Anybody experiment with comparing penetration between 7.62x25fmj and .357 mag and .44 mag? If the 7.62 out-penetrates the biggies, seems like it should be a good shoulder-holster weapon in grizzly country when a CNS close-range shot is required.

Hmm- I have an amusing story regarding this. We had a lad from Second Chance arrive in Zim and try and sell our government a bunch of bullet proof vests for our local SWAT team. Charlie Haley was asked to test the vest and several of us from other "interested agencies" went along to be entertained.

Second Chance rep- "this vest will stop .357 armour piercing yada yada"

Charlie- Will it stop a tokarev?

Rep- Of cource it will- it will even stop the hardest .44 mag.

So Charlie hung the vest over a chair in the lab and returned carrying a .44 mag and a standard tok.

First he fired the .44 with a soft point. The vest held it and the chair fell over.

Then he fired the tok. Bullet went through both sides of the vest, the chair in between and buried it'self in the wall. to this day there is a picture of a S&W M59 covering an unseemly hole in the lab wall...

Rep (with tears in his eyes) ...but ...but - I have got to demonstrate that vest in Zambia and malawi and now it has a hole in it....

As most of the scum we were dealing with had either a tok or a makarov- we didn't buy any vests.

NB- the ammo used for the test was russian military stuff with a steel jacket. The chinese and Korean stuff we tried later with a guilding metal jacket was much less penetrative.

its true that the 7.62x25 will out penetrate most anything else, but for a defense round on a grizz I'd want something alot bigger. penetration is one thing, force is another.

quote:

it should be a good shoulder-holster weapon in grizzly country when a CNS close-range shot is required.

Might be ok in a SMG.

Hah! Butchloc is absolutely right. I grew up in Kodiak alaska before I joined the Corps. We've got some biggies up there alright! Anyways the 7.62x25 is phenomenal as far as penetration qualities, no doubt about it. However it punches a fairly small hole and the energy transfer is minimal compared to a 300 grain hard cast lead bullet out of a .44 mag or a heavily loaded .45 Colt. I'd much rather smack it hard and make it think twice than take my chances and try to weave a string through a needle's eye!