In message <
[email protected]>, Simon Isaacs
<
[email protected]> writes
>Pistols low powered?? Ever tried firing a Browning 9mm? Even a .22
>pistol round will over penetrate...
Yes, pistols are low powered and yes, I've not only fired the Browning,
I was armed with one for 10 years. And I do know what I'm talking
about, it's what I do for a living.
Let's put it in perspective. The 9mmP pistol used by the police fires a
125 grain (8g) bullet at about 1050fps, delivering 300 ft-lbs of kinetic
energy. This is a hollow point bullet, designed to expand and remain
within the target (i.e. the person's chest).
The 7.62x51 rifles used by the police can fire a variety of bullets
depending on the task, e.g. someone out in the open or inside a building
behind load-bearing glass (up to 4" thick). But if we consider a
typical police sniper's bullet, it will weigh 150 grain (9.7g) fired
with a velocity of 2600fps and deliver 2250 ft-lbs of kinetic energy.
So, relative to a rifle, the pistol is low powered:
pistol = 1050 fps, 300 ft lbs
rifle = 2600 fps, 2250 ft-lbs
An order of magnitude difference. As for the .22, of course the .22 is
capable of inflicting a lethal wound, but a .22 is very unlikely to pass
through and exit either the human torso nor the human skull.
>It is not neccesarily the weapon that is low powered, but the round
>that is used. In real life Operations in Built Up Areas (OBUA), it is
>normal practice to issue the troops that are assaulting with low
>velocity rounds for their rifles.
Kindly name your source for that information, and the nomenclature of
the ammunition you say is issued.
>When I was in the TA I used to be able to achieve groupings of less
>than 4" at 100m using the L85A1 (SA80 to you),
Which the typical deer stalker would consider to be pretty poor
shooting. An out-the-box run of the mill bolt action sporting rifle
will group around an inch at 100 yards. But the L85 shoots 'good
enough' for military purposes.
>but with a pistol, be
>it the 9mm Browning or the 5.56 Heckler and Koch I would struggle to
>achieve a 12inch group at 5m.
That's because you were not a skilled pistol shot, not any failure of
the pistol or ammunition. The team that took out the IRA in Gibraltar
had no such problem. It boils down to good tuition and lots of
practice, practice, practice.
>Now translate that to a busy tube
>station, could make the difference between a dead bady or dead
>goody...
And wielding a high velocity rifle within a crowded rush-hour tube train
is a better idea? Answer: no it isn't.
The officer who killed the suspected bomber did what he was supposed to
do: he got up close and personal and killed the man by shooting him
multiple times in the head. Unfortunately for all concerned, the man
who was killed wasn't a bomber: if he had been, the officer would be a
hero of course.
--
Jonathan
The worst time to have a heart attack is when you're playing charades
