Muzzle Knockout Value

[Todd Birch]

African hunter John Taylor (author of "Pondoro" and "African Rifles & Cartridges") was dissatisfied with the paper ballistics of his era which he regarded as placing too much emphasis on velocity in determining muzzle energy.

He devised a formula based on his field experience to better calculate the effect of a cartridge on game:

- bullet diameter x bullet weight x bullet velocity .\. 7000 = muzzle knockout value or stopping power.

Now you can figure out the MKV of your favourite buffalo blaster.

Todd

[gmartin]

Todd,
.54X500X1000 divided by 7000 and I get 38.37. In what now? Long hand, no calculator, may be wrong on decimal. Compared to a specific number I should strive for?
Gregg

[abenson]

In a somewhat related vein, does anyone know where a copy of "African Rifles & Cartridges" might be available from? I tried Safari Press, but they don't list it online.

[Todd Birch]

Gregg

Your numbers are correct. What you have established is the MKV factor for that load in your rifle.
In order for that to be meaningful, you would have to compare it to the MKV of other calibres. Remember that Taylor was a professional African hunter so you need to find ballistics on calibres like the .458 Win, .470 Rigby, .416, .577 Westley-Richards, etc.
It's a moot point to know your MKV if the game is soft skinned animals like deer.

Hey Abenson: look up Abe Books on your search engine. I've had good luck finding a number of rare, out-of-print books through them at affordable prices.
You planning to hunt Africa?

Todd

[Jim Watson]

[quote="Todd Birch"]It's a moot point to know your MKV if the game is soft skinned animals like deer.[/quote]

A-MEN. I get real tired of magazine writers calculating Taylor Knock-Out values for pocket pistols. Taylor applied it ONLY to the effect seen upon shooting an elephant in the head and missing the brain. He said the length of time the elephant would be stunned was in proportion to the KO value of the calibre.

[abenson]

[quote="Todd Birch"]
You planning to hunt Africa?[/quote]

Well yeah, isn't everybody?

That's a ways down the road though. Lots of hunting I want to do in North America first

[Texas Shooter]

Abenson:

If the abe link doesn't work, try this one.

http://www.addall.com/Used/

It includes many data bases for hard to find books. You can usually find just about anything here.

Let me know how this works for you.

Take Care,

Texas Shooter

[Ken Hartlein]

Abenson, I would look at www.abebooks.com, I've found a lot of books I was looking for there.

[abenson]

Thanks guys, both of those sites, abe's and addall have copies available.