Why is momentum the most important measure of broadhead and arrow lethality?
February 20, 2022
In archery, momentum is largely recognized as the measure of how likely an arrow is to achieve a complete passthough against the target, such as a Whitetail Deer.
The greater the momentum of the arrow and broadhead, the greater the likelihood of a passthough, all other factors being equal.
However, the importance of momentum goes beyond that.
According to FBI ballistics data and research, momentum is a far greater predictor of wound channel damage and overall lethality than kinetic energy or hydrostatic shock.
Key takeaways from the FBI research in this area include:
Kinetic energy is an OK method to compare the damage a projectile can do to living tissue, but momentum is much better.
The FBI data shows that the correlation between momentum and wound channel volume was very high, with a correlation coefficient of 0.73, where 0 is considered no correlation and 1 is considered perfect.
On the other hand, the correlation between kinetic energy and total wound channel volume is only 0.35, which is considered low correlation.
See this chart for the data:
https://www.defensivecarry.com/attachments/bullet-momentum-vs-bare-wound-channel-volume-jpg.87834/
Therefore, momentum more closely associated with “stopping power” than kinetic energy.
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