I’ve been wondering about over penetration on CC handgun ammunition. Last year I was shopping for suitable .380 ammo for my wife’s carry gun and ended up deciding on Lehigh 90gr. extreme penetrator ammo. In gel tests it stayed within the 12”-18” and had a permanent wound channel of about an inch, the entire way through.

That’s better performance than my 9mm 147gr. Federal HST’s. And it’s out of a .380.

While I don’t really doubt the HST I’ve been looking more and more at the 9mm versions of what’s in my wife’s gun. Catch is, being solid copper, those Lehigh rounds have pretty ridiculous over penetration issues. The 115gr. Extreme penetrator has a penetration base in excess of 30”... but the permanent wound cavity is over an inch the entire length of that. A lighter version of the round with larger flutes comes in at 80gr. with a penetration base of 16” and a whopping 2” permanent wound channel. That’s... crazy.

My concerns are that the 80gr. would have a POI difference than my usual training ammo, and the 115gr. just never wants to stop.

Now I’ve heard it said that every bullet you shoot has a lawyer attached to it, but in the real word, what really are the odds of getting attacked with lots of other people around? In my head the scenarios tend to play out alone, at night, with a very very low likelihood of a round that may over penetrate actually causing harm.

On the other hand, there’s mass shooting events to consider. Definitely more people involved there. However, those people are likely all fleeing the attacker, again making me wonder if over penetration would still even be an issue.

What are your thoughts on all this?