Street Stoppers: The Latest Handgun Stopping Power Street Results [Paperback]

Evan Marshall (Author), Edwin J. Sanow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1996

This long-awaited sequel to Handgun Stopping Power gives the very latest results of hundreds of actual shootings involving every major handgun caliber, including the hot new .40 S&W. Also covers exotic ammo street results, the controversial Strasbourg Tests on live goats, the Fuller Index for predicting stopping power and much more.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Evan Marshall is a Special Weapons and Tactics trainer for a federal agency with counterterrorist responsibilities. He retired from the Detroit Police Department after 20 years of service. His assignments included Tactical Unit, Crime Scene Investigation, Homicide and the Special Response Team. He has trained groups as diverse as the Federal Air Marshals and the U.S. Army Special Reaction Team. His articles on ammunition, ballistics and tactics have appeared in the law enforcement and firearms press over the past 25 years.

Cpl. Ed Sanow is the senior reserve deputy and a 14-year veteran with the Benton County, Indiana, Sheriff's Department. He is a Team Leader with the Benton County Multiagency Response Team and the field training officer for the reserve force. Sanow is the author of more than 1,000 articles on ammunition and stopping power. In October 2000, he became the editor of Law and Order magazine

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873648722
• ISBN-13: 978-0873648721
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #501,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suprisingly Sober, June 29, 1998

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Street Stoppers: The Latest Handgun Stopping Power Street Results (Paperback)

It's almost impossible to buy a book about handgun cartridge stopping power without wondering if you're one of "those fanatics" portrayed in the media. But don't worry, despite it's title, Street Stoppers: The Latest Handgun Stopping Power Street Results is sober overview and very and well written. Evan Marshall and Edwin Sanow, editors, have followed up their Handgun Stopping Power with a book that will answer all of your questions concerning handgun ammo effectiveness, reliability and safety. And even more importantly, they've done in it ways that will not make you feel like a killer for caring about these issues. The most noticeable of this is right up front. Quoting Elmer Keith's "The only way to keep from getting hurt in a gunfight is don't get caught in a gunfight", contributor to the book Keith Jones addresses the "fanatic" issue in the first chapter. Surviving, as Keith goes on, is mostly dependent upon how quickly you can run away. He explains that a survival mindset is different from a killer mindset. A survival mindset is "nothing more than a powerful will to stay alive." So breath easier. In a situation with as many variables as a gunfight, it helps to determine a few constants. Carrying a reliable firearm of a substantial caliber is one variable that you can lock down, and chambering the most "street stopper" proven cartridge is another. In reponse to criticisms of the last book's data gathering techniques, the editors are excruciatingly specific about how and why the results for Street Stoppers were obtained. And that's not only true for their street data. Also included in the book are several other independent and government tests. The most rigorous of these are the "Strasbourg Goat Tests." As gruesome as it sounds, the methodology and results are impressive. In a strict laboratory setting they shot 611 goats, which have similar mass and chest cavity to humans, and recorded the time! it took them to fall from their feet. Table 1 is a partial listing of the 45 ACP results. Notice that the Magsafe and Glaser rounds, both frangible (made from epoxy and birdshot) are the most effective, halving the Average Time to Incapacitation for the best jacketed hollow point. The actual street results are the heart of the book and largely confirm the results of the Strassborg tests. The authors don't measure "kill ratio," only how effective the most popular defense rounds are at stopping an attacker with one shot. Test data is drawn from legal police and citizen shootings where the assailant was struck with one round in the chest cavity. In every caliber, quick, light hollow points faired the best, confirming the conclusion of the first book to a large degree, but with more accurate and accountable measurement than in the last tests. These aren't theories. They are actual street results. And the authors' conclusions are convincing. The biggest problem with the book is that the authors don't appear to be as convinced of their data as I was. Where they could have taken more care, explanation and space for their tables, the book is cluttered with chapters defending their results with corroborating data from the Navy, Secret Service, and even the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They also repeat their findings several times in chapters on the 10mm, .40 S&W, and several specific brands such as Cor-Bon, MagSafe and Winchester Black Talon. Fortunately these chapters take a slightly different tact on the data and are very well written, so muddling through the confusing tables is worth it. What's the magic caliber and bullet configuration? The big winner in the street results is the .357 Magnum with a stopping rate of 96%. But with it's stiff recoil and limitation mostly to revolvers, few people will choose a firearm chambered for it as their main defense weapon. Below the .357 Federal round, for police duty, are the 9mm Cor-Bon 115 grain jacketed! hollow point +P at 91% one shot stops, the 45 ACP Federal Hydra-Shok at 94%, and the 40S&W Federal Hydra-Shok, though the 40 results are mostly theoretical. For home defense or court duty, all three bullets are equally effective, but it's tough to argue with the Strassborg data results on the MagSafe and Glaser rounds. Either of the frangibles all but eliminate the danger of a bullet overpenetrating an aggressor and striking a bystander , or a missed shot traversing a wall and striking a neighbor. And at half the average time to incapacitation compared to the hollow points, their effectiveness is almost guaranteed. On the big picture, this book is worth a look if only to dispel what you thought you knew about handgun defense ammunition. Front to back, Street Stoppers is very readable, and thanks to short feature stories of specific shooting incidents with each caliber, very enjoyable. If you've ever wondered what makes a difference in surviving violent crime, this book is for you.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The very best book on stopping power available!, March 8, 2005

By 

XCOP (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Street Stoppers: The Latest Handgun Stopping Power Street Results (Paperback)

This book contains the very best data on handgun stopping power in the world. I have read and re-read my well worn copy often, and have always found it to be accurate.

There are various "schools of thought" on how best to determine handgun "stopping power". In my opinion, police data gathered from real-life shootings "on the street" is the only reliable method. Which is precisely the type data Marshall & Sanow gathered and compiled for this book.

Much of the data in this book is substantiated by my own observations from the street, and I can recommend it without reservations of any kind.

Regardless of what a few jealous and/or ignorant detractors may say, you can trust your life to the data in this book.

27 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book w/ very specific ballistics info, June 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Street Stoppers: The Latest Handgun Stopping Power Street Results (Paperback)

You hear a lot of misinformation and myths when discussing wound characteristics, ballistics, and the effectiveness of various calibers & loads. This is true even when talking to "gun nuts" at Gun shops and shows. This book provides you with in depth comparisons across calibers, loads, and even types of guns(at times). Has great chapters on .40 SW and the new .357 SIG calibers. Book includes ballistics research compiled from Goat tests, actual field results, and gelatin testing. The book is geared more for the enthusiast than the "novice" but I am a novice and found it to be great. Weak points of the book include the silly autopsy reports and several overly dramatic briefing on prior shootings.