"Thanks for the link, I'll check it out."

"While I would like to use my shotgun as my primary weapon for Z-day, I KNOW I'll have my .357 with me, so I'll discuss it instead.

When I have the time and money I plan to test several loads in my pistol to find two or three kinds of ammo that work well in it. Two will be .38 SPL -- a 158g LSWCHP for regular carry and a very light (think 110 grain) hollow point. The third will be a heavy magnum ball load like Buffalo Bore's 180 grain.

(This idea is based off info from The Brass Fetcher.com. Found a .38 SPL load that only penetrated the gel block to less than 9 inches, contrasted with a heavy Buffalo Bore round that penetrated over 23 inches.)

With these loads I should be able to adapt somewhat to the circumstances. In other words, if I was forced to clear an apartment I'd use the light load for minimal chance of overpenetration. If I had to trek through the wilderness I'd load the heavy heavy magnum rounds to deal with cats and bears.

Now would I feel comfortable firing at a target between me and a buddy just because I had some light hollow point cartridges in my weapon? No. But I would be more likely to take the shot to save a life. "

"Overpenetration and splatter are less important to me then not putting someone/thing down"

"In close quarters I think a .308 IS overkill (CQB being indoors) but it is better than a knife..."

"Im no gun-expert but a .22 hollowpoint round will have nearly 0 chance of overpenetration."

"The FBI has a little to say about this subject, in their study on handgun wounding factors. I'll paraphrase it a bit. The full text is here, page 12...

http://www.firearmstactical.com/pdf/fbi-hwfe.pdf

Any review of police shootings show that more bullets fired MISS than actually hit their targets. The few bullets that actually hit their targets, are not more dangerous to bystanders than the ones that miss entirely.

Also, a bullet that passes entirely through a human body loses a lot of energy. Experiments show that the skin on the exit side of the body is equal to 4 inches of muscle tissue.

No LE officer ever lost his life because his bullet overpenetrated. Though officers have lost their lives because their bullets underpenetrated.

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My take on this? I'd rather err on the side of overpenetration. If I'm remembering my history correctly, the FBI commissioned that study partially because of a shootout where a bullet that didn't penetrate enough allowed a badguy to go on fighting for several minutes after he was shot."

"Yes but what about under penetration."