Why Hollow Points Don't Expand 

As an OR RN at a level 1 trauma center, I've seen a lot of gunshot victims, and in cases where handgun hollowpoints were used, none of them expanded like shown in tests. In one case, a .45 hydrashock was recovered from a patients leg. It entered posterior mid thigh and ended up medially to the knee with just a hint of expansion. Not all bullets are removed, some are left based on location and risk of removal. But from the ones I've seen removed, or on XRAY, none performed as advertised. Maybe when hollowpoints work as intended, patients don't make it to surgery? Not sure.

I know why hollowpoints don't expand. Won't stop me from watching the entire episode.

Rest in peace Paul Harrell you are still teaching me!

Excellent class today Professor Harrell. I've watched a lot of Guntubers over the years, you are the one I've stuck with. I'm sure there are many others who feel this way.

Paul always goes into detail and explains things so the average Joe can understand. Thank you for your efforts and honesty Paul

Paul, PhD biochem and mol bio here. You absolutely used the terms "aqueous" and "gelatinous" correctly. Aqueous just means containing a majority of H2O, whereas gelatinous refers to an aqueous protein matrix like the ballistic gels used on other (lower quality) channels. 🙂

I always enjoy how Paul refers to these collegiate level courses as presentations. Keep up the great work.

I love how when he says we have to listen to him talk, even after all that gunfire, the deer come into the background to listen. I don't know, maybe they're taking notes to better survive hunting season? I really love Paul's videos, even though so many of them tend to be outside of what shooting I may do with my 9mm 4.07" barrel or my 20 gauge with #8 birdshot, I still feel that I'm always going to learn something from them, and that something may save my life one day. Thank you, Paul. Your videos are great, informative, and presented such that we, the audience can really understand what you are saying and doing, as well as understand not only the result, but the *why* of the result. You rock, sir!

Wow. It's so weird. I normally comment something, if I have anything of remote value to offer, but in this case, I just felt an almost odd need to just say "thank you". Thank you for the video. Thank you for your time. Thank you for giving us something that's equal parts entertaining, informative, thought provoking, and so on. There's much to be appreciative of in these presentations. However I wasn't expecting to see the amount of other people also saying thank you for various other reasons. This is easily one of the more polite and pleasant little communities to interact with, so seeing a bunch of you people being nice to each other isn't odd, but the specific amount of commenters who's purpose is to say thank you seems markedly higher in this one. Weird how that happens. I know that there is some kind of element of shared consciousness. Almost like a radio signal that we're all tuned in to. Even though I've been aware of that for many years, it still surprises me in a way when I see it reveal itself in such a manner.

I have been reloading close to 20 years and have a lot of knowledge in this subject by my own testing of different calibers and different types and brands projectiles. In a reloading manual it will show how much FPS you must obtain for that bullet to perform and it is specific to pistol and rifle barrel lengths written right in the book for that cartridge, but Paul hit this right on the head👌

I've been a gun owner since I was given a Ruger 10/22 at the age of 11. I've only ever owned guns for the purposes of hunting and plinking, never for anti-personnel/self defense purposes. I've recently moved to a fairly large city, and for the first time the thought of concealed carry seems like a good idea. This channel has been instrumental in my sidearm and ammunition choices. Thank you Paul for the practical information you put out. You've helped me tremendously.

Did anyone else see the deer jump out on Paul's right side about 40 yards behind him and walk through the forest @ 14:30? great explanation with a little wildlife to boot! Cheers!

CCI Speer used to have an excellent website for law enforcement listing all the ammo they make with expansion and penetration data, including penetration through windshields, car bodies, plywood and drywall. Example: Their 9mm Gold Dot didn't expand through a car trunk but did go on to penetrate a ballistic dummy in the back seat and the person in the front seat before lodging in the dashboard. The same style bullet would expand to 0.6" in jell and stop in 14" .

How is Paul Harrell so low on subscribers? He's not for everyone, because he's not Tacticool, but he should be at a couple million at least for the quality of his content! SMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON PEOPLE & help Paul out!!!

Just tried watching Garand's new production. Couldn't. Realized he's been compromised by Sig. Unsubbed from him. It's gross. Then realized America has been compromised by WEF. Paul, you're the the last American (and fellow Oregonian) gun guy worth a shit. Don't change baby. Love ya. #GODUCKS

Excellent presentation, Paul. Another reason a hollow point might not expand properly, is that sometimes they can tumble around backwards when entering tissue. This can be due to unstable flight or glancing off of a bone just under the skin.

Here's a real world experience that's in line with what Paul is demonstrating. In 1979 I was involved in a gunfight with a suspect I was trying to arrest inside an apartment. He pulled out a Smith and Wesson K38 (.38 cal.) revolver( stolen) and shot me in the upper right chest from a distance of 7 feet ( yep, 7 feet). At the time I was wearing a suit coat, dress shirt and tee shirt. To make a long story short, I drew my Walther P-38 (9mm) and the gunfight was on. At the time I was loaded with Remington 115 grain jacketed hollow point and I learned later on that the stolen Smith was loaded with Super Vel 115 grain, also jacketed hollow point. When all was said and done he and I were both pretty well shot up, but here's the kicker; none of the projectiles expanded...none. I had four wounds and he had three. We both lived and he went to prison and I continued working for another 20 years. I still have the slug from the initial chest shot in my upper right lung and I'm pretty sure that my clothing plugged the hollow and kept it from expanding. Paul's presentation on all this, for me, is spot on given my own experience. Keep doing these presentations, Paul, they're very informative.

As much as I feel I know the answer to this question, I have no question that I'm going to learn a lot from this video

Thanks for making the Why Hollow Points Fail to Expand video.

Very valuable content as always. Also, I'm really digging the "spot the deer in the background" game in all the recent videos.

If the camera SNAFUs were battery-related, it's probably cool weather interfering with the battery performance. Keeping the spare batteries in a pocket or under your jacket can keep them warm enough to get more performance out of them.

Whenever Paul says “you’re going to have to listen to me talk and talk and ramble on for the dawn of time explanation”, or something like that, who else besides me goes and pops a bag of popcorn to excitedly sit down and really listen to what he has to say?

The human body is not ballistic gel. In a real fight, nothing is going to work as planned. With a pistol, you are going to need multiple hits in vital areas to stop someone unless you just get lucky. It does not work the way you see it in the movies. Stay safe everyone.

You can really show hollow-point clogging if you shoot thru paper or books. Now, I know people are not going to walk around with metro phone books taped to themselves, and I know I'm dating myself when I mention the words "phone books".

Nice looking deer at 14:19. And the rest of the herd at 26:37.

sleazy advert: "Are your hollow points not expanding like they used to? It could be caused by _low T_ as you get older."

PH is absolutely the best at explaining and providing useful information in an engaging manner. I bet he could talk about almost any topic and still be a star.

Weirdly I’ve bought Winchester White Box hollow points as blaster ammo for practice and feeding. Turns out it’s also really decent and expands quite reliably.

I have learned so much from this man. His testing and demonstrations are amazing. Thank you Sir for all your hard work and time. You are very appreciated!

Miwall is a staple of the Crossroads of the West gun shows here in Phoenix/Arizona (I don't know about other areas). They sell a huge variety of ammo from various manufacturers. I also believe they do (or did) "remanufacture" their own line of ammo. So, if that's the case, then essentially you had reloads using XTP projectiles, not 'factory' ammunition. By reloading with less powder but using "premium" projectiles, they can increase their margin on the sale. Caveat Emptor, to be sure.

"And it requires a Dawn of Time explanatoin." Ok, Mr. Harrell, you hold on a sec and let me get a mug of tea, I'll be right back to listen intently.

What I take away from this video, is that unless you take the time to keep switching out types of ammunition for each shooting situation and each type of target, you are basically wishing upon a star. For example, I only own one handgun. It is a S&W M&P9 2.0 9mm semi-auto with a 4" barrel. I have added a combo flashlight and green laser in front of the trigger guard. I carry this weapon for both, personal defense and also church security. Most personal defense situations take place at a distance of just 10 feet or less. In contrast, from where I am stationed within my church building during service, I could be shooting as far as 18 yards, to take a bad guy down. I keep this pistol loaded with Barnes 115grain TAC-XP hollow point ammunition. I cannot possibly test this ammo under every possible scenario which I might encounter. Example: A bullet going through a target and hitting an innocent bystander is always a grave concern, so expansion would go a long way in preventing this. However, a person who comes into a church with intent to do harm, would likely be wearing some type of ballistics armor under street clothes. In this case, shot placement is more important than bullet expansion. I also own just one rifle. It is a custom-built AR platform weapon for 5.56mm/.223. It has to do duty as home defense and also hunting game, up to whitetail deer. I have outfitted it with a good scope and a holographic dot sight. Again, the ammo I have chosen, is the Fiocchi .223 50grain Polymer Tip BT. This should be pretty good for home defense, but how about deer hunting? I don't hunt for the thrill or a trophy. I hunt for meat to eat. If I don't need the meat, I leave it alone. That is just what my parents taught me. In order to preseve the most meat, maybe a FMJ with good shot placement would be a better option instead of the polymer tip. I see more questions than answers here and I'm not sure if there are right answers for every situation.

Your testing protocol discussion reminded me of government employee training. The tests are designed so that you are going to pass no matter what you know.

Enjoyable video Paul. Thanks. Why not just shoot FMJ out of a small handgun? Is JHP really any more effective in this scenario? I'm more concerned with penetration than expansion in a small concealed carry gun, but that's just me.

I am in firm belief that not only do the manufacturers know exactly what they're doing with misleading ammo claims they in fact pay a lot of money to people to specifically do it.

not sure if there's any truth to it but what I've generally heard is the manufactures intentionally load civilian ammo weak then use extra-long test barrels to juggle the numbers to something desirable. they've always got away with it because people didn't have the chronographs and ballistic gels available at a reasonable price that would justify the expense of testing the ammo to verify it performs as advertised. that's what I'm thinking anyhow because that's how it's been for me. I'm tired of paying the defensive ammo prices for stuff that doesn't work and since I have gel and a chrono I can sort that all out now for myself.

For a relatively young man, you give the impression you know whereof you speak. I'm impressed.

So the next question is: Is 9mm hollowpoint in the average 3in barrel or less micro-9 (that is now all the rage) a pointless endeavor? - pardon the pun...

8:40 with a full lesson, plus 20 minutes to look forward to!

+P 9mm hollow point, got to get the bullet to go fast enough to expand. Somewhere on the manufacturers website there should be a table, where it tells u how fast a particular bullet needs to go to work as advertised.

I say bad math is "Really Lying." Consumers should expect nothing less though, and be informed. Thanks for the info. I have to do some more experiments to make sure my 6" Colt Python is on the right diet.

Paul, can you please do a video on rifle slings? Different types, how to mount them, how to use them properly, etc? I love your work and I’m happy to support you on Patreon. It’s well worth the knowledge I’ve learned from watching your videos the last few years. Thank you!

Woot storytime with Paul Harrell

Watching Paul drop knowledge bombs is a Sunday well spent.

30 seconds in….If this were a garandthumb video he would have talked about himself 4 times already….

Hey Paul, thanks for reaching out to us regarding this matter., great video 😊

You suggest unrealistic or improper testing protocol. I suggest no testing was done at all, that just increases cost and decreases profit margins.

im gonna miss you very much, rest in peace

Thank you for putting this topic into “layman’s “ terms! Have wondered for years why some HP’s expand and some don’t. Everyone needs to take their fire arm with their chosen ammo and test as Paul does and make appropriate changes if necessary for what each individual is looking to accomplish. Thanks Paul and crew!

It's mostly about the velocity. When someone asks me if a certain bullet is good for deer hunting I always say it depends. A 140 grain nosler accubond may not be best choice for a 6.5 creedmore at long distance. Just like a 150 grain nosler ballistic tip might no be the best choice for a 300 win mag at close range.

The obsolete Federal Nyclad hollow point expanded very well. Speer used to make a semi jacketed kieth style hollow point with exposed lead that expanded well. My experience with these projectiles showed that soft nose bullets in 357 and 44 have a problem penetrating hard targets like car bodies. The ideal for me is the hard cast kieth style semi wadcutter with a gas check that can be driven to magnum velocities. If cast correctly correctly it has a sharp shoulder that cuts a good wound canal and gives excellent penetration. These bullets would succeed in penetrating car bodies if hardened properly. See LEAD BULLET TECHNOLOGY, in moyea springs Idaho.

Except Tim Sundles who is an honorable, truthful, honest man, --- his Buffalo Bore are ALWAYS loaded as hot as he states. The rest need to take a lesson from him!

No Pop Tarts?????

Hollow points will always be a 50/50 chance roll. You'll either get good fluid cavitation with poor penetration or good penetration with very poor fluid cavitation. A simple full caliber meplat lead wadcutter will outperform most modern hollow points, but they don't make the big ammo manufacturers as much money ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Speed doesn't kill. Stopping quickly does that.

When I was in college I had a professor who said "Statistics don't lie, but statisticians do"

Hey there, Paul. On this topic, do "ballistic tip" projectiles help alleviate some of these issues, such as clogged hollow point and barrel length (to some degree)? I picture the plastic tip forcing expansion at lower velocity thresholds by some amount, but I don't have any scientific data or testing to back this thought up.

Thanks Paul. Awesome, just the right amount of Sarcasm ... and to the point. Cheers 🙏

Mr. Paul Harrell, Been watching /listening /learning from you for years (nearly decades it seems). ALWAYS enjoyed your work! ALWAYS learned something! ALWAYS impressed by your efforts! BUT, somehow, this episode REALLY stood out, to me, as to the complexity of your preparation, execution! THANK YOU Paul Harrell!! Stay with us as long as possible! God grant you peace knowing that you contributed greatly to your fellow citizens! 😊😊😊

This is one thing I appreciate about the The Buffalo Bore ammunition. They test their ammunition in "real world" firearms. My chronographs over the years have demonstrated that Buffalo Bore ammo lives up to or slightly exceeds their advertised velocities. I don't agree with some of the viewpoints of Buffalo Bore's owner on other topics but who cares? Their ammunition is high quality and extremely reliable. I have absolutely no reason to promote Buffalo Bore ammunition other than it lives up to what it's clamed to be! I use it in Ruger Redhawk, GP100'S , and Super Blackhawks because they can handle this full potential 357 and 44 Magnum loads all day. Is their ammo more effective for a given purpose? I have no clue. I'm confident that their heavy hardcast gas-checked stutff is about as good as one can do for bear protection in magnum revolvers. Yes there are bears where I camp and hike.

Everyone: " Why don't hollow points expand?" Paul Harrell: " This one does quite well. Just like yo mama did back in the day. Welcome home son" Underwood: " We have ammunition for that. Ask yo mama about our penetration. We call them defenders"

I'm back but WOW there was a Bigfoot in the background traveling incognito disguised as a deer ----- how tricky!

Great.👍 That really lays it out. Bullet design (and testing) has come a long way, but it’s still not an exact science. When I started handgunning and loading in the mid 1970’s, we didn’t have many choices. I shot into whatever I had, wood, duct seal (oil based clay), water, wet pack (newspaper & magazines THOROUGHLY soaked for at least a day before being hauled to the range), and I learned as much about test mediums as about bullets. I’m very interested in the new handgun bullet designs that claim to transmit hydrostatic shock without expanding (Lehigh Defense, Underwood Ammo), and wonder how far this concept can be developed. Hats off to you for tackling this subject.

As a retired LEO with 30 years, I have personal experience with 9mm zipping through a person. Clean in and out with no expansion. Two different bullet makes, mine was a Black Talon and my partners was a Gold Dot. People are not gel blocks or stacks of magazines and so many variables and scenarios. Enjoy all of your videos.

Solid content . PH puts a great deal of effort and science into his presentations. I enjoy how he trained that deer to walk around in the background. Excellent range location PH. More please!

Companies dishonestly reporting the performance of their products? No, really? -Electric pickups have left the chat.

What an excellent (and fair minded) discussion of factors that influence hollow point expansion, or lack thereof. Back in the "old days", meaning before chronographs were within reach of almost everyone, ammo maker "shenanigans" were on full display, including testing carried out using longer than standard laboratory test barrels that were not found in any actual handgun. These were designed to cater to the "faster is always better" crowd. Most of my testing over the years has been done with law enforcement and defense cartridges. I'd like to recognize the people at Federal and Speer, since the early 90's, who have used actual common law enforcement firearms for their testing, and who have always readily disclosed to me what they used as test firearms in common calibers. This may have been a function of me being a law enforcement officer at the time, and I honestly don't know if they are as forthcoming with other customers. One thing I have noted about them is that they take input from LE agencies and tweak loads based on that input, such that for example, a load might be reduced a bit based on the ability of officers to handle recoil or even muzzle flash, and armorer reports of wear on firearms. So, their LE oriented loads may not always be the hottest rounds you can buy. But since the LE rounds are all tested on the FBI protocols, their results are quite easy to replicate, and I have found their representations pf performance to be highly reliable. Another point to consider that is not made often is that most American Eagle and Speer Lawman loads are designed as practice analogs for duty rounds, just without an expanding projectile, lacquer sealing, or flash suppressed powders. So if your HST or Gold Dot loads have been "tamed" a bit for duty use, you will typically find your AE and Lawman loads in the same bullet weight have been as well. In this regard, I can only speak to their loads intended for law enforcement use. Other loads not intended for LE duty guns may behave differently. A good example was the Federal HST 150 grain 9mm load. This load was designed for use in the very popular 9mm micro pistols where reduced recoil was a priority. These behaved nothing like HST LE loads, and to my knowledge were not evaluated with the full FBI battery of FBI tests in mind. I'm also impressed that Federal and Speer sponsor field wound ballistic workshops for LE agencies in which they bring out the proper equipment to demonstrate their products or to test what the agency might be using. In the first one I attended, my agency was using a Winchester Ranger 155 grain .40 S&W load. After testing, the Federal rep told me, "While we'd love to have you switch to our products, I can't honestly tell you that what we offer is better than what you already have. You are using very good ammunition". I truly appreciated this level of honesty. I have no reason to suspect that Winchester is not as honest about their LE products, I just have not had as much experience with their cartridges. My sense is that today, the major makers of LE ammo are not in the business of lying to their customers, while some of the smaller makers might still engage in a few shenanigans. On the other hand there are some boutique makers such as Underwood who are very honest about what they offer as well. Buffalo Bore even specifies on their website the velocities they get from specific firearms. Overall it seems to be a good time to be choosing defense ammo in terms of knowing what you are getting. Here is a link to FBI test results published for common LE cartridges by Federal and Speer. When I was working, I was able to replicate a lot of these tests, and got very similar results with duty length firearms. People might find this interesting, especially the ability to compare cartridges side by side. le.vistaoutdoor.com/wound_ballistics/load_comparison/load_comparison.aspx

*Paul:* "Now this takes a while to explain and you're gonna have to listen to me ramble..." *The Average Paul Harrell Enjoyer:* "Finally, we get to the good part."

Well my father experienced this low or no expansion on his .45 dum-dums rounds during Korea. These were FMJ with cuts. Big and slow ,he would be happy with the abundance of silencers.

It was very interesting to see the “Energy Dump” of .30 Carbine hollow points, the Revolver produced LESS velocity, LESS expansion, and much MORE (Over) penetration - Whereas The Rifle produced MORE velocity, MORE expansion, and much LESS penetration…(stopped by T-Shirt on the back in Rifle vs. 70th layer of fleece for the Revolver) -- My take away... This is a perfect example of "Stopping Power" that the "old guys" talk about...The rifle made the hollow points work properly and therefor dumped that energy into the "intended target" and therefor inflicted more "Stopping Power" - This is WHY +P/Magnum/Super Ammunition and weapons were invented, not to "Blast Thru Concrete to Kill Someone" like prosecutors want to portray, but to make the projectile "WORK PROPERLY" on the intended target!

Because they don't eat carbs

My father's Winchester '94 30-30 is a 24" Octagon barrel. I lo e that rifle! He loves it because it fit him well throughout the years. That said, I have never seen another like it in my half-century + of life. I am thinking your 1% guesstimation may be high.

It would be interesting to do a head to head test of common test media types as a follow on to this video. How would they compare to each other? Is there any useful correlation between them? Say Meat Target, gel, water jugs and soaked newsprint with all other factors being the same.

Hey. Did anyone else see the deer jump into the frame in the woods off Paul's right (viewer left) shoulder at about 14.32? Oh, and um, great information Paul as always! :)

The deer at 14:18 - 14:38 ... Oregon is quite beautiful!

Paul any chance you might test out the underwood 380 maximum expansion ammo they supposedly expand like a propeller with razor sharp blades. Can’t find anyone that’s done it in 380 only in 9mm

Between the engineers and the promotional workers, everything hollow point works everytime. Give it time and the well teknikally people will have us calling them potentially expanding ammunition.

I agree with the medical examiner in the comments that spoke of the patients they see (alive) with gunshot wounds. The hollow points barely opened at all in the gunshot survivors they examined, i.e. the ammo did not work as advertised. They then further state that perhaps that is because the ones that get shot where the hollow point *does* exand properly, perhaps they went straight to the morgue instead of making it to the ER- thus the reason they never see fully expanded hollow points in SURVIVORS. Reasons for failed expansion include but aren't limited to: velocity too low due to pistol being too small, poor bullet design, thick barriers including clothes, etc.

This channel is always number 1 in terms of the thoroughness of its analysis and the practicality of its approach. Can't say enough good words about it.

So, this rather informative presentation brings up, as it should, another question: Of all the different types of bullets out there, which one is "best" for stopping a potential human threat? I think it is fair to assume most of us just buy JHP for self defense because we have been told of its effectiveness. However, is it really the best? What about monoflex, of SJHP, or SCHP....so on and so forth?

Would you guys consider the term "hollow point" an oxymoron? Just wondering. We got a debate in our shop.

Makes a fellow wonder, if a good SWC or Keith type bullet, or a good WFN bullet with sharp shoulders were employed with sufficient weight, sufficient diameter, would a hollowpoint even be something worth chasing? Certainly XTP bullets are designed to work well on game and there are even harder versions for higher velocity impact. Yet, who's doubting the effectiveness in taking down a dangerous animal with a good hard cast SWC, Keith, or LFN type bullet with decent sectional density? If it goes straight, doesn't veer on a bone, crushes while penetrating, wouldn't the only consideration for self defense of the two legged predator be to reduce sectional density to prevent ridiculous penetration levels?

There's some interesting choices of test guns when you read fine print on ballistics charts, like just about everyone is using a 4" barrel Walther PP for their .25 acp, .32 acp and.380 acp even though the vast majority of those are in sub 3" in typical guns and maybe even sub2" on .25s Paul mentioned the 24" .30-30 .45 colt is typically a 7.5" SAA even though most people's SAA or knockoff thereof are going to be 4.75" or 5.5" and probably the most common.45 colt platforms these days are 3" Taurus Judge. I've seen a 8" artillery Luger used as the test gun for exceptionally optimistic velocity 9x19

Legitimate quality makes a huge difference. Federal HST and Remington GoldenSabre are top pistol rounds. Speer can be good. Lots of others, not so much. Shoot them at a deer sized target and find out.

As always great knowledge Paul. Also as we all know Paul has 8 pockets, and 15 guns on hand at all times!

I'm going to "have" to listen to you ramble? You can't force the willing, sir.

Once again, excellent video with a great lesson on the subject, and looking forward to another Easter demonstration.

Oh, a good example of dishonest marketing is from Sig. Look at their silencer line up and you'll come across their claim of their silencers being less damaging to ones health by not forcing so much gas back into the action (and my default towards the shooter) And if you look at the FLIR image they have showing the amount of hot gasses coming back between their silencers and Competitor Brand silencers you may notice that they slapped Competitor Brand onto an AR15 and their silencer onto their MCX. Now, I know that they know that I know that the MCX is a short-stroke gas piston and will have less debris going back to the action over the internal piston system of the AR15, so their testing is rigged to have 2 independent variables meaning it's dishonest, scientifically invalid and really puts Sig's engineers to shame, and shows their willingness to cheat you to sell their product. Sig also sells "self defense" ammunition, so think on that one for a minute.

Excellent video. Hollow point expansion or lack there of, has always been a point of concern for me. You've cleared up and explained away a lot.

The failure of bargain hollowpoint bullets is the reason I only carry Buscadero Ticondas.

This is a great presentation. It should be a mandatory watch for all bullet and cartridge manufacturers of self-defense intended ammo. There are some manufactures that now list velocities and barrel length tested, not many and not enough. Some handgun bullets need +P velocities (whatever that is these days) to reach expansion threshold, XTP's being one, others will do so from a 3"-ish barrel without the hyped +P velocities, I've discovered a few. I used to handload my defense cartridges, an attorney advised using what LE uses or some king of commercially produced ammo to avoid the question, " So you were thinking about shooting someone when you were making the ammunition?" Objection sustained but seed planted in the jurors mind. The answer to that would, by design and purpose, be "uhh, yeah" and there you are.

I wish Paul could explain to the anti-gunners why they are wrong. They may actually understand, with his superlative explanation methods.

🦌 14:30

I have heard of ammo companies using long barrels to test pistol ammo. That is definitely cheating the customer! Who carries a 6 or 8 inch barrel for conceal carry? If the ammo company is pushing a product for personal defense, the testing should be done with a snubby revolver or smaller semi auto pistol. I'm sure 357 magnum or 38 special is really moving fired out of my Henry big boy lever gun but I don't carry it concealed. It's a recreational rifle atleast till the zombies show up😂

So... the meat target would be a better "intended target" if it was encapsulated in a 5 gallon bag of "target juice", allowing the "juice" to permeate the entire meat target. Should be simple enough to construct a more realistic meat target and obtain more realistic bullet and wound results....

Manufacturers definitely have a greater opportunity to short cut personal protection ammo versus hunting ammo. The customer who shoots the intended target and isn't happy with the results and switches brands is vastly higher with hunting ammo then personal protection ammo. Personal protection put whatever inside the box and hype up the outside like a gas station enhancement pill, make millions, whos going to complain? Well until Paul Harrell tests it. COME ON MAN

Thanks Paul, for taking the time to actually read and respond to all of our (no doubt sometimes inane) questions that get sent to you. These always make fairly informative videos. What's assumed to be common knowledge by some may be completely new information to others.

Just a street cop here, haven’t been around for the autopsies and after action detective mock-ups but I’ve seen a lot of people shot with handguns and the only thing I can really draw from it is that shot placement is the most important thing as long as the round penetrates. I’ve seen people shot three times and walk into the ambulance themselves and sit up talking to me, and I’ve seen people shot exactly once center chest or through the side into the chest cavity and fall down dead right there. Big rounds and expanding rounds are great, but I would say you should carry what you can shoot accurately. If that’s a .380 s&w EZ type old lady gun but you can shoot it like a laser beam, that’ll work. :)

You should have more subs ... Its nice to see bullets explode bottles of water or see slow motion shots into ballistics gel ... But your tests give more realistic results ... You do a good job.

Ever wonder what the deer think when they walk up on a human standing in the middle of a field talking to themselves ? And occasionally shooting at.....Nothing. Come On man