shooters. Smith & Wesson Model 10mm 1076 came into service, but Scott stated that in his experience half of the guns returned to the custom shop to be repackaged a 50:50 percentage of guns that worked and those that failed to work.
40 S&W came in as the shorter, tax-friendly version of the same, and it ruled the roost in law enforcement. But fleet lesson came back when small.40 pistols were loaded full. Scott summed up the well-known blame reflex, “Everybody first goes, ‘Hey, what’s wrong with the ammo?'”, and then indicated the true cause of the failure, recoil impulse, gun size, and shooter variability, piling one on top of the other until the system could no longer act predictably.
FBI testing conducted at the end of the 2000s discovered that modern 9mm projectiles were also essentially equal to 9mm in performing in the same tests on the protocol with the.40 S&W. Scott attributed the cutting of the mechanism to one grim service to a very blunt advantage, which was assigned to Hornady by Dave Emery: “Because you give us velocity.” Designers enjoyed a broader window of velocities with 9mm that remained consistent over duty handguns and projectile engineering was able to provide a consistent barrier offering. The conclusions of the tests made by Emery in the 9mm versus.40 in FBI-style tests were just as straightforward: “There’s not a nickel’s worth of difference between the two.”
The last point was practical, as opposed to theoretical. In live FBI shooting Scott reported that six of ten shooters were quicker and much more accurate with 9mm than with.40 S&W, ranging from beginners to the very best. At the intersection of terminal performance, hit probability and fleet reliability are on the line. To an agency where sidearms are a controlled system, the caliber narrative concludes at the bullet narrative origin: predictable penetration past obstacles, repeatable action and shooters who can place rounds where they are required to be placed.
