"Pistol Penetration " Topic

"Penetration (or, rather, overpenetration) is an important topic for small arms as well as artillery. In this document, several different pistol rounds are compared in their ability to punch through 11 dry pine boards from a distance of 25 meters…."

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Amicalement
Armand

Interesting that test subject 5 is "crap" but actually performs quite well.

Interesting that test subject 5 is "crap" but actually performs quite well.

Presumably you are speaking (typing) with tongue-in-cheek (index-finger-in-?). But for those who can't so easily decypher these things…

The Cyrillic letters "CTAP" would translate to Roman alphabet letters "STAR".

Presumably this is reference to the Spanish arms producer Star, which made semi-auto pistols in 7.63mm Mauser caliber in the inter-war period.

The 7.63mm Mauser round was selected as the basis for a new Soviet 7.62mm pistol caliber to replace the 7.62mm Nagant round, and became the caliber of both the Tokarev TT pistols and the various PPD, PPSh and PPS sub-machine guns. While often underestimated in US popular press (that portion which writes about wartime stuff), it was quite an impressive performer … for a WW2 pistol round.

As points of comparison (on penetration), it appears to my poor Russian reading skills, that line 6 might be a 9mm Para (says Borchardt-Luger on the line, but does not name caliber), and line 7 might be a .45ACP (says Colt M-1 on the line … don't know what a Colt M-1 pistol would be, maybe means M1911A1?).

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

Can you tell me which model Star made in 7.63mm?. I find 7.65 (.32 ACP) and 9mm Largo.

Presumably you are speaking (typing) with tongue-in-cheek (index-finger-in-?).

You have me banged to rights.

Might be a Star Model A which was chambered for 7.63 Mauser round or Model MMS chambered for the same.

So, having now followed the link our friend Armand provided, rather than just exercising my own limited Russian language skills, I find that this is the list:

The guns in the list are:

"Mod. 1930" (likely TT-30)
Voyevodin's design
Browning (likely Hi-Power)
Lakhti-35
Star 7.63 mm
Borchardt-Luger
Colt M1
Mauser 7.65 mm
Sauer

Interesting. I had figured out the transliterations of most of those (Lakhti-35 … but I don't know that gun, and Mauser 7.65mm, which I presume was an HsC). I had not managed to decipher the "Browning", though I did try. It does match passably closely to the Luger, so I believe it is a 9mm as well.

Then this commentary is also offered:

The note on the bottom says that the Star pistol was using 7.62 mm model 1930 cartridges, more commonly known as 7.62 Tokarev. As you can see, that particular pistol was the most impressive, penetrating 8 boards with 10/10 shots, and the only gun to make a hole in the 10th and 11th board. The TT-30 doesn't do as well, only conquering 6 boards, but that's still better than the .45 bullet of the 1911 (3 boards) and 9 mm Luger (4 boards).

This particular test reflects only one aspect of performance -- penetrating power. And even there, dry pine boards are not exactly the most appropriate test medium, although if you are shooting through light cover I guess it's a reasonably test.

Or if you are shooting at a helmet (or something inside a helmet).

YouTube link
Russian helmet
YouTube link
German helmet

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

Actually the penetration data also lets you know which pistol is more likely to produce more serious wounds – and it is not those with the higher penetration.

Lakhti-35 … but I don't know that gun

Looks like somebody made a typing error somewhere, since the original Russian tesxt clearly reads as "Lahti-35". This probably stands for the Lahti L-35 semi-automatic pistol from Finland (9 mm calibre).

Where is Barin???… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Mark's Russian is as good as mine ;)
The translation from the original site is correct.
I wonder when this test was performed..

at 25 meters, I'd wager than any of them could penetrate a GI shirt.

Many thanks my good friend Barin1 !!… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand