Daryl wrote:Decades ago on my family's sheep station (ranch) we had a visitor with a 44 magnum carbine, and the discussion turned into hitting power. So various trials ensued using water filled cans and clay termite mounds. The Mauser 8 mm with soft nosed rounds did well, but my shotgun with BBs had the biggest impact. The 44 magnum is a very powerful pistol round, but big rifles and shotguns are more powerful yet again.
With the military I saw 50cal and 20mm antimaterial rifles used and they were more impressive yet again. How Speilberg could imply that they and street sweeper combat shotguns were ineffective against dinosaurs beats me.TFLYTSNBN wrote:Somehow I lost this classic post to address the issue of limiting shotgun magazine capacity. The technical errors in this video are abundant but it is Hollywood. Assuming the perp is smart enough to load with #4 or #00 buckshot, and use the stalk to aim rather than firing from the hip, Dirty Harry would loose the engagement. All effects from the .44 magnum are grossly exagerated.
https://youtu.be/8Xjr2hnOHiM
You make an excellent point. There are two factors to consider in "hitting power," kinetic energy and momentum. The idea of knocking someone down is utter Hollywood BS, but it takes serious momentum as well as kinetic energy to displace the target material as a projectile pentrates. There is much blather about hydrostatic shock from supersonic bullets from "assault rifles." However; maximum muzzle velocity of almost all rifles is less than 1,000 meters per second while the speed of sound in human tissues is about 1,500 m/s and 4,000 m/s for skull bone. The wounding potential of a projectile is as much a result of momentum as kinetic energy.
FYI, my pot plantationist tenant who invoked the Elmer Fudd defense went beyond the blather about shooting slugs through a choke causing the barrel to explode by claiming that he loaded his alleged antique, Remington 1870 shotgun (probably his Remington 870) with birdshot "because I don't want to hurt anyone." At typical gunfight ranges a load of birdshot will inflict a fist sized wound to the abdomen or muscle tissue about 4" to 6" deep. Birshot to the chest that enter between the ribs will pentrate deep enough to ravage the heart and lungs.
Just FYI, I have a neighbor who has to live fairly near my psychopathic pot plantationist tenant whose daughter was a sheriff's deputy in Washington State. She was murdered a few years back by a drug addicted psychopathic rampage killer. I have never questioned her about the incident but perused the FBI records. The perp was armed with a politically correct, Ruger lever action carbine chambered in .44 Magnum. Deputy Lisa Jackson responded as trained by retreating from the porch to the cover of a tree in the yard. Although she emptied three magazines from her semiautomatic pistol, she failed to hit her assailant. This was understandable because she had already sufferred multiple hits to her arms as well as her ballistic vest that would have inflicted serious blunt force trauma even though they didn't pentrate. She also sufferred a wound to the groin that resulted in massive injuries. The perp then closed to point blank range to shoot her in the head.