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casingpoint wrote:44 Special is nice, but overkill with today's modern hollow point ammo unless you want to shoot ball or EFMJ. Ditto the 45 ACP.

What's "overkill?" I'm not trying to be a smarty pants, but a lot of us on this forum carry .45 ACP pistols, and there are plenty of folks who've been shot, with modern bullet designs in all kinds of calibers up to and including .44 magnum, and they didn't stay shot. We've had a number threads on this forum which discuss the mindset of staying in the fight and winning, even if we've been shot.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that when you make the decision to drop the hammer on somebody, there is no such thing as "overkill." There is only surviving and going home to your family. The .45 ACP cartridge may or may not be any more effective than a smaller diameter bullet, and that can be legitimately debated using penetration tests, etc., etc.; but I don't think you can call it "overkill," unless I am misunderstanding what you meant by that.

Keith wrote:I'll use the formula thanks. USA I see your point but the 158 grn is the big heavy bullet for the 357 but it's quicker the a small bullet for the 44 mag in 210 grn?

There are several things to consider...

One is the velocity x mass equation alluded to above. Another is how quickly that energy bleeds off as the bullet slows down over the course of its arc. A third is the ballistic curve of the arc (faster shoots flatter than slower). Others, which pertain more to rifle shooters than pistol shooters are things like the sectional density and ballistic coefficient of the bullet in use, etc., etc., etc.

Ballistics is an arcane art.

That said, the shooter in your article didn't do a valid test in my opinion. A valid test would have looked like:

357--
Federal Nyclad 158grn--1110fps
Winchester Silvertips 145grn--1187 fps
PMC Starfire X grains --- X fps
CCI Blazer X grains --- X pfs
Hornady XTP 125grn--1196 fps

44--
Federal Nyclad XX grains --- XX fps
Winchester Silver Tip 210grn--1039fps
PMV Starfire 240grn--1022fps
CCI Blazer--240grn--903fps
Hornady XTP XX grains --- XX fps

The way he did it, you're only really comparing the ballistics using the Winchester Silvertip, since that is the only cartridge the two pistols have in common during the test. The other cartridges are irrelevant for comparison purposes unless they are fired in both guns.