You Sr are a great man to listen to. You explain to people in ways that are easy to understand. I have been a gunsmith over 10 years and a competitive shooter. And I can not explain things to the simplicity that you have. My hats off to you.

Gunblue explains firearms and bullets like no other. Keep em coming

Starts at 16:00. Everything before are examples.

In sweden, weapons are divided into classes (1-4 and shotgun). Klass 1, the highest, are 9 gram bullet with 2700j or 10 gram at 2000j (at 100m), the bullet also has to be expanding. If either weight, energy or bullet composition is wrong it will be klassed lower, probably just klass 2 or even 3. So even if a 8gr bullet has the energy at 100m and is expanding, it will never be klass 1. Klass 1 is all game in sweden, bear, moose etc.

I think a good example of how kinetic energy does not represent killing power is the simple arrow. Most of the time it will travel clean through a deer with comparatively much slower velocity and with not that much weight (or mass) but because it has tremendous sectional density combined with tissue destruction from the broad head will easily dispatch a deer. When talking about bullets it must have enough velocity to mushroom at impact velocity and that velocity must be enough to penetrate the vitals of the animal. Yes an exit is desirable for a blood trail but the animal will go down with a well placed shot. Shooting a block of ballistic gel at 10 yards does not represent what happens at 200 or 300 yards. It's fine for handgun calibers but NOT big game hunting bullets.

These lectures are so much better presented and researched than the ones I spent big $$ on when getting my degree in college. This man is in it for the love of the game. You da man GB490

Great treatise on this topic sir! For anyone wanting the skinny on calculating bullet kinetic energy, the basic formula is: KE = 0.5*m*(v^2). You have to keep your units sorted out in the imperial system, so: m = mass in slugs ( for a bullet in grains, m = (gr/7000)/32.2 yielding the slug unit of: (lb*s^2)/ft; and for velocity: v = velocity in units of ft/s.

Just had a discussion with a KZfaqr about the six five Creedmoor versus the 308 Winchester. He was trying to tell me that the 139 grain 6.5 Creedmoor had more kinetic energy then the 308 Winchester at a thousand yards. I was trying to explain to him about sectional density and the actual bullet Construction and they got all bent out of shape. Thanks for the competent explanation of kinetic energy. I always learn something new when watching you and your videos. Keep up the good work, hope Benny's doing great!

I always thought ft. pounds was more for math nerds than hunters. These were great comparisons. I was just reading an article. It was a comparison of the .308 Winchester to the 6.5 Creedmoor. They said the Creedmoor had a trajectory advantage at 400 and 500 yards. I couldn’t help but laugh. Ive never hunted big game, but I’ve always enjoyed shooting at practical hunting distances at the range. I worry that many gun writers are encouraging irresponsible behavior. Thank you for the video!

There are a number of these videos that should be required for every shooter, especially the hunters. I would love to spend a week or two following Mr GunBlue around and listening to his take on what he knows about firearms that hasn't yet been put into a video. Yeah, that would be a blast!

a 45 A.C.P. with a at 5" barrel has about 100 miles per seconds over a 3 inch barrel (800 vs 900) how much difference would that make in the case of a black bear or cougar? ( these are the largest pistols I have) Thanks

I generally keep my bullet construction simple, lead, or lead tin mix for a hard cast. Never failed me yet .

Deer may only be taken with a legal firearm using a minimum legal firearm calibre of not less than 6mm, which is capable of delivering a projectile having kinetic energy of 1350 joules at a distance of 100 metres from the rifle. It is suggested a calibre .243 or greater be used. This is straight from the Department of Primary Industries Parks Water and Environment website here in Tasmania, Australia. Now looking at the figures for my .44 Mag 16in barrel lever action firing a 240g xtp @ 1600fps 3 yards from the muzzle produces only 1229 joules @100m! Base on this, it is not legal to use on Fallow Deer as it does not meet the minimum requirements. So the old .44 mag is a wounding round.....just like the 30-30 Winchester lol 🤔 Another good incite into ballistics Gunblue490 😊

If there was ever a time that the outdoor sports and shooting fraternity was in serious shame and jeopardy, it is the present. We need a serious campaign engine that can set the records straight, police the shooting industry's manufacture and marketing practices, including the NRA's responsibilities need to be re-defined entirely. I do believe you have the power to connect with today's respected and published shooting and hunting icons and form a band to combat the irresponsible nonsense and recklessness that has entered our hobby, our livelihood and the future of the entire shooting sports arena. We know you can do it..and we are all behind you in supporting this effort. You are one of the very few masters left, albeit, we can't defeat the capitalism that energizes and feeds the reckless of today, but we can at least start a national coast to coast campaign to rid our shooting sports of recklessness abandon. And we can not count on the NRA's support of this mission...which should be one of our first targets of change. All the Best-

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with everyone. I found you a few days ago and your reloading videos have helped me tremendously.

If you somehow condensed all of the information you have provided in your videos into a series of books I would buy them all. Thankyou sir.

Recently started following your channel for great content. Would you be able to do a video discussing 308 vs 6.5 Creedmoor specifically for large game? I'm in Alaska and hunt primarily moose and caribou and would like to get a new hunting rifle. I would still use my 300 win mag for things with claws and sharp teeth. Thanks so much and have a great day!

May I ask, is there a downside to having a rifle barrel longer than standard, if one does not want to use magnum cartridges? I've been lurking, watching dozens of your videos, and digesting your comments about magnum powders needing to be slower-burning and therefore being incompletely burnt when shot through, say, 16" barrels. But what about the converse? If a regular cartridge's powder is completely consumed in a 22" barrel, what happens if one uses the equivalent rifle with a 26" barrel, or to be absurd, a 36" barrel? And BTW, kudos for your courage in sharing your faith!

This is an EXCELLENT presentation. "do not look at energy in a vacuum." A very fast small diameter bullet does less damage than a slower moving, heavier, larger diameter bullet. That's why a 9mm doesn't compare in any way to a 357 magnum round. Similar diameter but the magnum is going faster and is often times heavier.

Great video. Keep them coming!

You are the best, very educational 👍 God bless.

Thank You GB for your labor and love of our great hobby...The Hunting Rifle for Hunters Only (Snipers Not Allowed) God Bless You & Yours- AlltheBest-

Energy is the ability to do work. Think of an electrical analogy: 2kW-hrs is enough energy to exert 2kw power for an hour. Or 120kW for a minute. Or 7200kW for a second. Now, which of those will cook a steak the fastest? What we care about is power-not energy. Power is the rate at which work is done. In our case, the “work” of crushing and displacing tissue. Whichever bullet “does more work” is the more effective hunting choice. The more work done in less time, the more power. This is why 5.56 ball rounds that fragment can be so deadly even compared to larger calibers: fragmentation is a much more efficient means of tissue damage than crushing is. Slicing is also far more efficient, which is why a bow hunter can easily take deer despite having half the energy of a 9mm handgun.

I have to agree with him. Family member inherited my grandfather's 243 win. And for years he used a 308 Remington 760. he has killed many deer with it. In the area we hunt it is fairly thick and you can't see past 75 yds. He usually had the same shot year after year precise shot in the the right area the deer would get hit and run about 20 to 50 yds. and drop. tried all different loading the effect was the same with complete pass through of course. Well he decided to take out the old 243 which was grandpa's favorite round to reload. Same shot and area, he pulled the trigger, the deer instantly dropped in it's tracks. He thought well just a fluke. So he did it several more times in years to come needless to say that 100 gr. bullet never ever exited. less meat damage, more on the table. The 308 is now in the cabinet to be passed down, and collecting dust. One would think the killing power would be greater due to the damage we seen to the meat. This explains it to me know thanks for the understanding Sir.

Enjoyed it, cleared up some misgivings about foot lbs energy stats. P.S. You need a "on air" sign so the cleaning lady holds off until the end of the video ;)

I just found your channel last week. Thank you for all the work you've put into these videos, the history parts I enjoy the most. And thank you for all the mistakes you admit to ,to get to this level of knowledge. P.s Being from NH? and mentioning central Ma, do you know Ted from Cabelas? He's been a wealth of knowledge thus far for me. You both have this vast Historical knowledge of Firearms and it's possible you've cross paths.

Another excellent work Sir, thank you!

KE=1/2*m*v^2 units of KE is joule or newton*meter or foot*pound Force=m*a units of force is newton, kilogram or pound Energy deposited by the bullet is KE initial minus KE final. An armor piercing bullet has a less likely chance of slowing down compared to a jacketed hollow point. As a bullet mushrooms, it slows down meaning Energy lost by the bullet is not uniform through the the object. Look at ballistic gel and see a small entry hole then as the bullet mushrooms it slows down quickly and gives significant energy to the surrounding medium. The pressure drop across the bullet (front to back) is also part of the damage caused. You can’t cause tissue damage without energy but you can damage a whole lot of tissue an do no significant damage. If the bullet misses target and does not slow down significantly then little energy is deposited and little damage is created. Thats where bullet design is very important. You need to deposit the energy (cause tissue damage) in the animal for the energy a bullet has to be effective. Conclusion, energy is important and the more you have, the more damage you can do. Also, just because you have energy doesn’t mean you put that energy where you want it.

The thumbnail put a smile on my face haha!

A 180 grain target bullet has the same energy as a 180 grain hunting bullet.. out of the same barrel..if energy killed game i guess id use target bullets and save a little money

Been trying to tell all my buddy’s this is why my little 6.5 Grendel that’s velocity challenged is still dropping deer at 300yds just as good as their full size cartridges. I’ve heard so many times that thing only has 1600ft lbs of energy and you need 1000ft lbs to kill a deer. In the right conditions I’d be confident in shooting a deer out to 450-500yds with it. But I like to keep it inside 300yds if possible

An arrow is a good example to illustrate that energy does not equal killing power. Magazine writers and maketing ploys are what started the false notion of energy equaling killing power. The whole concept of killing power itself is shaky. The magnum craze is still alive.

Got my Ballistic training for the evening. I like to find any humor that I can in the vids. "The Kinetic energy of a 195 lb. basketball player with his shorts on". LOL.. Like if he didn't have them on people would notice his kinetic energy is less.

Point taken. Energy values are meaningless if not discussed in the context of the other directly related critical data. However, the killing potential of any projectile or shot can be more thoroughly analyzed if energy enters into the discussion. For example, if you fix all other parameters then energy alone could be used to describe the killing potential. The fixed parameters would still have to be known and considered.

Id like too hear your thoughts and experiences with the .348 Winchester & the Winchester model 71

What was the make, model, and energy performance of the vacuum cleaner I heard at the end?

I would like you to do a segment on Point Blank Range kind of in the format you did on recoil . Starting at 22lr up to 338 lapua.ish Would be awesome

Dear Sir, I completely understand your argument about energy and "killing power". I do however have an argument somewhat different. Here goes; If I were to throw a baseball at you from say 20 yards and hit you in the head it would probably knock you down and possibly knock you out. Then if I were to take the same baseball and shot it from a cannon increasing velocity a lot, when it hit your head it would remove your head." In this case it is shown velocity creates more energy thus more knock down power. In the history of the US all the dangerous game were harvested by black powder firearms with low velocity but they used mass of the bullet for knock down power. This applies to this day. The mass much like sectional density, increases penetration upon impact with the target causing a deep wound channel. One law of physics shows the faster a projectile goes the faster it slows down. So a light bullet traveling rapidly will be surpassed in velocity at some point down range by a heavy bullet started at a slower velocity. Thank You, I very much enjoy your sight. I have loaded and hunted for around 52 years and still have much to learn.

I appreciate and enjoy your videos and certainly agree that tissue and nerve damage and blood loss are what kill animals.

Excellent explanation 🙏🏻

Momentum is the correct "yardstick" for power not kinetic energy. Comparing cartridges momentum is much revealing of their actual power. If we think about simply what power is we find that it's simply the ability to move any given amount of mass. If for example you shoot a steel plate on a sliding rail to stop the bullet from multiple calibers you will realize the distance moved is linear with the momentum of the caliber. Therefore, it's ability to move the mass (tissue, metal, water, etc) equals it's power

Very well put!! In my younger years, I was very much misled. Your analogy is spot on. Thank you for sharing. God Bless. And a treat for Benny! 👍

outstanding video with proper examples - i have been thinking on this for a while and was starting to have the starry eyed affect on a few cartridges myself. You've cleared it up partially with this video... I'm hoping you have more videos including the other variables of a bullet's flight. - Mike.

Not sure I agree. What about the energy wave and subsequent tissue cavitation from a GSW? This can result in significant damage to surrounding tissues that the bullet never touches. The more energy upon impact, the greater the energy wave and cavitation. Meaning, the bullet can penetrate causing no direct lethal injuries, but impart massively destructive peripheral injury to vital structures. A real life example of this was demonstrated during the infamous 1986 Miami FBI shootout. Officer Gordon McNeil was temporarily paralyzed when a bullet lodge close to the spine. The resultant energy wave from the bullet shocked the spinal cord leading to loss of function as if the bullet had directly severed the spinal cord. He was functionally paralyzed (for several hours!) and out of the fight. Thankfully, he fully recovered. So, yes, shot placement kills, but you CANNOT discount kinetic energy which can also kill and seriously maim. You're essentially saying the kinetic shock wave of a bomb cannot kill without debris or shrapnel. Put another way, yes, a 22LR can kill just as easily as a 45-70. However, WHO here would rather take a non-lethal shot to the abdomen with a 45-70 vs a 22LR. Answer: no one in their right mind. This video demonstrates book smarts sans real world application.

Excellent explanation as always.

Agreed, but I would be willing to bet that the rifle and cartridge you take to go deer hunting meet or exceed the 800ft-lbs advised, at your intended maximum shooting range. And similarly for elk, I bet you would take a combo that will provide 1200 or more ft-lbs (at range) for elk. So it does mean something. Hunters just need to also know the sectional density required/advised for the size of game they are after, and it doesn't hurt to know that there are several reasons why it's better to kill with caliber and not velocity. The most important of which you mentioned: prem bullets can fail at too close or too far from the target. There would be a distance at which a 22-250 would be fine for a shot on deer, but why would you take a gun with such range restrictions deer hunting? Take one that works for all expected ranges. notes on cxp & hits ratings with game wt and sectional density cxp1

When assessing a cartridge for a particular application, I tend to look at the historical record of that particular cartridge. What worked in the past should work today. I have a lot of respect for the hunters of old, they needed to put food on the table and didn't have a lot of extra spending money, so they were very realistic and practical. That works for me. Thank you GunBlue!

Good one.

I look forward to every new video you post. I sincerely appreciate your frank common-sense approach. I have a suggestion for a new video. What is your opinion of the Remington 700 Walker trigger controversy. I've owned several older 700's with the Walker triggers and still use two heavy barrel varmint 700's for Prairie Dogs. I've adjusted those triggers down to just over 1 pound and they are rock solid safety wise--no amount of severe jarring will cause a fire. I've always loved the Remington 700's and have the opinion that the factory Walker triggers were among the very best of factory original triggers, especially for varmint shooters that wanted a really good trigger adjustable down to suitable weight for precision varmint shooting. However, the last one I purchased, a youth model with the X-Mark trigger in .243 for my grandson, is a piece of junk. I finally replaced the trigger with a Timney that cost me nearly half what I paid for the rifle/scope promo package. Unacceptable! I now recommend Savage rifles to friends, my kids, and grand-kids. I'm afraid the Walker trigger controversy and 60 minutes has dealt a death-knell to Remington. A travesty to say the least!

Although kynetic bullet energy is not the end-all of killing power, the wound channels that we see in ballistic gel are quite telling in showing that tissue destruction is not created by the bullet alone. The shock wave sent out by the energy can in fact destroy tissue that would not be bruised by the bullet itself. Energy per se can induce bleeding and shock, quite apart from bullet sectional density. The point here is well taken that energy will not compensate for bad bullet placement, but with similar bullet placement, energy will make a big difference. That's the point with African calibers. You do not stop a charging bull without big energy. Stopping power can be very useful.

VERY WELL DONE SIR! CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT I SEE MANY ARCHERY HUNTERS THAT RELY ON TISSUE DAMAGE RATHER THAN KINETIC ENERGY TO BAG THEIR GAME, SAME FOR A HUNTING BULLET DESIGN... ITS BOILS DOWN TO TISSUE DAMAGE!

Would be nice if ballistics charts had a field for sectional density.

Thank you very much for your videos, sir.

I'd like to see you do a vid explaining pneumothorax wounds and the myth of the fragile bullet that "explodes" in the chest cavity.

@gunblue490 I would love to see you do a video on long range bullet performance or lack thereof. I believe Nosler explains this best with there minimum bullet velocity recommendations, such as 1800fps as a minimum for most hunting bullets. People taking extreme range shots (500y or more ) at deer sized game when their bullet is close too or subsonic is ludicrous! The bullet lacks the correct terminal velocity to expand correctly and cause sufficient tissue damage. Even with a magnum caliber, the time of flight is long enough to allow a grazing deer to move, as that so call perfect shot is released. This results in a wounded deer taking several days to die. I believe with your teaching methods, you could shed some light on the subject and dispel the myth. Cheers 😊

The example of the girl and baseball player running around the bases are not a good analog in my opinion because the energy required includes the energy necessary to move those people, so there isn't much energy left over to match the remaining energy of a bullet which is astronomically lighter & faster and only needs to travel through the air and the portion of flesh and bone it comes into contact with determined by its circumference. Put another way, how much energy would a bullet have have to move a person like that? We have to consider all the variables that break down or use up energy (which is a measurement expressed by 1/2 mass x velocity squared). Think of energy as a bank account. You start out with a thousand dollars (ft. lbs.). Now withdraw how much energy you'll need determined by the energy required to move the bullet through the air and body (assuming mass, velocity, ballistic coefficient, sectional density, etc.). It's all about energy.

You say you want thumb safety in striker fired guns? Reasoning?

I love your channel, but I might have to disagree about energy not being a "killing value", but let me preface this by saying that there is no such thing as a killing value which I am aware. You can't point to any one thing that I am aware of to determine the killing power, or incapacitation power for that matter (as it matters for self-defense and perhaps dangerous game). I think we can arrive at a combination of values (variables) that will determine the effectiveness of the round, but I think there are a few points germane to a much longer discussion. One, self-defense, and possibly dangerous game (bears and lions), is more about incapacitation because a person or a dangerous animal can do a lot of damage in a second or two. As one doctor who studies ballistics put it, a persona can continue to fight for up to 15 seconds (some "people" say 30)-without a heart. In other words, there have been documented cases where someone's heart was destroyed but the person continued to shoot, stab or otherwise fight without a working circulatory system. But again, that's mostly self-defense or dangerous game animal. Second, before I fake deep knowledge of physics I don't possess, in my defense, all physics is theoretical despite it being treated as fact. That said, I'm sure you probably know this but merely misspoke, you said kinetic energy is the mass and the volume squared, but this is incorrect and it might have skewed your thinking if you're remembering it in these terms. Kinetic energy is 1/2 mass times velocity squared. In other words, the mass counts, but the velocity matters exponentially more as we are cutting the mass in half (by multiplying it by 1/2) and we're multiplying that by the exponentially raised velocity to the second power (velocity squared). This probably isn't a big deal in this discussion, but it's worth noting when considering the way mass and velocity work together. I find it fascinating because both mass and velocity do nothing on their own. A particle of light hitting our skin does nothing, yet a bolder does nothing if doesn't move (or move much). Lastly, the kinetic energy is the potion of mechanical energy that dominates ballistics. It is a component of "mechanical energy" which does the work. Mechanical energy is a combination of potential energy and kinetic energy. A classic example of the former is a bolder hoisted above the ground. While it is suspended in the air, it contains potential energy equal to the force required to raise the bolder to whatever height is achieved. That's not really applicable in a practical way to ballistics as the potential energy stored in a round is an abstract (how much mechanical energy was required to make it? Do we look at the handloader? Do we consider the forces of nature that created the elements found in the powder, lead, etc...? It's kind of like the particle of light. I am sure there is a mindblowing number that could be arrived at theoretically of how much work was necessary to create that particle of light shooting out of the sun and towards the earth, but it's not exactly a practical man stopper for hunting or self protection. Therefore, we're concerned with the component of mechanical energy responsible for doing the work when an object is in motion (kinetic energy). It is the kinetic energy, and not merely one of its components (mass or velocity) that is responsible for everything. It is what both moves the bullet and its what enables that bullet to have the mechanical energy to destroy tissue. By the way, I head one trauma room surgeon contradict something the Yankee Marshal said which I knew was utterly false when he said it. He believed that to incapacitate a person rapidly the bullet needed to pass through the body to give the blood somewhere to go (to rapidly reduce blood pressure so the person quickly becomes unconscious). The surgeon said that is absolutely false because there is more than enough volume in the body cavity for the blood to rush into making an exit wound completely unnecessary. Add to that the fact that the subcutaneous fat deposits of a bear can often plug the hole and minimize blood loss outside the body and it's easy to understand the surgeon is likely right. So energy is everything, but as I left in a post earlier today as I binge watch your wonderful channel-just because you start out with a sort of potential energy (muzzle energy, which I doesn't satisfy the definition, but speaking as a lay person, we judge how much energy a round has potentially as it leaves the barrel)-that doesn't mean that whatever is left of that kinetic energy by the time it reaches the animal is going to be absorbed by the animal's tissue. If too powerful of a round is used, it will zip through the animal through and through and do significantly less damage than if the entire payload had been delivered. This is why I wrote that a .44 Magnum is not any more effective than a 9mm because it passes through a person so easily that half of its energy leaves along with it. But even though the energy we can expect still exists by the time the bullet reaches its mark can be quantified, it is far from the end of the story. The bullet's design, where and what it hit, and how easily the bullet passed through the animal (if it did at all) all factor into it. Like you said, having it pass through both lungs is ideal, but better yet, I'd rather it not exist the animal's skin once passing through the ribs, or at least not leave the animal's body with much energy which is just wasted energy. So energy is everything, but muzzle energy is not, but neither is velocity. It is less of a determinate than muzzle energy in my opinion just the way a particle of light traveling approximately 300000 km/s, or 186000 miles per second can't stop an animal. Although I don't have a great answer, what might provide a profile for a good hunting round for a particular application is the amount of kinetic energy expected to arrive at a given distance coupled with the sectional density of the bullet to predict penetration (borrowing your definition of sectional density from earlier today). Although the ballistic coefficient (which you and I both refer to as how aerodynamic a bullet is) helps predict how much energy is delivered at a given distance (remember, velocity is nothing without mass, so we're not trying to determine velocity. We want to know the kinetic energy which is going to deliver the mechanical energy needed to do the damage [since the potential energy is too much of an abstract to be a concern). You said "bullets don't kill by energy, they kill by bullet destruction." You also said that it is a bullet's diameter, sectional density, weight, etc. that allows the bullet to go into the tissue. This is not true in my opinion as it is the mechanical energy (which includes both kinetic & the illusive potential energy) that does the work. What those variables you spoke of do is help us understand how enough energy remains for the bullet to do its job. Take for example ballistic gel tests. A permanent wound channel with a 9mm or .45" diameter isn't considered very good. It's not the diameter, bullet weight/sectional density, or velocity that does the damage, it is all these things together that helps us understand how much mechanical energy is there to tear tissue beyond the diameter of the bullet. In other words, as a 9mm diameter bullet starts cutting through the tissue, what makes a 2.5" PWC? The answer is energy. The energy is released by a combination of potential energy (whatever that is) and kinetic energy (which is 1/2 x m x v²). Velocity by itself, sectional density by itself, mass by itself, etc. are nothing as none of these things can exist without the other (speaking of mass and velocity in particular). These things working together is what we refer to as energy. It's about how much energy you end up with which starts by knowing how much energy the bullet starts with to have the mechanical energy necessary to do the work (destroy tissue in the most way for taking an animal down quickly and cleanly). So we use certain variables like mass (just a variable of energy), ballistic coefficient (how aerodynamic the bullet is [to help conserve energy]), sectional density (how heavy & thin the bullet is to conserve energy [to allow the bullet to penetrate deeply]), and velocity (just another variable of energy) to help predict what energy will remain and where to allow a bullet to do its job (we don't want this energy to exist outside of the animal anymore than may be necessary to do the damage it needs to do).

Great information. Thank you for sharing it.

One thing is for sure. The difference between 100 yd's and 500 yd's is 400 yd's !

I really have been enjoying your videos and I can’t help but think of your KZfaq name. I’m curious, the 490 in your name is that related to your police officer number when you graduated from the academy?

I understand the difference between a small caliber lighter bullet at a high velocity and a larger and heavier bullet at a lower velocity. But if you have two bullets of the same caliber and even the same type, is there any particular difference in tissue destruction between the lighter bullet at a higher speed which has approximately the same certain kinetic energy as a heavier one at a lower speed?

Awesome as usual!!!

Thank you for making it understandable.

Now I wanna go skiing and to the circus

Dead on once again GunBlue490. The energy figures are meaningless if you don't have any other data. God Bless. And keep posting!

If sectional density, bullet weight and bullet velocity is what matters most does that mean 300 blk at 50 yds with 160 grain expanding bullets is just as good for deer as an expanding 158 grain 357 magnum bullet fired from a rifle at the same 50yds with the same velocity? I realize there's a slight difference in diameter, but besides that they should be relatively equal or am I wrong? I reload both calibers and the velocities are almost identical along with case capacities and types of gun powders that can be used. That's why I often nickname the 300 blk as my semi auto 357 magnum carbine.

So what you are saying is a smaller bullet with a bigger shell load combined with an aerodynamic design and expansion uppon contact of tissue is the best round for tissue distruction and penetration. so basicly all bottle necked rounds are better than full sized rounds. like how the 357 sig round is or the 9×25 dillon, or the 22 - 250 remmington . Ect... Well good to know!

Great video. I learn more and more every episode.

Thank you for your service, and these excellent videos. I've learned so much from you. I wish I'd known about you sooner.

Hello @GunBlue490 i'm new to the channel and an avid 22. lr shooter. I'm doing my research into defensive arms and would love to hear yours or anyone elses thoughts on the 5.7x28mm used by the Fn five-seven. As a defensive carry gun. I realize its a new round and most of the rounds designed for special use have over the years been proven non sense. I was considering it for its low recoil - high capacity - good penetration. I realize being such a small round at such high velocity, its likely to simply pass threw a target. In some sense that is its intended purpose. One big con is the price of ammo is very high.

Doesn’t the energy transfer into and cause the tissue destruction thereby causing potential death? And so therefore it seems the energy is the catalyst that affects the end result.

Energy value is a "measurement" of potential power at a given distance. Different bullets and velocities absolutely have different potential energy which is a part of the tissue destruction necessary for a quick kill. You have good points but in comparing the energy of a number of cartridges you were not comparing their energy all at the same distance. All the points you made such as destructive potential are viable and necessary but even an expanding bullet must have enough velocity and energy to create the potential for tissue destruction, otherwise you may as well be throwing rocks. Any bullet, no matter what caliber, must impart its energy into the target, otherwise you have low or no penetration or a pass through with little tissue damage and small or no temporary cavity. So, whether you have a 22-250 humming at 4000 ft/sec or a 30-30 scootin' at 2400, each has a time in space with approximately the same potential energy but not necessarily the same potential for tissue damage. Energy is a huge factor when it comes to the killing potential of a bullet. While it may be just a number on paper, when you consider target mass and density, distance, velocity and bullet mass, energy speaks volumes about a bullet's performance. For Instance: I carry a 9mm handgun for personal protection. While a 115gr bullet at standard pressure might have a higher velocity than a 124gr, I am certain beyond a doubt that the 124gr will impart more energy into the target causing greater tissue damage to an attacker potentially ending the fight sooner. Although bullet energy may be misunderstood by most, and I very likely, do no understand it completely, it is a big part of how a bullet does its job.

In other video you say do not recommend glock. There is after market safety for glock, do you recommend to put that on the gun and after that do you recommend glock ?

What type of gun is able to fire a 14 pound Canadian goose? Has Ruger developed one of their Hawkeyes in this caliber? :)

I like your videos. But I think this one is misleading. Obviously shot placement, bullet construction and so on are important. But energy is still probably the best single number metric that will tell you the most about killing power. Try to choose a grizzly protection gun based on bullet diameter or velocity alone, it's clearly not gonna work. But something with 3500 joules of energy will most likely be adequate. Taking everything into consideration will be the best approach, I agree, but if you are limited to providing a single number, energy is still the king.

I'll preface by saying that I have a master's in mechanical engineering, and worked as a spacecraft engineer, so I understand the difference between momentum and kinetic energy quite well, and the topic of bullet damage is an important one. For a given bullet diameter, let's take 357 magnum for example, you can have light bullets that travel very fast, and have high ft-lb of muzzle energy. A heavier 357 magnum bullet, with less muzzle energy, can have more muzzle momentum than the lighter bullet with more muzzle energy. Upon hitting the target, both momentum and energy are conserved. However, energy and momentum are conserved in different ways. Kinetic energy when penetrating the target, can be lost in a number of different ways, including heat. Bullet momentum when hitting the target, must be conserved by both the weight of the bullet+target. It would be interesting to see ballistic gel tests on this subject. For an apples to apples test, the bullets would have to be the same design, such as a round nose FMJ. Two bullets of different weights, but with the exact same muzzle energy, could be fired into the ballistic gel. However, while those bullets may have the same kinetic energy when hitting the ballistic gel, they will each have different momentum upon penetration. The heavier bullet will have more momentum. I don't know, because I've never seen an apples to apples ballistic gel test. But, my guess would be that the bullet with higher momentum, will penetrate farther, and do more damage. I don't know if this is true, but it seems logical. When purchasing bullets, I would recommend choosing a 180-200 gr bullet, with decent muzzle energy, as opposed to a 135 gr bullet with higher muzzle energy. I also wouldn't recommend buying the heaviest bullets. Distance is a factor. A heavier bullet will drop more with distance. I'd also compare the momentum of a heavy bullet, against the momentum of a 180-200 gr handgun bullet. The heavier bullet is likely to have less momentum. All that said, without apples to apples ballistic gel test comparisons, we can't really know which factor is more important, muzzle energy or muzzle momentum.

What .380 auto guns do you recommend? Easy to rack, least recoil. I am asking for older female - recoil sensitive, arthritic hands. Also what .380 self defense rounds do you recommend? Thats why I asked before if .22 magnum in kel-tec pmr30 would be good for self defense.

I have a question. Is annealing brass a plus and is it hard on dies. I was told chrome casings were hard on dies.

very good info

Thanks for the video

I'm still searching for that gun that's quiet as mouse, can knock down a tree, and has no recoil.... that exists right?

Engineering view: What you are describing as tissue destruction is the effects of a supersonic shock wave inside the body cavity. The effect seems most dramatic in the lung cavity. This does take energy, but a fairly small bullet has plenty of energy to remain supersonic after penetrating into the body, which is why a 75 grain bullet strong enough to penetrate does just about as well as a 200 grain one. A smaller bullet may not have the speed required after breaking through bone, or may not hold together well enough if lightly constructed. I had a heart shot once from close range that blew up the heart and the bullet to such an extent that the bullet did not exit. The deer ran off and there was not a drop of a blood trail so I thought, incredulously, that I might have missed. He dropped behind a blackberry patch, just out of sight from the stand, so was easily recovered, but there were a few doubtful moments.

You’re comparing energy values at differing distances. Some are 300, 400, and 500 yards. Energy dissipates over distance. Let’s compare apples to apples and look at the different bullets. That said, so glad you pointed out the real issue when selecting a hunting round, lethality (tissue damage).

19:00 gets to the needy greedy

Energy is defined as "the ability to do work". Higher energy means the bullet has the potential to do more "work", but it's only one aspect of what kills. The work that bullets do is tissue destruction, so a bullet with more energy, it has more potential to damage tissue. However, if you gave a needle 1,000ft/lbs of energy, it will obviously damage less tissue than a baseball with 50 ft/lbs. Bullet design, and therefore how that energy gets TRANSFERRED is obviously the most important factor.

Great data cleared up a lot many thanks.

Whats better a bullet that dumps all its energy and doesnt exit or one that goes right thru ?

This is a very good instructional video. I'm just starting to get interested in fire arms [at 69 yrs old] . Do you have a video about bullet shapes [ hollow point, FMJ, ] in relation to; the game your hunting, distance, velocity, caliber and so on. Thank you again for such great videos.

I weigh 200 pounds. I'm a 6'2" man. If I were the size of a .22lr bullet? What if ants weighed a pound and were a foot long? Fun subject to contemplate, but nothing to do with shooting.

You may not be a mathematician or a physicist, but you are a professor of Common Sense.

Hello Sir! Thanks for this very detailed, informative and easy to understand Vid! God bless you, your family for and friends and Benny, of course!

A formula 1 car doing 300km/hr into a wall has a lot of kinetic energy. But it’s the change in momentum in a given time which matters. So it’s the rate the bullet can dump the energy which matters

I have always wondered these things about energy didn’t always make sense but you put some light into it. I hunt mostly with a bow and with 40 lb kinetic energy my arrow can blow through deer and 1 1/2 hole clean through. Different projectile but it does put thought into the energy and projectile types.

Great videos. .243 What is the maximum range for Fallow for example and why? don't understand why they coudn't (theoretically )be taken at a mile but people say only 250 yds. I'm just shoot at 100 yds Just trying to understand. Thanks for all the info. Do occasional reloading. Down to earth stuff.

It's the mass and velocity ⬜ but you forgot something. You multiply that into this number.... 450,240. If we was playing horseshoes I guess it's close enough.

It would seem that, other than a 'lung shot', the ideal is to have the bullet expand rather quickly, after penetrating just 20 cm (4"), or so, producing the largest amount of energy transfer, into the largest amount of tissue, in the middle of the targeted area? Of course, the 'middle' is at different distance in different animals(even different parts of the anatomy), so that penetration and expansion profiles would be different for game with large size differences? As Mr. GB seems to be saying, it's not the energy, per se, but how the energy is dissipated, that equates to 'killing power'. Oh, and, shot placement ;-)

Where’s the bullet get it’s velocity from?

I wonder if there’s a formula that incorporates sectional density and could give a better apple to Apple’s comparison.

Is .22 magnum from kel tec pmr 30 a good self defense round?