One of the interesting things to come out of Greg Ellifritz’s study of ammunition effectiveness was how well the .22 Long Rifle worked – or, at least, appeared to work. By some measures, it performed better than the vaunted .45 ACP! There is a small but dedicated group of people out there who seized upon this data as proof that the .22 is in fact the most deadly cartridge ever made by man. After all, they insist, the figures don’t lie!

This is what’s known as anomalous data: data which doesn’t fit the expected distribution. How, then, do we explain it?

Ellifritz took this on in a recent blog post, and it’s worth reading to understand all of the variables which go into something as complex as bullet performance – and why single numbers, as preferred by some researchers, are never enough to tell the whole story. Be sure to read the comments as well, as there are some very intelligent analyses being done by his readers too.

-=[ Grant ]=-