I'm still a Cor-bon guy. I seem to find test results all over the place and the problem I find is there is too much art and omitted variables in them but it's the best we got. Gelatin may be close but is not the same as what it claims to mimic, a body. Guntest rates Cor-bons #1 in Gelatin tests (40S&W and I think 9mm), others do not. Then you have the problem of a heavy coat plugging some brands hollow points so they don't expand. Centermass is full of ribs and Gelatin does not duplicate that and even if it could how many angles of rib deflection would you have to try to find out much of anything. Then you want full expansion in the area of vital organs, not to soon, not too late so is your intruder a very heavy guy or skinny as a rail? One brand may work better on one and another on the next perp. If it hits a rib, and centermass it likely will which bullets tend to expand and which do not, if it does not expand but tumbles how does that cavity compare. How about a sideways shot where it passes the front ribs, expands for six inches and hits the side ribs, one may want quicker expansion on that shot, heck I don’t know, what I do know is many if not most centermass shots will hit ribs and though I see gelatin as at least a decent clue to stopping power I don’t see it as definitive.
Hey, And sniper350, I'm not giving you crap, as I say it's the best we got to work with and I do use the info also. About all I have concluded from the various tests is I want results with a wad in the hollowpoint so I know it will expand if going through a coat or sweatshirt and I want one that is somewhere in the top of the Gelatin tests. Beyond that there is just too many real world differences in each circumstance to say there is one magic bullet for every common variable.
The +p+'s that I am going to try mimic the ballistics of medium 357 mag load. That seems like a good step up from most 9mm defensive loads if second shot placement is about as quick.
My only real point here is there are some real dogs out there, if it does not expand well at all in gelatin forget it, get something somewhere around the tops in tests, read more than one test and make sure you choice is way up there in most of them but don't endlessly look for the number one magic bullet because there aint one. Some people seem to think if they endlessly search for the magic bullet it will be so far above the rest it's like a BB vs a Nuke. I think most would be better served finding one that is in the top group of most tests, then quit your search for a year and go work on your shot placement and double taps.
With total respect to sniper350 (And heck yea, I am heading to your link)
Rockets Out....