Stopping Power: What Is It?
BY PGF
1 year, 2 months ago
This intro is humorous:
Stopping power, or “knockdown power,” is a projectile’s ability to incapacitate a target, whether animal or human. While almost everyone’s heard the term, understanding exactly what it means can be tough. All the confusion surrounding stopping power is mainly due to Hollywood’s unrealistic depictions of what happens when someone gets shot.
In TV and movies, one bullet will send a grown man flying backward. Depending on how over-the-top the flick is, they may do a backflip, launch off a building, or perform another acrobatic feat. On the other hand, the invincible hero shrugs off round after round until he completes the mission, saves the girl, and rides off into the sunset.
“As you will learn shortly, there are no ‘magic bullets” — there is no free lunch, and there is no substitute for marksmanship.” – Evan P. Marshall (
As is often the case, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Let’s dive deeper into the science of terminal ballistics to get to the bottom of stopping power. We’ll examine the five factors influencing what happens when a bullet hits something.
If you can’t hit the target, it really doesn’t matter what ammo you use. The article goes on to discuss five factors that impact stopping power; caliber, muzzle velocity, bullet mass, bullet shape and composition, and muzzle energy; chart included.
On September 6, 2023 at 7:56 pm, George said:
One should rad W.D.M.”Karamojo” Bell’s writings on the subject. Enlightening.
On September 8, 2023 at 11:47 am, Dirk said:
Agree, but if I could only have one rifle for its Impact that would be a 338 lm, even over a fifty.
At 2k, when we hit our 40 pound ar500 steel targets dam near snaps the chains holding the plate. Mother of god, that’s gonna leave a mark. The plates are 1/2 inch ar500.
The .50 blows thru 408/416 chytacs with the right combo will penetrate the targets. They also slap the targets around handily.
Think it’s fair to say, I mention the 338 cuz I routinely shoot one. Not the 408/416. However I have a 408 being built by my smiths. Prolly my last rifle build, I’m 67 now, getting a bit long on the tooth. I still dabble at training, it’s getting tougher. My spines rebuilt,,,,, these big ass shooters rock me bad.
On September 9, 2023 at 2:24 am, Dan said:
The most important factor in “stopping power” is shot placement. Hit them in the hand with a 50BMG and they are going to be hurting… a lot. But they will still be “in the fight. Hit them in the brain stem or the high spinal cord even with a small caliber round and the fight is over right then, right now. Everything else is important. But it takes a back seat to hitting the target correctly.