Life and Death > Weaponry

9mm question(s)

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Angie:
A few questions...

I've been poking around trying to get a sound file for a 9mm gunshot (not a gun person, don't think I've ever actually heard one fired).  Basically I'm wondering about how, in general terms it would sound.  Nothing fancy like a silencer, just a straight up gunshot sound heard from a short distance away - no more than a few feet from the shooter.  Also, how much damage would a 9mm round be capable of doing (I've got a gut-shot scenario working)?  Thanks for any help with this!

Angie J-S

JIM DOHERTY:
Angie,

Basically, it's more like a sharp pop or snap than a loud bang.

How much damage would one do?  That all depends.  Presuming that the target is a normally healthy adult, a round-nosed bullet may pass right through the target without doing much damage.

A hollow-point, on the other hand, will, if it works right, start to expand on entry and could cause a good deal of internal damage and blunt trauma by the time it comes to rest.  And, if it's a hollowpoint, it's much more likely to come to rest than to exit.

A frangible load, like the Glaser Safety Slug (do they make those anymore?), consists of a lot of small shot suspended in ballistic jelly, enclosed by a thin shell.  The shell comes apart on entry and the shot is released inside the target.  There is never an exit wound and the damage caused by the shot is usually hellacious.  Frangible loads never ricochet, either, which increases the safety factor in a firefight.

On the other hand, if it's winter, and the target is wearing a lot of heavy layers of clothing, hollowpoints have been known to cut a small piece of cloth through every layer on their way to the target, such that, by the time the slug finally reaches body, the hollow tip has been filled with fabric, causing it to act in much the same way that a round-nosed slug acts when it enters the target.  It doesn't expand the way it should, and consequently won't cause us much damage.

I've heard (and take this with a grain of salt) that the same multiple layers will cause a frangible slug to break up before it even gets to the body, which means no damage to the target because the round never gets to the target.

Hope that helps.

Chase:
Angie,

All of Jim's remarks are on target (sorry).  As in the case of all sounds, a pistol report depends on the surroundings.  A 9mm Luger is a mid-sized cartridge, but in a closed room with bare walls, it would bark sharply and loudly to unprotected ears.  With each piece of soft furniture or open window you add to the scene, sound would be absorbed, and the report would slide down from M-80 cherry bomb magnitude to a Black Cat firecracker.

They are technically sound waves, but don’t forget the concussion effect on skin surfaces.  This has somewhat to do with Doppler effect, but if the muzzle is pointed in your direction, a middle-to-large bore pistol at close quarters is louder than if pointed away.  There will usually be ringing in your ears, and you can feel the blast on your skin, even if the bullet misses.

If outside away from walls, the sound will lose some of the sting on eardrums and skin.  A firecracker going off is still a good comparison for those unfamiliar with pistol reports, but there will be less reverberation.  Many steps away from the muzzle blast, the sound will diminish to the crack of a dry board slapped with splitting force against a flat surface. 

Especially inside but outside as well, your nose picks up the acerbic tang of burnt nitrates, something like a whiff of lawn fertilizer within a pile of burning autumn leaves.  In a 9mm round, it won’t be the smell of cordite, so you probably will want to avoid that cliché.

As Jim said, the effects of the bullet in soft tissue will depend on its construction.  A 9mm bullet is the same diameter as a .357, but is usually 90 to 110 grains in weight, rather than 158 grains.

If the bullet has a full metal jacket, it will cause less damage.  A half-jacketed bullet may expand more, doing more internal damage.  A soft, all-lead bullet may expand even more, but understand that pistol rounds are basically hole-drillers and do not have the velocity to do the damage of a rifle bullet.

Are you locked into using a 9mm semi-automatic?  If not, a .357 Magnum or larger revolver bullet may do more damage to the gut, if that’s what you want.  Anyway, you as the writer control the path of the bullet, and our medical members can probably supply better gory details for whatever effect you want from a through-and-through shot with a full metal jacket that exits the body without fatal damage to a shot disrupting vital organs to cause immediate-to-lingering death.

Although there may be some repetition, I hope this additional take is as helpful as the one above.

Chase

Lee Lofland:
I'd like to add one other point to Jim's very detailed answer.

The sound that's heard will definitely depend on the situation and who is hearing the shot. I know this "sounds" a bit odd, but it's true. A gun shot sounds much different when it's heard in a controlled situation, like on a firing range than it does when you're on the receiving end of the bullet.

In a non-threatening situation, the shots may sound much louder - more like a small boom. During a gun battle they may only sound like tiny little "pops." To someone who has never been around a gun before, a shot may sound like a cannon.

Prior to the shoot out I was in, gun shots sounded like Jim described, sharp pops. During the actual shoot out they sounded like tiny, muffled hand claps (like when someone's clapping their hands while wearing gloves). Now, even years later, a single gun shot sounds like a freaking nuclear bomb going off.

It's all in the ear of the beholder.

By the way, the same is true for all the senses. Adrenaline stirs and mixes our senses like a kaleidoscope when we are forced into the old "fight or flight" mode.

Also, I can say with experience that it's possible to be shot several times with a 9mm and not see any real damage. In those cases there were tiny entry and exit wounds that were no larger than the bullet itself. I've even seen someone shot in the head without any damage other than two tiny holes. The head shot was actually not more than an annoyance to the suspect. He kept right on shooting back.

Chase is right, a .357 is the way to go if you want damage. They can leave behind quite a bit of destruction.

Janet Koch:

--- Quote from: Lee Lofland on November 29, 2006, 11:58:35 AM ---Prior to the shoot out I was in, gun shots sounded like Jim described, sharp pops. During the actual shoot out they sounded like tiny, muffled hand claps (like when someone's clapping their hands while wearing gloves). Now, even years later, a single gun shot sounds like a freaking nuclear bomb going off.

--- End quote ---

Interesting insight. Thanks, Lee.

Janet

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