- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
Was reading about "hydrostatic shock" and come up with this info, figured some folks would like it. 
Stopping power is a colloquial term used to describe the ability of a particular weapon to stop the actions of an individual by means of penetrating ballistic injury. Some theories of stopping power involve concepts such as "energy transfer" and "hydrostatic shock", although there is disagreement about the importance of these effects. Obviously, stopping power is related to the physical properties of the bullet and the effects it has on its target, but the issue is complicated and not easily studied. Critics contend that the importance of "one-shot stop" statistics is overstated, pointing out that most gun encounters do not involve a "shoot once and see how the target reacts" situation.
Many ballistic and forensic experts claim that "stopping power" does not exist, especially with handgun bullets. Stopping is caused not by the force of the bullet, but by the damaging effects of the bullet which are typically a loss of blood, and with it, blood pressure. More immediate effects can result when a bullet strikes a critical organ such as the heart or damages the central nervous system such as the spine or brain. The myth that a human is thrown back by the force of a bullet is false, as Newton's third law dictates. The target and the shooter receive equal and opposite forces, meaning that for a gun to knock a target back, its recoil would have to knock the shooter back an equal amount, which is undesirable.
Stopping power is a colloquial term used to describe the ability of a particular weapon to stop the actions of an individual by means of penetrating ballistic injury. Some theories of stopping power involve concepts such as "energy transfer" and "hydrostatic shock", although there is disagreement about the importance of these effects. Obviously, stopping power is related to the physical properties of the bullet and the effects it has on its target, but the issue is complicated and not easily studied. Critics contend that the importance of "one-shot stop" statistics is overstated, pointing out that most gun encounters do not involve a "shoot once and see how the target reacts" situation.
Many ballistic and forensic experts claim that "stopping power" does not exist, especially with handgun bullets. Stopping is caused not by the force of the bullet, but by the damaging effects of the bullet which are typically a loss of blood, and with it, blood pressure. More immediate effects can result when a bullet strikes a critical organ such as the heart or damages the central nervous system such as the spine or brain. The myth that a human is thrown back by the force of a bullet is false, as Newton's third law dictates. The target and the shooter receive equal and opposite forces, meaning that for a gun to knock a target back, its recoil would have to knock the shooter back an equal amount, which is undesirable.
