Caliber of choice
- Thread starter jeffd
- Start date
- Status
notasfancy
Member
Anyone is good with good placement of the shots. The .40 caliber or .357 sig are a no brainer.
22-rimfire
Member
Caliber choice depends much on personal preference and experience. Generally the power scale is 9mm > 40 S&W > 45 ACP. I personally like the 40 S&W. Ever since it came out and law enforcement immediately moved toward it, it was my choice for a semi-auto. The 40 S&W caliber allows for double stack magazines like the 9mm (so more rounds) as compared to 45 ACP.
Take your wife on a date to the gun range on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and rent 2 or 3 different caliber handguns and let her get a feel for what she is comfortable with.
I find common handgun calibers to be easy to hard to shoot in the following order, depending on the platform.......... 38 spec.>9mm>45acp>40s&w
As far as caliber effectiveness against bad guys, there is not a big difference in any of the calibers above. I personally would recommend a 9mm, this caliber has come along ways since the early 90's
Take a lot of what you read on gun forums with a grain of salt. There is alot of misinformation on here. Searching for gun articles is time well spent for firearm education. And don't let the number of posts a person has trick you into thinking it reflects their firearm knowledge....... (in most cases)
I find common handgun calibers to be easy to hard to shoot in the following order, depending on the platform.......... 38 spec.>9mm>45acp>40s&w
As far as caliber effectiveness against bad guys, there is not a big difference in any of the calibers above. I personally would recommend a 9mm, this caliber has come along ways since the early 90's
Take a lot of what you read on gun forums with a grain of salt. There is alot of misinformation on here. Searching for gun articles is time well spent for firearm education. And don't let the number of posts a person has trick you into thinking it reflects their firearm knowledge....... (in most cases)
Sorry I didn't catch the last part of your post in regards to why there are different calibers...... Handgun effectiveness against bad guys is variable. There are different theories about what works better and why. The running theories are bullet diameter is more effective, bullet velocity is more effective, penetration is more effective, multiple shots are more effective. This has been debated for 100 years, no one knows for sure. The only thing for certain effectiveness is shot placement. After that sometime a bigger bullet is better and sometimes a faster bullet is better, or 10 bullets are better for that matter. That is why there are multiple calibers.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
The highlighted words above are all you need to know. How you you like it if someone picked out the gun or caliber you are going to carry? If you wife likes her gun she will practice with it just like you will. Besides, having a common ammo between you both is a good idea like said many times above.
i think some have confused parts of my question looking at some responses. i will try to clarify
we had 2 goals when picking out a gun. she wanted something that she could put rounds through on a regular basis. she had LEO friends telling her everything from she should get a kel tec .380 to a glock 22. we all know that if the gun doesnt feel right - youre not going to feel comfortable using it. so before she even discussed caliber, she wanted one that felt good in her hands.
When she picked hers out - i noticed the same basic gun was available in a few different calibers with what looked like exactly the same dimensions of the physical gun frame. for her, she wanted something that wouldnt break the bank if she wanted to put a bunch of ammo through it every week.
this got me to thinking a little more.
for example - i have a 1903 colt .32 cal. the gun looks dang close to the 1911 colt .45 cal my dad has... so in my mind i am thinking a larger caliber automatically means a larger frame.
im no gun expert by any fashion, so i dont know if they assume all women are dainty and want a pretty pink gun - but her experience with handguns have been .45 cal revolvers that she fired (with blanks) as part of a stage show for several years hundreds of times daily. like most any husband - you just want the wife to be happy with hers
besides - i dont think ANYONE could make her do anything she didnt want to do. she has that stubborn gene.
allegedly....
mdauben
Member
Some people will argue nuances, but IMO there is only minimal differences between the effectivness of premium JHP ammo in 9mm, .40S&W and .45ACP. Personally, I use .45ACP but that is simply becuase I find that I am more accurate with my Glock 21 than with my Glock 17. I would not feel disadvantaged in carrying any of them for SD.
Not sure where you are getting your information, but FMJ is universally recognized as the worst choice in SD ammo. AFAIK, no police department uses FMJ anymore, and the only reason the military does is that the Geneva Convention forbids the use of hollow point ammo in handguns or rifles. FMJ is notorious for shooting through-and-through, causing minimal damage to the target and endangering anyone behind them.
Modern JHP (preferably +P) is the only choice for SD handgun ammo. In 9mm the only real question these days is light (115/124gr JHP) or heavy (147gr JHP).
Last edited:
mes227
Member
For carry, 40 cal -- I love the S&W M&P 40 with Crimson Trace grips. Home defense, 45 acp in a 1911. It's been reported that 54% of US police forces issue 40 cal, it's a great round in a modest frame. The 45, one of my favorites, has a bit of a large frame and limited mag capacity.
But...I'm mostly a revolver guy and my choice thus is 44 Mag and 45 colt, mostly for hiking.
AStone
Member
Serious calibers.
my primary choice is a .40s&w. when compared to a 9mm it is larger and only gives up a couple of rounds in a given frame. the recoil is not bad and terminal performance is perfectly satisfactory, as well as plenty of ammo being readily availible.
a very very close runner up would be the .357 mag. what it lacks in capacity it more than makes up for in power, speed, and terminal performance.
in the end though, between 9mm, .38, .40, and .45 i consider the difference in effectiveness to be very small to the point that it almost shouldnt be a consideration. the biggest factor is what feels good to you. the good "feeling" must be on several different levels though; for example: you have to feel good shooting it (ie: not too powerful), you have to have a feeling of confidence in your chosen caliber, and you have to feel prepared (comforting).
i could stick a .32 in my pocket and, although i know that i could probably defend myself successfully with it, i just wouldnt feel good about the size of my weapon. in the end, i think it is a lot less about minor trade-offs in effectiveness and/or capacity, and more about which one gives you the warm-fuzzies when you slide your chosen piece into your holster in the morning.
a very very close runner up would be the .357 mag. what it lacks in capacity it more than makes up for in power, speed, and terminal performance.
in the end though, between 9mm, .38, .40, and .45 i consider the difference in effectiveness to be very small to the point that it almost shouldnt be a consideration. the biggest factor is what feels good to you. the good "feeling" must be on several different levels though; for example: you have to feel good shooting it (ie: not too powerful), you have to have a feeling of confidence in your chosen caliber, and you have to feel prepared (comforting).
i could stick a .32 in my pocket and, although i know that i could probably defend myself successfully with it, i just wouldnt feel good about the size of my weapon. in the end, i think it is a lot less about minor trade-offs in effectiveness and/or capacity, and more about which one gives you the warm-fuzzies when you slide your chosen piece into your holster in the morning.
Thompsoncustom
Member
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2010
- Messages
- 1,001
Well I Also think caliber doesn't really make much of a differnce but to each his own and if it works good for you then that's all that matters anyways, tho I do carry a full sized 9mm mostly for the high round count and be able to put round down range faster because of less recoil.
Now as far as FMJ vs HP's go I think that are both great to carry but for different reasons. I load my mags up; the first five HP's and the rest FMJ because if for some reason I'm still shooting after five rounds they probably are hiding behind some kind of cover were the fmj will penetrate with no problem. Just my thoughts
Now as far as FMJ vs HP's go I think that are both great to carry but for different reasons. I load my mags up; the first five HP's and the rest FMJ because if for some reason I'm still shooting after five rounds they probably are hiding behind some kind of cover were the fmj will penetrate with no problem. Just my thoughts
Last edited:
cheygriz
member
In the patrol car, I carried a Beretta 92 loaded with 115 grain+P+ or (later on) 127 GR +P+. I always felt very well armed. Back then, I was paid to go out looking for trouble.
Now that I'm retired, I carry a littler SIG P238 in .380 loaded with Federal Hydra-Shoks, and I still feel well armed. Now, I try to avoid trouble!
Now that I'm retired, I carry a littler SIG P238 in .380 loaded with Federal Hydra-Shoks, and I still feel well armed. Now, I try to avoid trouble!
I carry a taurus PT745. The trade off is that I have fewer rounds but I dont mind much because of my training in the military I am a pretty good shot.
As for your question as to why, the first and simplest answer is because I love the way it recoils compared to a snappy faster moving 9mm or 380. The .45 has more of a push to it.
The last and most profound reason is safety. A 9mm travels at a much higher speed than a .45. I have read many articles about how a 9 has the potential to travel through your target. Since I keep mine loaded on the night stand, if I had to pick it up and shoot at someone in my bedroom door I wanted the round to stop in its intended target. If it did not, on the other side is an interrior wall with my kids bedroom on the other side of that. So given that the .45 has a higher impact potential due to its weight but also a lower muzzle speed (somewhere in the vacinity of 850 fps with 230 grain JHP) I chose the .45 and will likely never change my mind for it has a home defense round. There are many people out there with different views on what makes a good home defense round but that is my opinion on it and the reasoning behind it.
Also I would encourage you to go to a local range and try a few out in different calibers before you make your selection. The range closest to my house has a ton of guns to rent and try and they all rent for about $7.50. That is an awfully cheap price to pay in order to fine tune exactly what you are looking for.
As for your question as to why, the first and simplest answer is because I love the way it recoils compared to a snappy faster moving 9mm or 380. The .45 has more of a push to it.
The last and most profound reason is safety. A 9mm travels at a much higher speed than a .45. I have read many articles about how a 9 has the potential to travel through your target. Since I keep mine loaded on the night stand, if I had to pick it up and shoot at someone in my bedroom door I wanted the round to stop in its intended target. If it did not, on the other side is an interrior wall with my kids bedroom on the other side of that. So given that the .45 has a higher impact potential due to its weight but also a lower muzzle speed (somewhere in the vacinity of 850 fps with 230 grain JHP) I chose the .45 and will likely never change my mind for it has a home defense round. There are many people out there with different views on what makes a good home defense round but that is my opinion on it and the reasoning behind it.
Also I would encourage you to go to a local range and try a few out in different calibers before you make your selection. The range closest to my house has a ton of guns to rent and try and they all rent for about $7.50. That is an awfully cheap price to pay in order to fine tune exactly what you are looking for.
oldbear
Member
As already stated all three of the calibers you are thinking about are decent to good self defense rounds. The 9 M/M will generally have a lower felt recoil than the 40 or 45 calibers. If I were making the decision, I would go with two identical weapons, that way you only have to stock one caliber of ammo, mags would be the same, and if for some reason you had to trade off weapons no big learning curve.
Redneck with a 40
Member
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2006
- Messages
- 2,273
For smaller frame shooters, the 9mm is a good choice. High capacity, moderate recoil, easy to shoot. With the latest bullet designs, its been proven to be a good man-stopper.
22-rimfire
Member
I am pretty much a 40 S&W user over the 9mm or 45ACP. But in your case, I think you would be best served with a 9mm caliber handgun of your choice. It certainly makes buying ammunition easier. I would buy the gun that feels the best to YOU in your hand within the list of available models from the major manufacturerers with proven track records.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
Jeff,
If you're not sure if you should buy a 9mm, 40 S&W or .45 Auto I would suggest you try and find a range that rents handguns and have your wife shoot all three. Only then can she make an informed decision on which caliber she prefers. Also, if she like one caliber but can't hit anything with it what good? IMO the best bet is to buy the one she is most accurate with.
If you're not sure if you should buy a 9mm, 40 S&W or .45 Auto I would suggest you try and find a range that rents handguns and have your wife shoot all three. Only then can she make an informed decision on which caliber she prefers. Also, if she like one caliber but can't hit anything with it what good? IMO the best bet is to buy the one she is most accurate with.
Airburst
Member
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2006
- Messages
- 233
.40 S&W or .45ACP. 9mm would be my last choice as a CC weapon, although I do carry a .380ACP depending on situation. I shoot the bigger calibers equally well, but prefer the .40 due to magazine capacity. I know you can load a 9mm magazine higher than a comparable .40, but I don't like the caliber as a SD round. (see the giffords assassination attempt) (not looking to hijack the thread for a caliber flame war)
TexasBill
Member
To answer the original question, I wouldn't pick a different caliber. As has been stated several times, the 9mm round, in the proper loading, is more than up to the job and the two of you would spend less on ammo, even if you decide to reload.
There are lots of good 9mm pistols. If you like the Taurus, get one for yourself.
My wife picked out a Browning BDA .380 for herself. I got a Beretta 84FS Cheetah, which is essentially the same gun (Beretta makes both). We buy a bulk pack of Remington/UMC .380 FMJ and have an enjoyable time at the range. We both also have Walther P22s for plinking. It's nice to just take a couple of guns and one type of ammo to the range.
There are lots of good 9mm pistols. If you like the Taurus, get one for yourself.
My wife picked out a Browning BDA .380 for herself. I got a Beretta 84FS Cheetah, which is essentially the same gun (Beretta makes both). We buy a bulk pack of Remington/UMC .380 FMJ and have an enjoyable time at the range. We both also have Walther P22s for plinking. It's nice to just take a couple of guns and one type of ammo to the range.
DeltaKilo
Member
.45 acp.
I like the 45, the 40, 9mm and 38 specials. However, I tend to shoot the 9mm and the 38 specials better, so I carry them more often than the other calibers. In 9mm I tend to carry a full sized pistol, while I normally carry a snubbie in .38 (though I have a sweet Model 67 in 4" that gets carried quite a bit as well).
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked
- Locked