Is There Such a Thing as Stopping Power?

“100 grains in the right place are as good as ten million,” wrote WDM “Karamoja” Bell, in Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter (1923). Bell was an outspoken smallbore guy. He is credited with 1,011 elephants, almost all bulls. He didn’t kill them all with his .275 Rigby—also known as the 7x57—although that was his favorite. Prior to World War I he also used the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer, .303 British and .318 Westley Richards.

He remained a smallbore advocate, but in 1913 he ordered a pair of .416 Rigby rifles. He took one of them when he returned to Africa after World War I, along with a .400 Jeffery double. His bullet weights ranged from 160 grains in the 6.5x54 to 410 grains in the .416, and respective energies ranged from about 1,740 ft.-lbs. to 5,100.

In the same paragraph from his book I just referenced, he also wrote, “It seems to me that you cannot hope to kill an elephant weighing six tons by ‘shock’ unless you hit him with a field gun”—as in artillery.

Except for the .416 and .400 Jeffery, all the cartridges Bell used with deadly efficiency are now illegal for the largest African game, and in the 7x57 he shot only non-expanding bullets. Although he used the word “shock,” Bell was correct that no hand-held rifle carries enough energy to stop an elephant.

Disruption of Important Functions

He also knew, as we do today, that disrupting the brain or severing the spine will immobilize any animal. However, if the animal happens to be coming toward you at speed, you’d better get out of the way because you aren’t likely to arrest its forward progress.

While the brain or neck shot will drop any stationary animal immediately, most of us aim for the chest cavity because it’s a larger and more certain shot. Do it right, and whether it’s the heart, the large vessels above the heart, and/or both lungs, the animal will surely die—although it may not be immediate.

Whether we’re talking prairie dogs or pachyderms, what’s important is that the bullet overcomes the resistance of skin and muscle—bone as required—and penetrates to the desired vital organs, doing enough damage to stop their functioning.

Kinetic energy enables a projectile to overcome resistance and thereby penetrate. In the English system we use foot-pounds of energy. A foot-pound is the energy or force required to lift one pound one foot against the force of gravity, and it’s calculated with velocity squared and projectile weight.

Schools of Thought

There are other options. Elmer Keith loved momentum or pounds-feet, essentially the reverse. Ivory hunter John Taylor proposed Knockout Values, theoretically expressing the ability of a non-expanding solid to stun—knock out—an elephant with a frontal brain shot. There wasn’t much science involved in this, but a bullet’s frontal area was factored in—which is not part of the foot-pounds energy formula.

Although kinetic energy is science, fast cartridges have an advantage in producing foot-pounds, and ignoring bullet diameter is problematic because frontal area matters. The larger the bullet diameter, the more energy is required to overcome resistance.

It’s easy to stab yourself with a knitting needle, not as easy with an unsharpened pencil. Perhaps because of this, bullet diameter—frontal area—matters in energy transfer. It’s kind of like being stabbed with the knitting needle versus being hit with a hammer. Either can be lethal, but the hammer hurts you more.

In other words, kinetic energy in foot-pounds isn’t perfect when we talk about stopping power. However, we understand it, and it offers the most common comparative index of cartridge power. Problem is, nobody can say exactly how many foot-pounds s are required.

Minimum Energy

Gun writer, hunter and career Army ordnance officer Col. Townsend Whelen theorized that you wanted 1,000 ft.-lbs. of energy on impact to reliably take down deer-size game. I like this rule of thumb. I have even theorized that, since a bull elk is twice the size of a big buck deer, maybe we should have 2,000 ft.-lbs. of energy for elk.

My long love affair with the 8mm Rem. Mag. was because I could get a 220-grain Sierra GameKing to carry 2,000 ft.-lbs. to 600 yards. I’ve never shot an elk at that distance, but I liked the idea.

I’m not calling horse-pucky on either Whelen or myself. However, a .223 Rem. with 62-grain bullet, proven effective on deer, drops below 1,000 ft.-lbs. at about 100 yards. The 7mm Rem. Mag., considered by many a good open-country elk cartridge, drops below 2,000 ft.-lbs. at about 300 yards.

If our 1,000 ft.-lbs. rule for deer was absolute, then the .44-40, which generates less than 700 ft.-lbs. at the muzzle, could never have killed a deer. It was America’s most popular cartridge in the 1880s, and I suspect it killed a lot of deer.

Experiences

I’ve seen thousands of big game animals of all sizes effectively taken through bullet performance and penetration. Conversely, I’ve seen few instances of animals genuinely stopped, regardless of energy.

One time, professional hunter Mike Payne, hunter Chad Allen and I crossed a dry sand river in the Zambezi Valley—with them and the tracker in front. Across the river there were three tall palm trees. As we approached, a lone buffalo bull rose from the shade, shook his head once, and launched into a full-out charge from 25 yards.

Our unarmed tracker dove out of the way, opening up a shot. Coolly and calmly, Payne said, “Chad, take him. Take him now,” as the buffalo closed on the pair. They were carrying .470 double rifles. Chad shot, Mike shot, then they both shot again, pairs of shots almost simultaneous. The first two turned the bull; the next two stopped him and dropped him.

Weighing maybe 1,500 pounds, that buffalo received 20,000 ft.-lbs. of energy in two seconds. All shots were chest/shoulder. Forward progress was arrested, and the buffalo was down eight yards in front of us. That’s “stopping power,” but it was the equivalent of Walter Bell’s field gun. That much energy cannot be harnessed in a single shot from a shoulder-fired rifle.

Dangerous Game Threshold?

I’ve taken most of my Cape buffaloes with cartridges from .375 H&H to .500 Nitro Express, the latter producing 5,850 ft.-lbs. with a 570-grain bullet. Although I’ve taken most of them effectively, I can’t say I’ve “stopped” any of them.

There is another level, but it comes at a price. The various fast .450s such as the .458 Lott, .450 Rigby Rimless and .460 Wby. Mag. produce energy up to 7,500 ft.-lbs. I’ve used them a bit. On buffalo-size game, they make a difference, but you still must put the bullet in the right place. If you do, effects are dramatic.

One year in Mozambique, I borrowed a hunting partner’s .500 Jeffery, which propels a 535-grain bullet at 2,400 fps, producing 6,800 ft.-lbs. The PH and I stalked a little herd, and when we got to 60 yards he put up sticks, and I took a quartering-to shot. The buffalo dropped as if the earth was jerked from under it.

This is so unusual with buffalo that we assumed I’d hit too high. The bull was certain to get back up, so I shot again. No movement. The first shot was centered on the shoulder, and the second shot was also fine. I worked the bolt, started toward the buffalo, and then I realized my shooting arm was numb from shoulder to wrist. I’m not sure I could have fired again, and I’m glad I didn’t need to.

Dead Right There?

I’ve shot the ultra-large bores up to .700 Nitro Express, and they’re too much gun for me. Plus, since shooting isn’t always perfect, the largest cartridges have so much recoil you can’t count on being able to fire a potentially life-saving follow-up shot in time. I’m with Bell, who relied on shot placement with those small rifles on elephants. I don’t need to stop them if I can kill them effectively with shot placement.

Not all of us are worried about charging buffaloes and elephants, but we all want our game down quickly and recovered with minimal tracking. Some of us worry about this more than others.

In many areas, productive hunting is done on small properties, bordered by other properties where access for recovery can be problematic. Under such conditions, hunters want their bucks “down right there.” One answer is to go for head and neck shots, which some hunters specialize in. I’m mostly a buck hunter, and I don’t like those shots. It’s a small target, and since I’m being selective, there are fewer opportunities and less likelihood of getting the right buck to stand just so.

Other options lie in different shot placement and in transferring more energy. American hunters love the behind-the-shoulder lung shot. It’s the largest target area, it produces little meat damage, and it’s absolutely fatal. The latter assumes both lungs are penetrated, which, on that shot, even marginally adequate cartridges will accomplish.

Case Study for Placement

However, you have to expect a death run of unknown distance. Last year a friend shot a deer on our place with a 7x64 Brenneke, not a small gun for whitetails. He shot a nice buck, and we found lots of blood immediately. The buck crossed my north fence into the neighbor’s pasture—where we had permission to go—and we found him stone dead, but he traveled a good 300 yards. It’s the farthest I’ve seen a deer go with a good lung shot.

African hunters favor the center of the shoulder one-third up from the brisket/belly line. This shot will break the on-shoulder and take out the large vessels on top of the heart, causing a catastrophic crash in blood pressure. It ruins a bit of meat, but African hunters believe it saves tracking. I’m sure they are correct. Depending on cartridge and bullet, often the bullet will go on and break the off-shoulder. Such animals are usually dead on the spot.

Transferring more energy on impact, dealing a heavier initial blow, also makes a difference. When I was new at Guns & Ammo, Art Blatt and I were hunting hogs with Brenneke shotgun slugs. We stalked a bedded pig that came boiling out downhill toward us, and Art shot it frontally at 10 yards. The boar collapsed in mid-stride, stone dead. It’s one of the most amazing displays of stopping power I’ve ever seen.

Art’s slug hit with possibly 2,500 ft.-lbs. While that’s a lot of energy, I don’t think the effect was a matter of raw energy. That big, broad .69 caliber slug hit like a freight train and dumped a lot of energy.

Energy Transfer

Energy transfer is poorly understood and little studied. If a bullet exits, its residual energy has no effect on the animal. I’m okay with through-and-through penetration, and some hunters prefer exit wounds because they leave better blood trails. What we don’t really know is at what rate energy bleeds off during penetration.

I’m not arguing for using bigger hammers. However, larger-diameter bullets transfer more energy on impact and displace more tissue. So do quick-expanding bullets. There’s some risk with this, because expansion creates more resistance, thus reducing penetration.

Bullet design and shape make a difference. All tipped bullets offer rapid initial expansion. On impact, the tip is driven down into the bullet, initiating expansion. Copper-alloy bullets are essentially hollowpoints. Upon impact, material is driven into a nose cavity—as is the tip, if tipped—causing the petals to peel back.

Australian outfitter and gun writer Bob Penfold culled thousands of animals and believed he could see a difference in the initial energy transfer of copper-alloy bullets. However, they don’t expand as much as lead-core bullets, so wound channels are smaller. Also, they frequently exit, so not all energy is expended in the animal.

Bullet Shape

Then there’s bullet shape. Blunt-nose bullets have poor aerodynamics, but they hit hard, and initial expansion is rapid. Although energy yields are modest, I believe part of the .30-30’s deer-slaying legend is based on the roundnose and flat-point bullets long necessary for safe use in tubular magazines. At its lower velocity, the old, mild-kicking .35 Rem. produces about the same energy as the .30-30—less than 2,000 ft.-lbs.—yet its blunt-nose 200-grain bullet of larger diameter is famous for anchoring big woods bucks and black bears.

In no small part, it’s this business of energy transfer that keeps the 150-year-old .45-70 popular. On deer, hogs and black bears, we don’t need the original hard-kicking 405-grain bullets. Modern bullets from 300 to 350 grains are heavy enough, fly faster and kick less. And the .458-inch bullet has a major impact.

Right now, I’m packing for a black bear hunt in Maine. I’m taking a Marlin .45-70 with handloaded 300-grain flat-points. My buddy is taking a .35 Rem. with 200-grain roundnoses. Neither of us thinks of the black bear as dangerous, but there’s nothing fun about digging for a bear in dark woods. I doubt either of us will have to.

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