Answer to your question...
Yes. The .45 will stop someone better than a 9mm if everything else is equal.
If you stand the same distance from 2 twin brothers, with a .45 in your right hand and a 9mm in your left and shoot them in the torso at the exact same place at the same time, the one with the larger wound that got hit with a larger round will tend to go down more quickly.
This is not the case in a real gun fight. What everyone has been saying is "Carry the largest caliber you shoot well." The key to this is "Shoot well" because shot placement is key. A hit with a .22 beats a miss with a .50 BMG. You've got to be able to make the shot, and probably multiple times in under a few seconds to survive. This equation includes 2 things. "Damage Dealt" and "Time Taken to make the Shot". Larger calibers generally have more recoil, and tend to be more difficult to shoot in a self defense/training situation: thus it may take you longer to Make the Shot, but when you do, you'll deal more trauma to the assailant. The 9mm is quite easy to learn to shoot well. You'll have more rounds available, and will, generally speaking, be more likely to be able to make the shot. But you won't deal as much damage, and may have to connect more times to bring them down.
Everything is a trade off. All things being equal, and they never are, bigger bullets tend to work better...
...But ammunition has come a long way over the years.
For clarification, I carry a 9mm and always have.
~LT
Yes. The .45 will stop someone better than a 9mm if everything else is equal.
If you stand the same distance from 2 twin brothers, with a .45 in your right hand and a 9mm in your left and shoot them in the torso at the exact same place at the same time, the one with the larger wound that got hit with a larger round will tend to go down more quickly.
This is not the case in a real gun fight. What everyone has been saying is "Carry the largest caliber you shoot well." The key to this is "Shoot well" because shot placement is key. A hit with a .22 beats a miss with a .50 BMG. You've got to be able to make the shot, and probably multiple times in under a few seconds to survive. This equation includes 2 things. "Damage Dealt" and "Time Taken to make the Shot". Larger calibers generally have more recoil, and tend to be more difficult to shoot in a self defense/training situation: thus it may take you longer to Make the Shot, but when you do, you'll deal more trauma to the assailant. The 9mm is quite easy to learn to shoot well. You'll have more rounds available, and will, generally speaking, be more likely to be able to make the shot. But you won't deal as much damage, and may have to connect more times to bring them down.
Everything is a trade off. All things being equal, and they never are, bigger bullets tend to work better...
...But ammunition has come a long way over the years.
For clarification, I carry a 9mm and always have.
~LT