Screw you and your block of Jell-o
Since the last few mass shootings, I’ve decided perhaps it’s time to up my usual carry game from either a 38 snubby or a sub compact 9mm.
Those are light and easy to carry, but if I’m going to a bigger place, perhaps a compact 9mm with a 15 round mag is a better option.
I ordered more JHP, which sent me down the path of big money gun bloggers (the kinds with millions of YouTube subscribers, ads, merch, and sponsored videos) doing ballistic gel testing.
Apparently I’m going to die because one of my guns is loaded with Federal 124 grain Hydra-Shock. I also have a bunch of Winchester Ranger that I got as Law Enforcement surplus.
See, these are older styles of hollow point and when these guys did their tests every once in a while they didn’t mushroom perfectly and maybe only penetrated 11.5 inches instead of the minimum 12.
Then there was a test of one of my loads I have a bunch of, Buffalo Bore 124+P. Sure, every bullet consistently hit 14 to 15 inches deep, and fully mushroomed, but the jackets shed some petals and there wasn’t 100% weight retention, so it was rated as “junk.”
I seem to remember an old saying “perfection is the enemy of good enough.”
I’m pretty sure that putting a 124 grain bullet into an asshole at 1200 fps and sending it 15 inches into him will do the trick whether or not it forms a perfectly symmetrical, 100% weight retained mushroom.
Not to mention that some of those older bullets, e.g., Winchester Ranger, Federal Hydra-Shock, Remington Golden Saber, etc., have decades of use as duty ammo yeeting assholes.
Let’s not discount that over one gel test.
And if your first shot doesn’t stop the bad guy, shoot the fucker again.
Maybe my pragmatic approach is why I don’t have a million subscribers and a sponsored YouTube channel.
Because “buy JHP you can afford and put the rest of your money into practicing good follow-up shot placement” doesn’t sell as much as “your beloved JHP is obsolete junk and will get you killed, buy my new favorite load instead.”