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Old 05-08-2017, 11:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rwsmith View Post
This may be more ballistics/performance than actual reloading, but I've been doing some thinking.

A few .45 ACP facts:

Even .45s that don't expand are effective because of their size.

A .45 bullet weighing 230 grains is effective at 830 ft/sec.

Therefore:

The heaviest 9mm bullet that can be fired at 830 fps or higher, and was designed to expand at this velocity to about .45 in. dia. would most closely resemble performance in a .45 with a non expanding bullet. I believe that a 165 gr. bullet or maybe slightly heavier would be able to do this.


I think that this would also apply to .40 S&W in a 180 grain or slightly heavier, again, if it were designed to expand at mid-800 fps velocity.
Your hypothesis is flawed, and your conclusions are inaccurate.

But the 9mm bullet would need to expand to .452 before it reaches the target to have the same initial frontal impact area as 45 ball, and somehow its profile. Bullets don't necessarily expand to full diameter the instant they strike a soft target. From that point of view, it would also need to gain 65 grains in weight somehow to equal the 45s penetration in said soft target.

As for the 40 S&W, its tombstone will read something like "Here lies the 40 S&W, designed to equal the performance of the 45 ACP, and the convenience of the 9mm. It failed in both regards by only offering the major drawbacks of both cartridges with none of the benefits of either".
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