There is no Magic Bullet

This informative article "Training Tips" was written by Matt Canovi of Canovi and Associates, LLC and republished here with his permission. The material presented here can be viewed on Canovi and Associates, LLC website and is for the more experienced shooter, but it can be helpful for beginners as well.

Training Tips

The most important thing in a gunfight is a gun that works. When you're in a gunfight, your gun must be able to shoots bullets. If your gun malfunctions and won't shoot bullets, it turns into a club. The most common malfunction in a semi-automatic is the failure to feed a new round out of the magazine and into the chamber. These malfunctions can easily be caused by the ammunition. Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) rounds are the most reliable ammunition for use in semi-automatics (as well as fully automatics), and they greatly reduce the chance for a failure to feed malfunction; however, the increase reliability also increases penetration. This increased penetration must be understood, when you choose a
defensive round.

In September, 1987 the FBI convened a Wound Ballistics Seminar at the FBI Academy, and they came up with some interestingly conclusions. Although penetration and wound size govern handgun-wounding effectiveness, penetration is the more critical element and all the participants unanimously agreed that there are only two reliable ways to achieve physiological incapacitation(17). The first is server injury to the central nervous system, and the second is extreme lose of blood. (17

Furthermore, since placing a bullet in a small moving target like the head under the stress of a life threatening attack could be difficult, a defensive bullet must be able to penetrate deep enough into a human


body, so it ensures damaging a major internal organ and thus causing the desired extreme blood loss. This seminar enabled the FBI to develop a, BULLET PERFORMANCE CRITERIA, with a minimum acceptable penetration of twelve inches and a maximum penetration of eighteen inches. (17.......full article