Terminal ballistics performance of 9 × 19 mm cartridges in 10% ballistic gelatin: FBI Protocol based analysis of Brazilian-made law enforcement ammunition.

Purpose: Understanding that a projectile entering the human body can cause damage or destruction to live tissues through a variety of wounding mechanisms - permanent cavity, temporary cavity, and fragmentation - is crucial for researching terminal ballistics and understand the patterns of gunshot wound configuration.

Methods: The present work tested four different types of ammunition in caliber 9 × 19 mm (Full Metal Jacketed, Gold Hex, Copper Bullet Tactical and Bonded), using ballistic gelatin at 10% as soft tissue surrogate. The tests were based on the Federal Bureau of Investigation Protocol and included shots through bare gelatin, heavy clothing, plywood, steel sheets and auto glass. As a comparison parameter, the American-made Federal™ HST, used by several law enforcement agencies in the USA, was also tested in the same conditions.

Results: The Full Metal Jacketed cartridge had a uniform performance throughout the experiment, showing high penetration levels and no expansion, as expected. Gold Hex demonstrated a strong tendency to fragment with low levels of penetration and weight retention. Copper Bullet Tactical did not achieve the 12" minimum penetration in the soft barrier phases but expanded aggressively. Finally, Bonded only failed to achieve the 12" mark of penetration in phase 5 (auto glass), the hardest barrier in the whole Protocol. Tested for comparison purposes, Federal HST showed aggressive expansion in the initial phases (over 100%), after surpassing the 12" threshold.

Conclusion: The study concluded that heavier projectiles (CBC Bonded and Federal HST) performed better than lighter and faster bullets in terms of terminal ballistics.