know the diff between stopping power and lethality?
- Thread starter metoo
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Bible_Belt
Master Don Juan
Taking your gun away from you is stopping power. Shooting you with it is lethality. 
But the answer you're looking for is something like big bullets versus small caliber rounds. Poking small holes in people, at least one at a time unlike a shotgun, won't knock people down. It's lethal because they'll bleed out and die eventually, but that can take a little while.
But the answer you're looking for is something like big bullets versus small caliber rounds. Poking small holes in people, at least one at a time unlike a shotgun, won't knock people down. It's lethal because they'll bleed out and die eventually, but that can take a little while.
Quiksilver
Master Don Juan
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I think the question becomes irrelevant when you get hit by a bullet of any caliber.
People argue the stopping power/lethality of 5.56x45 and 7.62x39 all day.
What is generally recognized is 5.56 is more accurate but US troops have always been reporting that even if they hit a target with a 5.56 round, he tends to get up and walk away (how far he gets is a different matter).
7.62 within effective range tends to just blow a hole right through the target, delivering more kinetic energy per square inch through the torso, than 5.56 which tends to go into an axis spin and fragment upon entering the body.
Stopping power, in this discussion, can be defined as the kinetic energy delivered to the REAR of the target, just before the round exits the body. 5.56 on average tends to deliver less kinetic energy to the rear of the target than 7.62.
As I said at the top, thats all irrelevant when you get hit by either.
Without immediate medical treatment, a shot to the abdomen by a 7.62 or 5.56 (or .22LR) will kill you within 4 days once your intestinal tract is punctured.
This stopping power crap can be debated all day in the ivory towers of the internet forums, but the dimensions of the bullet are irrelevant when they are flying past your face.
edit: I rarely go hunting but when I do, I find the animal (deer, hog) is only flattened when using .30-06 or .308. We have used .270s and the animals tended to get shocked to the ground then immediately get up and flee. It didnt get very far but it still got up after it was hit. For hunters, you probably know that the animal fleeing isn't good, since the fleeing results in lactic acid spreading through the meat and making it less tasty.
People argue the stopping power/lethality of 5.56x45 and 7.62x39 all day.
What is generally recognized is 5.56 is more accurate but US troops have always been reporting that even if they hit a target with a 5.56 round, he tends to get up and walk away (how far he gets is a different matter).
7.62 within effective range tends to just blow a hole right through the target, delivering more kinetic energy per square inch through the torso, than 5.56 which tends to go into an axis spin and fragment upon entering the body.
Stopping power, in this discussion, can be defined as the kinetic energy delivered to the REAR of the target, just before the round exits the body. 5.56 on average tends to deliver less kinetic energy to the rear of the target than 7.62.
As I said at the top, thats all irrelevant when you get hit by either.
Without immediate medical treatment, a shot to the abdomen by a 7.62 or 5.56 (or .22LR) will kill you within 4 days once your intestinal tract is punctured.
This stopping power crap can be debated all day in the ivory towers of the internet forums, but the dimensions of the bullet are irrelevant when they are flying past your face.
edit: I rarely go hunting but when I do, I find the animal (deer, hog) is only flattened when using .30-06 or .308. We have used .270s and the animals tended to get shocked to the ground then immediately get up and flee. It didnt get very far but it still got up after it was hit. For hunters, you probably know that the animal fleeing isn't good, since the fleeing results in lactic acid spreading through the meat and making it less tasty.
U
user43770
Guest
Shot placement.
nothing "flattens" animals with regularity. If you shoot enough deer, some will run off with chest hits even with a 338 softpoint. 7.62x 39 and 7.62 x 51 (308) are too VERY different rds. the 308 has 2600 ft lbs or so, the .30 AK rd about half of that. the .30k is notthing special. We aint soldiers, we can use softpoints. the RIGHT SP's, deep penetrating ones, not fragmenting varmint loads, make the 223 a devastatingly effective rd.
No, the diff between stopping power and lethality is the TIME frame involved. I can "cause your death" by injecting you with AIDS blood, but it might take years for your heart to finally stop from the disease. I can stop you instantly with a ball bat applied across your gut, but normally, anyway, you will be ok in a couple of days.
No, the diff between stopping power and lethality is the TIME frame involved. I can "cause your death" by injecting you with AIDS blood, but it might take years for your heart to finally stop from the disease. I can stop you instantly with a ball bat applied across your gut, but normally, anyway, you will be ok in a couple of days.
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user43770
Guest
If I feel my life is being threatened, I have the right to use lethality as a form of stopping power. You're over-analyzing.
Bible_Belt
Master Don Juan
If I feel my life is being threatened, I have the right to use lethality as a form of stopping power.
If the belief is reasonable, then yes you do. Although in a few states such as NY/NJ, there is a 'duty to retreat,' which means you have to try to run away first, unless you are in your own home when attacked. Generally speaking, the more liberal the state you live in, the less self-defense rights that you have. Shoot a mugger in Texas and you're a hero. Do it in NYC and they'll put you in jail with the mugger.
If the belief is reasonable, then yes you do. Although in a few states such as NY/NJ, there is a 'duty to retreat,' which means you have to try to run away first, unless you are in your own home when attacked. Generally speaking, the more liberal the state you live in, the less self-defense rights that you have. Shoot a mugger in Texas and you're a hero. Do it in NYC and they'll put you in jail with the mugger.
Atom Smasher
Master Don Juan
I use this question as an opinion opener.
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user43770
Guest
My state has a 'stand your ground' law. Here, even criminals can get off by claiming self-defense.Bible_Belt said:
SamTheHobit
Master Don Juan
lmfao xDAtom Smasher said:
backseatjuan
Banned
Wait...
Stopping power refers to how quickly a guy fvcking drops after you shoot him. Like when a round hits him and he drops vs like 5 rounds hit him and he still moving, perhaps trying to find his gun and fire back at you.
Lethality refers to statistics on how many survive a wound vs how many die. Russian military 5.54 cartridge for example is more lethal than NATO military 5.56, but NATO round has more stopping power.
Stopping power refers to how quickly a guy fvcking drops after you shoot him. Like when a round hits him and he drops vs like 5 rounds hit him and he still moving, perhaps trying to find his gun and fire back at you.
Lethality refers to statistics on how many survive a wound vs how many die. Russian military 5.54 cartridge for example is more lethal than NATO military 5.56, but NATO round has more stopping power.