Please Note: The above data is drawn from various sources including the book Handgun Stopping Power by Marshall and Sanow, and various articles in magazines such as Handguns.

For experienced shooters the headings of most of the columns above are probably self-explanatory. For everyone else:

• "Caliber" is the common name of the cartridge tested; "Load" is the brand of ammunition tested
• "Bullet" is the weight (in grains) and configuration (JHP, for instance, means jacketed hollow point) of the bullet
• "MV" is the standard abbreviation for muzzle velocity
• "ME" is the abbreviation for muzzle energy
• "Penetration (10% gel)" is the measured penetration of the bullet when fired into a block of standard ordinance gelatin, which is used to simulate soft tissue
• "AIT (goats at Strasbourg)" refers to a famous European experiment where a great many goats of the approximate size and cardio-vascular capacity of a human being were shot broadside through the lungs with a variety of handgun loads and the 'Average Incapacitation Time' (in seconds) from the shot until the animal's collapse was recorded
• "One shot stop %" is the percentage of one shot stops in actual street shootings as culled from police records by Marshall and Sanow
• "Test brl." means the length of the test pistol's barrel

Note: For an expanded version of this chart with more entries, see the Expanded Handgun Cartridge Power Chart.