Ammunition and Guns used:

The competitors (after what we did to the poor little bullets)

The EMB-Family, one bullet, different behavoir:

The 9x19mm EFMJ representing the EFMJ-Family, three calibers, same behavoir:

Test One: Leather, cotton and denim over wetpack

With this test we wanted to find out, whether the EMB would still expand in a soft target after penetrating:
- a motorcyclist's kidney-belt (leather and lining)
- a jeans leg (two layers of denim)
- a cotton sweater (two layers of cotton)

We repeated this test with clay instead of the wetpacks, see below "Test Eight"

First Couple: 9x19mm EMB (left) and 9x19mm EFMJ (right)
we also tested the .45 EFMJ against the .40 EFMJ the results are in the DATA SHEET.

entering the wetpack after the heavy clothing:

entering the second phonebook:

exiting the second phonebook:

The EFMJ stops after 15cm (5,91"):

The EMB stops after tumbling and a 180° turn at 18,5cm (7,28"):

Here they are:
The EMB tumbled and expanded to 12mm (0,47")
The EFMJ stayed in line and expanded to 14,5mm (0,57")

Test Two: long clay blocks packed in plastic

With this test we wanted to find out, what cavities the bullets produce. After we tested with short clay blocks (see below) and lost two of four bullets due to overpenetration. We decided to let the .45 EFMJ and the 9x19mm EFMJ compete in long clay blocks. Both bullets performed very well, but the results twisted our expectations: The .45 penetrated a little deeper than the 9x19 (.45: 28cm/11,02"; 9x19: 26cm/10,24"). The 9x19mm tore the wider cavity into the block (9x19mm: 19cm/7,48"; .45: 16cm/6,30"). The fact, that the .45 expanded more than the 9x19mm seemed not to be an advantage for the .45 (.45: 24mm/0,94"; 9x19: 20mm/0,79").
After being shot at, the clay blocks were not touched. We only turned them around before we photographed them, but we especially not cut them open etc. The blocks were ripped apart like that by the bullets alone.

Here's the .45 EFMJ:
- Cavity (largest diameter): 16cm/6,30"
- Expansion: 24mm/0,94"
- Penetration: 28cm/11,02"

Here's the 9x19mm:
- Cavity (largest diameter): 19cm/7,48"
- Expansion: 20mm/0,79"
- Penetration: 26cm/10,24"

Test Three: short clay blocks packed in plastic

We thought half a clay block would be enough, but were wrong since all 9x19, .40 and .45 bullets overpenetrated the short blocks. Only the .22 could be recovered, still the pictures are worth seeing:

Here's the 9x19mm EMB:

Here's the 9x19mm EFMJ:

Here's the .45 EFMJ:

Here's the .40 EFMJ:

.45 EFMJ and .40 EFMJ side by side:

Last, least and still nice: The .22 Stinger:
This was the only clay block we had to cut open. The .22 seemed to only have blown up the block a little. It did not rip it open like the .45, .40 amd 9x19mm bullets all did. But after we cut the block shot with the .22 with a wire we found a nice little cavity:

...and here's the nasty little .22 bullet we also wouldn't want to catch:

Test Four: Three 2mm aluminum plates in one pack = 6mm aluminium:
To our surpise none of the bullets tested made it and penetrated all three plates. For the fun of it we then also tried a 9x19mm IPSC-Major Handload with 124gr and 1400 ft/sec wich went through all three plates (pretty scary).
All EFMJ bullets just bounced offm leaving an "F" imprint on the plate. The "F" on the bullet's nose worked like a stamp.
Even the well-penetrating EMB and FL bullets didn't make all three. The EMB penetrated the first plate and stuck (nice pic below). The FL penetrated two plates and stuck in the thrid one.

In this test the 9x19mm EMB wins in the "most beautifully stuck"-category:

Test Five: 2mm aluminum and three 20mm coated chipboards:
The next setup was one plate of 2mm aluminium and four coated 20mm chipboards. All loads penetrated the 2mm aluminuium plate. All EFMJs (.45; .40; 9x19) stuck in the first chipboard and punced a little into the second one. The EMB stuck in the third cipboard and peeked out it's backside a little (one more nice pic below). The FL penetrated everything just like the 9x19mm IPSC-Major load did:

Test Six: 2mm aluminum and a wetpack:
The title says all. The 9x19mm EMB did exactly as designed. It closed and penetrated the most (19cm/7,48"), ie 4x as deep as the .40 EFMJ) without any expansion but with heavy tumbling in the wetpack.
Even the 9x19mm FMJ and the 9x19mm FL expanded a little to 9,5mm.
The EFMJ bullets all exanded well (.45: 24,5mm/0,96"; .40: 20mm/0,79"; 9x19mm: 13mm/0,51"). The EFMJ's penetration was similar with .45: 6,0cm/2,36"; .40: 4,5cm/1,77" and 9x19: 5,0cm/1,97":

Test Seven: 20mm coated chipboard and a wetpack:
Again the title says all.
EFMJs: Here the .45 expanded the least, the .40 the most and the 9x19 was close to the .40.
We also tested a .22 stinger for with this setup and one shouldn't underestimate this nasty little gun.
The 9x19mm EMB closed after the hard target penetrated far more than the others again and tumbled again.
Here's the data:

Test Eight: Leather, cotton and denim over wetpack

...was a repetition of "Test One" (above) with clay instead of wetpacks. With this test we wanted to find out, whether the Fiocchi EMB would still expand in a soft target after penetrating:

- a motorcyclist's kidney-belt (leather and lining)
- a jeans leg (two layers of denim)
- a cotton sweater (two layers of cotton)

and how the 9x19mm Federal EFMJ and Fiocchi FL and S&B FMJ would behave in the same setup.

Here's the result in numbers:

Here's the setup:
The clay blocks were approx 17cm (6,7") wide.

The clay blocks were approx 45cm (17,7") long.

and the entering side was covered with:
- a motorcyclist's kidney-belt (leather and lining)
- a jeans leg (two layers of denim)
- a cotton sweater (two layers of cotton)

The Fiocchi EMB's performance:
The EMB tore the clothing deep into the ballistic channel (as did the EFMJ). We were suprised by both the width and depth of the cavity the EMB tore into the clay. The bullet opened perfectly despite going through the heavy clothing:

Here's the perfectly expanded bullet. It expanded to 16mm (0,63")

The Federal EFMJ's performance:
We shot the EFMJ twice into the same setup. The first time we cut the clay breadthways:

The second time we cut the clay lengthwise. It seemed that the bullet went through the clothing without any expansion and then rapidly expanded after a few centimeters of clay. It also seemed that the EFMJ bullet transferred most of its energy at once after approximately 10cm (4") of clay ripping a wide but short cavity into the clay.

The Fiocchi FL's performance:
This was kind of scary. The FL bullet ripped an extremely long and very constant quite wide cavity into the clay. It also overpenetrated the entire 45cm (17,7") clay block and could not be recovered.

The S&B FMJ 124gr Nontox performance:

Suprisingly also the FMJ bullet did quite similar to the EFMJ bullet. It ripped a significantly wide and deep cavity into the clay. It overpenetrated but could be recovered since it dropped to the ground and did not enter the backstop behind the test setting (the FL even penetrated the backstop after all the clay).

Conclusion:
I know that also these tests leave plenty room for discussion. Still: I see arguments to carry a .45 and arguments to carry a 9x19mm. What totally suprised all of us is that the .40 did not convince in any setup.
The EMB seems to be very close to perfect. It expands perfectly in clay and penetrates perfectly in and after hard targets. And heavy clothing doesn't prevent the EMB from expanding therefter at all.