More is Less and Less is More As the culture in the pistol world evolves, so has the caliber of which is uses. Standard pistol calibers range from as small as .22 long rifle to .500 S&W Magnum. In between that vast range of over 50 different sizes, lies the 9 mm Parabellum and the .45 Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP). Over 100 years of combat testing proved that the 9 mm is best suited for military use. Testing history of the .45 ACP has demonstrated a wide variety of great benefits and effective qualities adapted by the U.S. Military. This testing has been dated back as early as 1907 at the Springfield Armory, during the development of the infamous military 1911 pistol (Ament, 8). Ballistic and performance testing has allowed for not only technical, but also tactical capabilities. Ament talks of the .45 acp cambered 1911 pistol and a short testing period of only several …show more content…
Stopping power has been a heated debate for some time now when it comes to 9 mm and .45 acp. Wikipedia defines stopping power as, “the ability of a firearm or other weapon to cause enough ballistic trauma to a target (human or animal) to immediately incapacitate (and thus stop) the target” (Stopping Power). The size of the bullet is not the only determining factor to this debate. Stated in an Officer.com article “One constant theme regarding stopping a threat that both the FBI and trauma surgeons agree upon--bullet placement” (The Perennial Caliber Debate). With a smaller in size and mass bullet, a person firing a pistol is more likely to hit their intended target. Bresson, F., et al writes, “The bullet will fully expand very quickly in the superficial tissues” as they describe the effects of a 9mm bullet as it impacts gelatin; used as simulated human tissue (118). It has also, been talked about the design of the bullet and the intention of its effects. According to Volgas et
The amount of ammunition that is allowed by law to be loaded into a firearm criminalize many popular handguns, even those used by the military like the Beretta m9 9mm, which is the standard issue side arm of the United States military that has an ammo capacity of a whopping 15 bullets. 16 bullets if one is locked in the chamber. According to this new law only seven are allowed to be loaded at any given time except when in a competition on a range.
4. METHOD / MEDIA: I will present this material using the lecture method with the aid of placards and an actual M9.
During the years leading up to and during the American Civil War there were a number of advancements in firearms technology. This paper will focus on a few of those advancements, namely the inventions of the Minié ball, the Spencer and Henry repeating rifles, and of the Gatling gun.
...waste ammunition.” During the war colonel Hiram Berdan formed a regiment of sharpshooter for the union army called Berdans sharpshooters. These new soldiers would be better shooters against their enemy and would be save great amounts of ammunition and money. Contests were held across the country to find these elite sharpshooters. To make the cut you had put 10 consecutive shots into a target at two hundred yards. Each shot couldn’t be more than to inches from the center of the bull’s eye. At the end of these contests 1,000 winners were enlisted in the 1st United States sharper shooters. The next generation of breechloaders called magazine rifles would prove ever more deadly to confederate opponents. “Guns such as Spencer and Henry repeating rifles were deigned to carry preloaded magazine of seven to fifteen bullets which could be inserted into the rear of the gun.”3
This was the self contained brass cartridge. It contained an ignition source called a primer, an amount of powder and a bullet. Early cartridge guns were converted percussion rifles. The first repeating rifles were the Henry and Spencer, the Henry had a fifteen shot internal magazine and the Spencer a seven round removable magazine this meant multiple could be carried. Repeaters were not limited to rifles though handguns such as the famous Colt Single Action Army were a common favorite among both civilians and military personnel. The industrial revolution boosted the firearms industry. It allowed gunsmiths who formerly would cut rifling and make parts by hand using saws and files to now use vertical mills and lathes to improve both output and precision. Barrels became easier to rifle and take to size using lathes and mills allowed sights to be manufactured much easier. The next major evolutionary step in the firearms industry was the bolt action rifle. A bolt action provides a tighter seal at the breach than other actions allowing higher pressure cartridges and a farther effective range do to increased velocity The first bolt action used by the U.S. military was the Krag-Jorgensen a Norwegian rifle with a internal side loading magazine. It was thought by many that the Krag was was an exceptional piece of equipment but during the Spanish - American War it was proved otherwise. Spaniards armed with German Mausers a rifle with a
Company E, Berdans 1st Regiment United States Sharpshooters. (n.d.). Retrieved July 2009, from US Sharpshooters: http://www.ussharpshooters.co.uk/index_files/Page2772.htm
A majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increased in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Mi...
Fig.1 Seventeen .223 Remington cases and the bullet impact sights on the Sherriff’s County Vehicle.
The gun was a hand-crank-operated weapon with six barrels revolving around a central shaft. Having a gun that revolves was very difficult because the barrels would not always line up correctly when being fired. The original gun was actually designed to fire the standard military issue paper cartridge of the day, .58 caliber. A .58 caliber bullet has a diameter of an inch and is capable of damaging anything it hits. The paper cartridge was placed inside a steel or brass chamber with a percussion nipple on the back end just like the muzzle loading rifles and pistols of there time.
...rounds per minute, all with just the pull of the trigger. The recoil operation was a milestone in machine gun development. Warfare had truly changed. “Point a machine, and killing men was like killing bugs” (Chivers, 2010, p.85). It used new forms of cartridges which were placed on a belt that was automatically fed into the gun via the recoil operation.
Haven, Charles T. and Frank A. Belben. A History of the Colt Revolver. New York: Bonanza
Did you know the second amendment states that you have a right to own and use arms for protection? Kentucky passed a law in 1813 that prohibits the carrying of concealed weapons. In May 1987, Florida passed a “shall-issue” law that became a model for other states. There were 11 states that have the “may-issue” law which allowed permits. On July 8, 2011, Wisconsin became the 49th state to allow concealed carry. (ProCon.org) Adults who go through training and obtain a permit should be able to carry a concealed handgun.
When a suspect’s weapon is examined in the lab, it will be test fired into a box filled with cotton or a tank of water to provide the examiner with the bullets and cartridges with a known history. Using a microscope, the known cartridges are compared with the ones in question. With some patience, skill, and a little luck, experts can definitively say that a certain firearm and no other fired this bullet, or ejected this cartridge.
Mishara, Brian L. "Firearms." Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Ed. Robert Kastenbaum. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 288-289. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 May 2014.
A firearm, in the most basic form, consists of a barrel, an action, a firing mechanism, a stock and a sighting device. No matter the form of the firearm, the same basic principles of physics and chemistry apply. The study of these principles is called ballistics. There are three types of ballistics, internal, external, and terminal. Internal ballistics is the study of the flight of a projectile inside a firearm. External ballistics is the study of the flight of a bullet after leaving the muzzle and until it hits the target. Terminal ballistics is the study of the effects of a projectile on a given target. Because this essay deals with the flight of the bullet, terminal ballistics will not be discussed.