I'm trying to make the transition from irons to pistol optics because I'm finally willing to admit to myself that I have old eyes. In that pursuit, I put an optic on a double-stack 9mm 1911ish pistol yesterday.
It's weird, but I'm serious about it, and I think I can convert to the different way of pickup on the sight, and as I carry 1911s and my Stealth Arms Platypus is so good I'm going to order a Stealth Arms 1911 with an optic mount.
So now I'm stuck on three things: how hideous am I willing to go with color, ACRO or (non-enclosed) Holosun, and what caliber?
I went through Gunsite's 250 Pistol class with a steel 5" 45ACP, and then went to Tiger McKee for a week with a lightweight Commander in 45ACP, and did fine both places - the Stealth Arms will be all of 27 ounces in Commander configuration. I shoot a 9mm better than a 45ACP, but when I run some drills with a 9mm, then swap to a 45ACP my accuracy and speed is about the same for things like controlled pairs so I don't feel like I've giving up a whole lot if my carry gun has higher recoil but most of my weekly shooting is with the 9mm.
I know people smarter than me say all pistols suck in defensive usage and caliber choice doesn't matter, but I really struggle to believe that if you normalize for penetration (as all modern loadings seem to do) that the size of the hole you're making in an aggressor doesn't matter. I mean, there's got to be a difference between these if they all penetrate to the same depth, right?
So, as I overthink this I'm conflicted between:
Oh, and how offensive do I go with color:
Basic:
I Love OD
Does this guy drive a 70's Cadillac?
Copper? Why?!?!?!?!
It's weird, but I'm serious about it, and I think I can convert to the different way of pickup on the sight, and as I carry 1911s and my Stealth Arms Platypus is so good I'm going to order a Stealth Arms 1911 with an optic mount.
So now I'm stuck on three things: how hideous am I willing to go with color, ACRO or (non-enclosed) Holosun, and what caliber?
I went through Gunsite's 250 Pistol class with a steel 5" 45ACP, and then went to Tiger McKee for a week with a lightweight Commander in 45ACP, and did fine both places - the Stealth Arms will be all of 27 ounces in Commander configuration. I shoot a 9mm better than a 45ACP, but when I run some drills with a 9mm, then swap to a 45ACP my accuracy and speed is about the same for things like controlled pairs so I don't feel like I've giving up a whole lot if my carry gun has higher recoil but most of my weekly shooting is with the 9mm.
I know people smarter than me say all pistols suck in defensive usage and caliber choice doesn't matter, but I really struggle to believe that if you normalize for penetration (as all modern loadings seem to do) that the size of the hole you're making in an aggressor doesn't matter. I mean, there's got to be a difference between these if they all penetrate to the same depth, right?
So, as I overthink this I'm conflicted between:
- Make the biggest hole - go 45ACP. Besides, you've already got ammo stacked.
- You shoot 9mm best, and you can shoot your carry gun cheaply every other day with 9mm. It's shot placement that matters anyway.
- In the gel tests, 40 S&W seems to almost always make a better wound track than the 9mm, and it opens more consistently than 45ACP (probably due to velocity) so it's a happy medium between the two, and is relatively low cost I think.
- All the cool kids are shooting 10mm nowadays. It's not cheap, but the 2 I've shot didn't have terrible recoil, and with the right loading they seem about as effective as 357 mag seems to be. At least in gel - they open up as they should and don't seem to clog, likely because of velocity. But is it that much better than a 40?
Oh, and how offensive do I go with color:
Basic:
I Love OD
Does this guy drive a 70's Cadillac?
Copper? Why?!?!?!?!