Wound Ballistics

[Robert Prudhomme]

I have just finished reading a fascinating article written in the 1980's by a Martin L. Fackler, a colonel in the Medical Corps of the US Army and director of the Wound Ballistics Laboratory at the Letterman Army Institute of Research, Presidio of San Francisco, CA.

http://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Fackler_Articles/wounding_patterns_military_rifles.pdf

In this article, Fackler discusses several modern calibres, including the 5.56x45mm cartridge for the M-16, the 7.62x39mm and 5.45x39mm cartridges for the Soviet AK-47 and A-74, the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge and the Soviet/Chinese 7.62x54R (rimmed) cartridge. The bullets from each of these rifles is carefully studied for its performance in soft tissue.

This is a carefully prepared and well written article that should dispel many of the currently held myths about bullets in wounds. There is also, near the end, an overview that discusses more primitive FMJ bullets; in particular, the 30-40 Krag and the 6.5x52mm Carcano.

[Robert Prudhomme]

Needless to say, the information about the 6.5mm Carcano bullet in this article also goes a longs ways toward dispelling the myth of the Single Bullet Theory.

[David Von Pein]

Interesting. That's the same Martin Fackler who "testified" at the 1992 ABA mock trial. The same Fackler who did a test that produced this Carcano bullet (which was fired at a reduced velocity through a human wrist):

Edited April 30, 2016 by David Von Pein

[Robert Prudhomme]

Could be, Dave. He has some other interesting comments about the 6.5mm Carcano near the end of this article.