Customer Reviews

Street Stoppers: The Latest Handgun Stopping Power Street Results

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This book may rate your favorite defensive cartridge as good, fair or even not very good at all. These guys know what they are talking about, they have no fluffy things to say about terminal ballistics, these are the facts of the matter. It also stresses marksmanship, and bullet placement before anything else. Before that, safety. There are no magic bullets, killer bee bullets, cop killing bullets, no liberal lies or non-sense. Presented tactfully, there are true stories of shootings to back up what the authors collected and have brought to the table for discussion.
Must have info for anyone who legally carries a loaded gun for protection.

This book will have you so informed,no one could keep up with your knowledge of hand gun belistics

Great stats and insight on ballistics. Very interesting if you are a gun guy or a reloader.

I bought this book back in the 90's and at that time it was very useful in deciding which caliber and ammo to have. The only thing keeping me from giving this 5-stars is that ammo designs have changed a lot in the decade since this was written.

Evan Marshall and Edwin J. Sanow do a great job of explaining what are the key points of effective cartridges in shootings. Even if you cannot go right out and buy the same cartridges anymore, this book is a book I highly recommend for anyone serious about choosing the right tools to protect themselves and their loved ones. The authors have written subsequent books that I also recommend.

A few of the reviewers are scathing in their remarks. I'd appreciate it if they would suggest alternative titles or sources!

good review of bullet performance. gives information on many bullet types and how they perform in test medium and "street" performance history.

There are few issues in the mechanics of personal defense that generate more controversy than "stopping power". Is it a real concept? Is it important? What are the underlying principles, and how can ammunition be designed better to exploit them? Evan Marshall and Edwin Sanow do not intend to leave you guessing about where they stand on these questions. They review the various theories about stopping power, look at the research methodologies that led to the development of those theories, and then present the various data in detail. They come down strongly in favor of faster, lighter bullets that expand quickly and penetrate only adequately. This flies in the face of work such as the FBI studies that made penetration the figure of merit for ammunition. Marshall and Sanow end up adopting two other figures that are much more results-oriented: average incapacitation time (AIT) and one-shot-stop percentage (OSS).

All well and good. But then the authors get confused, and muddle this proposition with extensive discussion of street incidents that neither refute nor support their observations. They concede that a single well-placed shot from almost any ammunition in almost any firearm will be lethal, and emphasize the irrelevance of that fact: the objective is not to evaluate the ability of ammunition to kill, but to evaluate its ability to end a gunfight within seconds, before the aggressor can do further harm to the intended victim. Nevertheless, they discuss the history and development of various rounds whose designs have little to do with that objective, such as the Winchester T-series with its enhanced wounding potential. If time to incapacitation (measured in seconds) and one-shot-stop percentage are the critical factors, then there is no benefit in enhanced wounding that only becomes evident minutes or hours later. If they find that light and fast bullets have the best AIT and OSS scores, then they should not spend page after page discussing the data on the 147-grain 9mm bullet or the 180-grain .40 S&W. But they do, and in doing so they leave the reader confused as to where their theory logically leads.

These would be more serious flaws if this book had not already been outdated by the authors' newer book, Stopping Power: A Practical Analysis of the Latest Handgun Ammunition. However, to understand where the authors are coming from, it might be best to start with this book and then move on to their latest volume.