I dunno how the original thread got locked since it wasn't self-moderated and no explanation seems to have been given. Oh well. Anyway, I wanted to add some musings about energy and stuff.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5558713.msg65842618#msg65842618It is worth note that a 22lr is one of the more common weapons chosen for assassinations. What I used to use for indoor use against vermin includes 22-short and 22 shot-shells (aka 'cat-shot'). All three are quite effective at short range and would be devastating at point-blank. The important take-away is that very little propellant is necessary to do a fair amount of damage. If instead of a slug, a more carefully chosen purpose oriented projectile (shrapnel) were in play, the devastation to a soft structure (as exists in the anterior of a human neck) could be that much more significant.
Put another way, the amount of powder which would fit in the cap of a Tabasco bottle is probably enough to do whatever it was that appeared to have happened to Kirk's throat.
As for the guy's throat, the first thing I notice on the first view of the event was that Kirk's shirt just happened to shoot up over his neck right where the wound appeared, and only when it fell back to his chest was the wound apparent. Also, the wide-spread assumption, but apparently later falsified, that he was wearing a bulletproof vest as bolstered by visual indications that gear of some nature was under his clothing both front and back.
This is one of the few collections I see with 22 short and 22 shot-shell. I know from experience that a 22 long-rifle fired from a long rifle can go half way through a chunk of firewood. I used to plink around in my room as a kid (back before video games, computers, the internet, etc.) During hunting season, kids would bring their 30-06's to school and keep them in their lockers so they could go hunting right after school, and nobody thought anything about it.
On the display, the 30-30 is the most common round we used for deer. 30-06 was the standard for elk. In later life I got the 300 win-mag for elk due to notably better ballistics at range. I prefer 357mag for home defense though 45 ACP is common. For mountain lions I have a carbine chambered in 5.56mm NATO. 12 ga shotgun is a good multi-purpose thing to have around since it is very flexible. With black bears I normally wish to chase them off without harming them and rubber slugs work great for that.
One more 'war story' that I have no reason to doubt is that my uncle's friends (early 1960's) were playing around with a 22 rifle and one friend shot the other through the neck. The round went right through, and due to very good luck did not hit any important structures which did not manage to deform out of the way. For a while they kept the incident secret from their parents, but eventually did fess up. I mention this to point out that ballistics behavior and resultant injury with firearms can be quite capricious. Something to think about.
