9mm vs. .45 15 experts give their opinion.

[Robert Richardson]

I have 48 years of experience, where does that leave me ?????

Oh, wait, never mind, I look at FACTS, and make my own decisions .....

That leaves you just like me, old and wise.

 

[Grelber]

Bandwagon. The FBI dumps .40 so its days are numbered, blah blah blah. I've actually seen people on other forums saying .40 will be tough to find, prices will go up, bullet technology won't advance, etc. for the .40 because the FBI is moving away from it. I just pointed out its been a long time since the FBI carried .357 magnum or .45...yet it still seems pretty common, new cartridges are released, and its price has been rising at the same rate as all other ammo...

40's are dead, dead I say!!
Might as well sell me any brass you find cheap.

 

[cosermann]

40's are dead, dead I say!! ...

If it's on the interwebz it must be true.

The Fading 40 | The Bang Switch (Notice this page has another list of experts too. Bonus!)

 

[actaeon277]

Why one cop carries 145 rounds of ammo on the job

nope, no drugs. Just determined.

Being jacked up into Orbit around the moon will have that effect regardless.

 

[actaeon277]

I like these kind here.....Still fun reading this thread....

 

[indiucky]

PS if you stick your tongue on a revolver in sub zero it will stick. The magic Glock coating is not as bad.

My revolver and I save our moments of intimacy for when we are warm in the tent or by a cozy fire at the farm.....

If handguns were hookers Smith and Wesson Revolvers would be the Call Girls of the trade...Or for the "Firefly" fans...A "Companion"...

 

[Expat]

Interesting, I don't find that to be the case. Huge caveat there being, often times what people bring to class and train with is not what they carry, so that is going to bias my experience.

I think that is going to be common. No one wants to go to a training class and have to reload after every 7 rounds. They are going to feel much more tacticool with 17-20 rounds on board (except the revolver guys who feel their 5-6 makes a statement). They likely also consider the recoil of shooting a thousand rounds over a weekend and feel they would get along better with 9mm than .45. That is just my thinking. As to what they carry, we know from comments on here that even some our resident gun people don't seem to carry all the time. When they do, it seems like they want something small that won't get in their way. I go with a compact single stack .45 because of that. To be honest I would likely take my P226 or M11A1 to a training class for the same reasons I gave above (at least the recoil fatigue with the number of rounds I would anticipate shooting). I realize it doesn't make much sense when you really analyze the choice

 

[jsharmon7]

This is why I don't get too concerned with caliber. I have a Sig 380 which goes everywhere with me. It conceals easily, it's reliable, it's accurate, and with quality SD rounds I am confident in it. i doubt those experts, nor anyone in this thread, have shot human targets with both calibers to compare how they worked. I think the choice in pistol is more important than the choice in caliber.

 

[Bfish]

I'm going to start carrying a BB gun.

Everyone needs to carry some form of non lethal defense

 

[Bfish]

I think it is interesting that everyone now gives the 9mm the official "nod" because of capacity, yet it seems like the majority of the the 9mm carriers (based upon comments on here and FB about Shields, G43, Sig 938) carry models with 6-7 round mags... I have the same number of rounds in my P220 compact.

This is a fantastic point!
Maybe because it's now acceptable people are good with knocking them down... It's all about what comfortable and somewhat comforting right now. I am good with my 15 round magazines but not everyone thinks in such ways.

 

[Drail]

The bottom line is if you can quickly and consistently place rounds where you need them then caliber is really pretty far down the list of "important things to worry about". Far too many people concentrate on hardware and ammo when they should only be worrying about perfecting their skills. Jerry Miculek with a 625 revolver is very formidable. Jerry Miculek with a Ruger MK II is still just as formidable if someone is foolish enough to try to beat him. Practice is so much more important than caliber or type of gun.

 

[Bosshoss]

The bottom line is if you can quickly and consistently place rounds where you need them then caliber is really pretty far down the list of "important things to worry about". Far too many people concentrate on hardware and ammo when they should only be worrying about perfecting their skills. Jerry Miculek with a 625 revolver is very formidable. Jerry Miculek with a Ruger MK II is still just as formidable if someone is foolish enough to try to beat him. Practice is so much more important than caliber or type of gun.

This^^^^^^

It is more important to be able to quickly and accurately make holes in the target(whatever it is) than the size of the holes or how many bullets that your gun has if you can't place the holes where they need to be.

BTW while you folks were hitting the keyboard debating a unsolvable 50+ year old argument.
I was reloading ammo and dryfiring.

 

[Woobie]

The bottom line is if you can quickly and consistently place rounds where you need them then caliber is really pretty far down the list of "important things to worry about". Far too many people concentrate on hardware and ammo when they should only be worrying about perfecting their skills. Jerry Miculek with a 625 revolver is very formidable. Jerry Miculek with a Ruger MK II is still just as formidable if someone is foolish enough to try to beat him. Practice is so much more important than caliber or type of gun.

Heretic! Heretic! Get the torches and the kindling, we have a heretic to burn! Don't you know any combat associated problem can be solved with gear? I read it in a gun magazine and on the Internet. That makes it twice as true.

In all seriousness, I'm sure Jerry Miculek, while indeed formidable, doesn't carry a MK II for self defense. The venerable .22 does have its shortcomings.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

40's are dead, dead I say!!
Might as well sell me any brass you find cheap.

I might be able to work some trades toward the even deader .357 magnum or buried and forgotten .45 ACP...but I'm hording all my 9mm for the coming revolution. Long live .380 magnum!

 

[cosermann]

... Long live .380 magnum!

I see what you did there.

 

[cedartop]

I might be able to work some trades toward the even deader .357 magnum or buried and forgotten .45 ACP...but I'm hording all my 9mm for the coming revolution. Long live .380 magnum!

I thought it was Simmunitions +P.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I thought it was Simmunitions +P.

That's .380.

9mm can acceptably be referred to as:
.380 long
.380 magnum
9mm euro-pellet
.38 SGW (Super Girly Wrist)

 

[oldpink]

I like these kind here.....Still fun reading this thread....

Heh...nice.
In a similar vein...

...10mm.

 

[Drail]

"the venerable MK II does have its shortcomings..." Not if you can place one round into a human skull.

 

[One Shot One Kill]

"the venerable MK II does have its shortcomings..." Not if you can place one round into a human skull.

Or 11 into the face.