Smith & Wesson .500 Magnum

The goal of shooting someone boils down to one of two things- you either want to kill someone or you want them to stop what they are doing. Preferably before they can do it any more. Handguns are great at killing people; they are in fact the most common firearm used in murders in the United States. Nope, it’s not them thar evil assault rifles, it’s handguns. But stopping people? That’s a lot more complicated. It’s quite possible to kill someone without stopping them fast enough to do you any good.

First let’s define what it means to ‘stop’ someone. It means they immediately cease doing whatever it was that made you feel the need to shoot them. This can mean they surrender, run, faint dead away or even die more or less instantly. It can also mean that no matter how much they want to they are physically incapable of continuing. Basically there are two kinds of ‘stops-‘ the Psychological Stop and the Physiological Stop.

Technically if you point your gun at someone and they immediately surrender you have achieved a ‘Psychological Stop.’ For the purposes of this article, since it’s about stopping power, we’re going to assume a shot or shots were fired. So what produces a ‘Psychological Stop?’ Well, people don’t like being shot. They have been taught all of their lives that this is a very bad thing. So when they get shot Fight/Flight/Freeze reflex kicks in. In most cases Flight or Freeze wins, and either one of these constitutes a stop. The body also responds to trauma on an automatic level. Pretty often the brain responds to a gunshot injury by saying, ‘Right, we’re done.’ People that receive even minor gunshot injuries often find themselves sitting down with no idea how they got there. Odds are if you ever have to shoot someone they will either run like hell or be rendered ineffective by psychological shock.

The problem is Psychological Stops are unreliable. If the Fight reflex kicks in and you haven’t damaged something important you’re in real trouble- you shoot your assailant and he goes berserk. Statistically this result is a minority, but it happens. Other things can prevent a Psychological Stop as well- certain drugs like PCP, methamphetamine and alcohol can prevent it. Training and mental preparation on the part of your assailant can also play a significant role in preventing a Psychological Stop.

In short a Psychological Stop is likely, but not certain. With your life on the line you can hope for one but you have to train and focus on achieving a Physiological Stop. Which is unfortunate, because handguns suck at producing them. So how does one produce a Physiological Stop? Simply put by breaking something so important that their body cannot function without it. To accomplish this a bullet has to penetrate deeply enough to hit a vital structure, and has to be aimed well enough to actually do so. Vital Structures include the heart, the major veins, the brain and the spine. Of these only the brain and cervical spine are absolutely certain to produce an instant stop. People can and have been shot through the heart and continued to fight effectively for a surprisingly long time.

Handgun bullets are not, in the grand scheme of things, particularly powerful. As a rule they do not produce enough of a shockwave in bodily tissue to create permanent damage; a persons innards are amazingly elastic and surprisingly tough. High-powered rifle bullets can damage things inside the body that they don’t touch, but generally they are moving in excess of 2000 fps. This seems to be the threshold for what is inaccurately called Hydrostatic Shock. Properly speaking it is Hydrostatic Disruption- the bullet produces a shockwave in tissue severe enough to tear tissue that the bullet does not touch. Conventional handgun rounds don’t do this.This means that the only parts of the body that a handgun bullet will damage are the parts it actually touches. A larger diameter bullet will interact with more tissue, which up to a point increases their effectiveness. It doesn’t seem to matter whether the bullet starts out large or gets that way via expansion- the important point is that it damages more tissue.

But it’s not enough to damage more tissue; to insure a Physiological Stop the bullet has to hit the right tissue. Assuming the bullet has enough penetration to reach vital structures this is a function of the shooter.  Yep, that’s right- you are more important than the caliber or bullet type. If you don’t put the bullets where they need to go your assailant will not be forced to stop. No matter what gun, caliber or bullet type you are using you have to make sure it hits the right things. The easiest way to do this, as established by long experience, is to put multiple bullets in the middle of the attacker’s body. More bullets equals more gross damage and more chance of hitting a vital structure. The heart, the aorta and spine are all in the middle of the body. Any bullet you put through one of those structures will be better than any other bullet that doesn’t hit them. In that sense is doesn’t matter if it’s from a .25 ACP or a .44 magnum. Still, all things being equal more damage is better.

OK, but if a hit to the brain is the best way to insure a stop why not aim for that? Simple- it’s easier to hit the center of the body than the much smaller, more mobile head. Especially when under stress and acting as fast as humanly possible. More room for error with a center-mass aim point, and it moves around less.

If you have to use a handgun to defend your life or the lives of innocents your best bet is to use a service-caliber handgun and select good quality modern ammunition. Then you need to insure that it functions properly in your gun of choice, and train enough to reliably hit vital structures with those bullets. With proper ammunition selection which service-caliber you use is largely irrelevant; they all penetrate deeply enough and do enough damage to reliably produce a Physiological Stop with a well-placed bullet. This isn’t to say that smaller calibers are useless; far from it. With careful bullet selection any readily available handgun can produce an instant stop, but the smaller and less powerful a round is the less likely it is to be able to do so reliably.

The good news is that modern ammunition has come a long way, and there are a number of bullet designs in a variety of calibers that penetrate deeply enough and damage enough tissue to produce a Physiological Stop. The bad news is that whether or not they work is on you.

S&W Bodyguard .380 with integral laser.

Yes, there are still macho, mouth-breathing dinosaurs that insist that anything less than a .45 is a waste of time. But frankly the evidence is not on their side; in real-life shootings all service calibers (.38 Special, 9x19mm, .357 Sig, .40 S&W &.45 ACP) perform similarly when modern hollow-point ammunition is used- at least in service-sized weapons. Most people consider these the minimum calibers that should be considered for concealed carry. The snub-nosed .38 Special remains a favorite, and recently there have been a spate of sub-compact 9x19mm pistols but it is possible to get a reasonably concealable gun in any of these calibers. So are the smaller calibers- .22LR and magnum, .25ACP, .32 ACP and .380- still necessary and relevant?

All other things being equal it can be reasonably argued that they are not.  The smaller 9mm guns are pretty easy to carry and conceal, and many of them are no bigger than some of the .380 and .32 offerings. The problem is all other things are seldom equal. If you go to the beach even these diminutive guns might be a bit much, but a North American Arms Pug .22 Magnum can ride in a swim-suit pocket pretty unnoticeably. Likewise a Baby Browning .25. But are these tiny calibers ‘enough?’

From the perspective that ‘any gun is better than none’ they arguably have a place in your system of carry, inadequate as they are. But just how inadequate are they really? To answer that question we have to delve into the nature of armed self-defense.

Generally speaking civilian defensive shootings are fundamentally different from ‘on-duty’ shootings. Generally only 2-3 shots are fired. Generally these shots are fired at a full-frontal target at point-blank range. Police and military engage a much wider variety of targets, and these are not necessarily full frontal. Police shootings often involve an exchange of gunfire, and on occasion turn into protracted battles. They need the capability to penetrate light barriers, and to have their bullets reach vital structures even if a limb or light cover is in the way. A service-caliber, high-capacity gun suits their needs best. For most civilians self-defense needs people can, and usually do, get by with a lot less gun.

FN .25 Auto from around the turn of the 20th century.

Most civilian uses of firearms for self-defense probably don’t involve firing at all. Merely competently displaying a firearm seems to be sufficient in many cases. It’s difficult to quantify this, because such incidents seem to be badly under-reported, but there is strong anecdotal evidence that this is the case, and for this nearly any weapon that is readily recognizable as a gun is likely to be effective.

But let’s suppose that you do need to fire- what is the goal? Simply put it is to stop your attacker from doing whatever it is that made you feel it was necessary to shoot them. This doesn’t mean dropping them dead in their tracks. People don’t like being shot. In most cases when someone is shot their instinct is to run away, take cover or surrender. Because if they don’t you might shoot them again, and if getting shot once is bad…

From this perspective it really doesn’t matter what you shoot them with. But suppose you are that one-in-a-million case where the perpetrator’s desire to get you overrides their instinct to flee. Will the small-calibers do the job? Yes- and no.

Handguns on the whole, even service caliber guns, are unreliable at stopping a truly determined attacker. It has been determined that the only way to reliably stop someone with any handgun is to hit something important- the central nervous system, the heart or major arteries being the most effective. Multiple hits work better than single ones. To hit these structures you need to penetrate deeply enough into the body to reach them. You need to shoot accurately enough to hit them, and the bigger the hole you put in those structures the better off you are. But the most important thing is to hit them; a good solid hit with a .22 is more likely to do the job than a bad hit with a .45.

Berretta Jetfire .25 Auto. Many consider it the best gun of it’s type.

The standard set by the FBI for penetration is 12-18 inches in calibrated ballistic gel after penetrating four layers of denim. This does not represent similar penetration in a human body- for one thing human bodies contain bone and organs of varying density. It has simply been found that bullets that will do this generally penetrate deeply enough in a human body regardless of the angle the body is at relative to the gun or if a limb gets in the way. But as previously mentioned most civilian self-defense shootings are full-frontal, requiring less penetration to achieve the desired effect.

All of the small calibers offer ammunition that will achieve 9-10 inches of penetration in these tests, even when launched from the smallest commercially available handguns. This ought to be sufficient for the vast majority of civilian shootings. Would it be better to use a service caliber gun? Of course- but if that is not an option you don’t need to feel pathetically under-armed with a smaller-caliber gun. These weapons can and have worked in the past, and they will continue to do so. But they will also continue to fail…

The single most common reason for failing to stop an attacker with a handgun of any caliber is simply not putting a bullet through something important enough to force them to stop. No matter what gun or caliber you employ you need to be able to shoot it quickly and accurately, which brings us to the real failing of truly small guns- they are hard to shoot well. They don’t fit well in most people’s hands and usually have minimal sights that are difficult to acquire quickly. They are also the guns that people are least likely to practice with. “It’s just a back-up…” In reality it is even more important to be proficient with these guns since you are already somewhat handicapped by their relative lack of power and penetration.

One piece of advice I see frequently is that if you are going to use a small caliber you should use full-metal case ammunition. This is under the assumption that you need to duplicate the penetration of a service-caliber weapon, which is unlikely to be the case. The problem with this is that small caliber full-metal case round-nose ammunition, most notably .25 ACP and .32 ACP, have an annoying tendency to deflect off bones. Skulls and even ribs have foiled these rounds on numerous occasions. The edges of hollow-points can dig into bone, which can allow them to penetrate instead of being deflected. If you do your research you can find hollow-points in these calibers that offer surprisingly good penetration- even in .25 ACP.

A case can be made for .22LR in a very small gun, if for no other reason than that it is quite a bit less expensive to shoot so it is cheaper and easier to practice with. The downside is that rimfire ammunition is a bit less reliable than centerfire, and the rimmed cartridge was never designed to function in autoloaders; it can be less reliable than other choices. This isn’t a consideration in a revolver, of course, and there are a number of small revolvers in this chambering that hold as many as nine rounds- of course these are as large as .38 Special revolvers that hold five rounds, at which point you might well be better off with fewer rounds of a larger, more effective caliber.

S&W Double-Action .32.  Anemic, but better than a .22 LR out of this short of a barrel.

.25 ACP is often laughed off, but again modern ammunition makes a difference. There is at least one hollow point out there that expands reliably and penetrates an average of 10 inches in standard testing from a two-inch barrel. The downside is it’s expensive and increasingly difficult to find. .32 ACP is a better choice; cheaper, more readily available and more options for bullet designs and manufacturers. It also makes a bigger hole, which doesn’t hurt. .380 is the largest of the small calibers, and if you don’t need absolutely the tiniest possible gun it’s the best choice. There are even a couple of loads that actually meet FBI test standards. There are some very small guns chambered in this round, but if you are at all recoil sensitive you might be better off considering a .32; the recoil of some small .380s can be quite snappy.

Do your research and find a hollow point that works, or play it safe with FMJ loads if you want- but I would not recommend frangible ammunition like Glaser safety Slugs in these small calibers. Real-life shooting data for service-caliber Glasers seems to indicate that in most circumstances they will be as effective as modern hollow-point ammunition for civilian uses. But the smaller, less powerful sub calibers seem likely to be markedly less effective than conventional bullets, and there is just not enough real-world data available to refute that impression. Until there is I would avoid them.

Speaking of avoiding things I would avoid derringers as well. They only offer two shots, are awkward to use and generally as large and heavy as compact semi-autos that hold more rounds and are easier to fire. The do offer the option of two shots of a potent caliber, but their size and relatively poor handling characteristics offset this in my mind. The other problem with them is that basically they come in two flavors- cheap and unreliable or expensive. For a reliable, well-made modern derringer prices start at about $500. Really? For a two-shot, overweight dinosaur? If you insist on a pocket single-action a North American Arms micro-revolver is a better choice. They’re still kind of awkward, but at least they are tiny and you get five shots.

One of several variations of north American Arms fine mini-revolvers, this one in .22 Magnum

The keys here may seem familiar… fire your gun enough to be certain you can put rounds where you want them quickly. Do your research to find an effective load and make sure it functions in your gun. Aim for vital structures in the central nervous system or circulatory system. In a lethal encounter any commonly available, reliable gun can be enough. Whether or not it is depends more on you than it does the gun or caliber.

Addenda– Just after writing this I did a little more research on .32 ACP.

How about a load that exits a 2.7 inch barrel at over 1000fps, creates the kind of permanent wound track you expect from a good hollowpoint and achieves 13.5″ of penetration in standard FBI testing? Sounds incredible, but the Lehigh Extreme Cavitator .32 does all of this. Not just according to the company that makes them, but in independent tests as well. This is a standard-pressure load, too, so you don’t need to fear shooting it in older guns. Color me impressed!

That bullet profile ought to feed pretty well too. Not saying this is the ultimate .32 ACP, but it’s easily the best that I’ve seen. Price is competitive with other high-quality defensive ammo, too.

For those not familiar with them the Helwan is a license-built Berretta M1951 Brigadier manufactured in Egypt by Maadi, where it served as the standard side-arm of their military and police for a number of years. A number of middle-eastern militaries, including Israel, adopted the Beretta M1951 and most Italian police forces also used it at one time or another. It had a reputation for uncanny reliability in desert conditions. It is the predecessor of the Model 92, also called the Brigadier.

Known in Egypt as the Helwan, it was imported to the US as the Helwan Brigadier- presumably so that Americans would associate it with the Beretta. The quality of these imports has been variable; the gun that I had a couple decades ago was pretty crude, with a very heavy trigger pull. I described the finish as ‘looking like it had been applied with a rake.’ It worked, but was unattractive and unpleasant to shoot owing to the poor trigger. I didn’t keep it. But I knew there were good ones out there, so I always half-heartedly kept an eye out for one. A couple of years ago my wife was running a 9mm, and suggested that I should have one too so we’d be shooting the same caliber. At this point in my life I am more interested in ‘interesting’ guns than buying for pure efficiency, so I thought of a Helwan, or perhaps a CZ52 re-barreled in 9mm.

Saturday we had just picked up Linda’s anniversary present– I finally got her a diamond– and stopped by Pinto’s guns in Renton to make a payment on a revolver we had on layaway for her. They were busy, and while we waited I spotted a Helwan in the case and asked to see it. It was one of the early Interarms imports- one of the good ones. Nice, even finish, mechanically smooth with good trigger, and in nearly pristine condition. It came with the original box and a spare magazine. The price was quite reasonable, but we really couldn’t afford it…

So when we finally got helped to my surprise Linda converted her credit on the lay-away revolver and applied it to the Helwan! I protested, but she said I had plenty of guns she could shoot, and I’d already put together a lovely revolver for her. Besides, she still hadn’t gotten me an anniversary present. Gotta love that woman. We picked up some ammo and took the Helwan home.

Yesterday was Range-day, and I was meeting Buck13 (from an internet forum) at the Issaquah Sportsman’s Club for a range day, and naturally I took the Helwan. I had examined it when I got home, and it was as nice inside and out. Hollow points cycled easily from the magazines, so I had high hopes. The gun functioned flawlessly, was accurate and a pleasure to shoot. I love a good work-horse gun, and this one ticks all the boxes.Best anniversary present ever!

So, about the Helwan. As mentioned it is a steel-frame, single-action semi auto that uses an 8-round single-stack magazine. The first run of Berettas had alloy frames, but these were found to be too frail, and from the second run onwards they had steel frames. It uses the same locking-block system as the German P-38 and the later Model 92 and its variants. It also shares the P-38’s open-top slide, which may be one of the things that accounts for its legendary reliability.

The controls are unusual; the safety is a cross-bolt type that blocks the hammer. The slide can be operated with the safety on, which is a plus. Typically I’ll cock the hammer, apply the safety and then operate the slide to load the weapon. Works a treat, and is a nice safety feature.

About that safety- it seems like it would be awkward to operate. You need to push it from left to right to fire the gun, and it’s location is not ideal- or so it seems. But when I assume a firing grip it is very easy to exert a little pressure on the side of my right thumb, and the safety pops off. Very easy and intuitive; this gun could be carried ‘cocked and locked.’ This safety would be a deal-breaker for someone who is left-handed, but I’m not. I actually like it.

Then there is the magazine release. It’s a pretty standard button-type release, but it’s located on the lower rear of the left-side of the grip. This is not as convenient as the more conventional location at the back of the trigger-guard, but it works well enough. With a little training it’s easy to hold the spare magazine in the left hand, trigger the release with the left thumb, drop the magazine (which falls free) and insert another. Not quite as convenient as a 1911-style release, but better than a heel-release. It has the arguable advantage that you do not shift your firing grip at all to change magazines. It is possible to shift you grip to actuate the release one-handed, so one-handed mag changes are really no more awkward than with any other pistol.

The slide release is conventional and in the expected location. Anyone familiar with the Walther P-38 or Beretta 92 will find it quite familiar in appearance too. What else can I say? It works and it’s easy to operate.

Other notes- the sights, while not as nice as modern combat sights, are quite good for a service pistol from this era. The grips are ribbed plastic and provide a pretty secure hold.  The gun is robustly built, and has a proven track record in military service. The trigger is service grade-  mine breaks at about six pounds, but it is crisp and breaks cleanly. Even though it’s rather heavy neither I nor my wife had any issues with it; Linda described it as ‘nice,’ and I agree. Accuracy is good and the gun is reliable and pleasant to shoot. It’s about 1911-sized, a bit lighter and has a shorter grip. Being a single-stack the gun is pretty flat and would work well for concealed-carry in an IWB holster.

The cons are that it makes no accommodation for left-handed shooting or shooters, it is (by modern standards) large and heavy for a single-stack 9mm and the unconventional controls make for a different manual of arms than modern automatics. Many people choose to overcome both this and its lack of handiness for left-handed shooting by carrying it with he hammer down (there is a safety position for this,) but this will not suit every user. Another disadvantage is that not all of these guns handle hollow points as well as this one does; they were designed for ball ammunition and that is their preference. For a range-toy this is not an issue, but for self-defense use it’s a deal-killer. Hornady does offer their Critical Defense/Critical Duty ammunition that seems quite effective and has a ball-like profile, but you would really need to insure it works before trusting it.

Typically these guns run around $200-$300 retail, but finish quality can vary. I’ve seen a number of these guns, and some (like my earlier gun) are pretty crude. On the other hand I haven’t seen one that didn’t work, at least with ball ammunition. If you are on a limited budget, want a recreational 9mm or are a die-hard Beretta fan you could do a lot worse than giving the Helwan a good look.