The
Box O' Truth #26 - Little Guns vs. The Box
O' Truth - Page 1
Many
of us have, from time to time, carried small
guns that are easy to conceal. If asked,
we would justify it by saying, "A .32
in your hand is better than a .45 ACP in
your safe."
But, as Clint Smith has observed, "I
never met a man that had been in a gunfight
and wished that he had a smaller gun. Ever."
But if we decide to carry a small gun so
that we can more easily conceal it, how
effective will it be against bad guys? That's
the purpose of today's test.
We
will be shooting a sample of little guns
and seeing how well they penetrate into
water jugs. As we have observed in the past,
water works pretty well to test penetration,
in a 2 to 1 ratio as compared to ballistic
gelatin.
Most experts say that a round should penetrate
at least 12 inches of ballistic gelatin
to be sure to reach the vital organs of
a bad guy and effectively STOP him.
So, we must see at least 24 inches of penetration
in water. The water jugs are approximately
6 inches thick, so we would want to see
at least 4 jugs penetrated by an effective
round.
For the set-up, wehave a layer of denim
over a layer of terry clothe, then water
jugs right up against the clothe.
One other item, to avoid confusion. We are
not arguing, "Will this round kill
a bad guy?" The answer is, "That's
not really an issue." What we want
to do is to "STOP" a bad guy.
If he is attacking us and trying to do us
or our family harm, we are trying to STOP
him. Whether he dies or not, thirty minutes
later, will not make any difference.
First,
a round out of a .22 Long Rifle, 1 inch
barrel.
This is a Freedom Arms pistol.
It's
kind of difficult to even get a grip on
this pistol, it is so small.
But it sure barks loud.
The
round penetrated 2 jugs and came to pieces.
Not much penetration.
Next,
a round of .32 ACP out of my Keltec P-32.
We will try a round of Gold Dot 60 gr. GDHP.
It
penetrated 4 jugs, equal to 12 inches of
ballistic gelatin.
