Is bigger better ... have you PERSONALLY switched to a smaller caliber?

[Alan Fud]

I often hear / read in gun rags ...

1. Bigger is better; and
   
2. Law Enforcement agencies & departments across the country are switching to LARGER caliber sidearms (mostly 9mm to .40S&W or 9mm to .45ACP) but nobody is switching to a smaller caliber.

... and that got me wondering if any of the members here have switched their CCW to a SMALLER caliber from a LARGER caliber?

• .45ACP ... to either a 9mm or .357SIG or .40S&W or 10mm ?
  
• .40S&W ... to either a .357SIG or 9mm ?
  
• etc. ?

Or has everyone gone the other way from a smaller caliber to a bigger caliber?

 

[C.R.Sam]

No real difference over the years.
Comfortable carryin whatever I am comfortable shootin.
Whether .32 Long or .44 Mag or whatever comes to whichever hand first.

Sam

 

[Zak Smith]

Went from a couple 40's to 9x19mm and .45ACP.

-z

 

[New_comer]

If only to satisfy my curiosity as to what all the fuss is all about, I got myself a 45acp 1911. It's heavier and bulkier all right. But it hasn't won me over, yet...

I still trust my nine. After all had been said and done, the difference in efficacy with the premeir loads of the major calibers is hardly noticeable.

Besides, if the SHTF, it's my shotgun I'm going to be wielding...

 

[David4516]

I haven't been carrying too long, but I have no plans to change my carry gun, so I voted "stayed the same". I carry a 9mm Makarov...

I would like to get a .25 or .32, but I plan to carry it in additon to the Mak, not in place of the Mak. 2 guns are better than 1, right?

 

[Devonai]

I had a Glock 22. I sold it to one of my best friends. Later, I bought a Glock 17. I could have just as easily bought another G22, but I decided to try something different and I always liked the idea of having 18 or 20 rounds on tap. Now, having fired the two Glocks side by side, I'd have to say that I prefer the Glock 17. I can hit faster and with more accuracy than the G22. Emptying a pre-ban mag with speed is much more pleasant in the G17 as well.

This doesn't mean that I wouldn't try another .40, and it sure as heck doesn't mean I won't buy another .45 when I can. I wouldn't mind a 1911A1 in either caliber.

 

[Lancel]

I've gone down mostly, then up a little: from 9mm to .32 ACP to .32 magnum (mostly) and 9mm (sometimes).

Larry

 

[Spieler]

I have used and abused many 9mm handguns over the years and feel comfortable with it as a personal defense round and I see no reason to go up or down in caliber. I have a couple of .45's and they are a lot of fun at the range and I sometimes carry a .25 Beretta (yeah, I know!) as a second gun, but a 9mm is what I shoot the most, am the most proficient with and rely on more than any other pistol round.

 

[NewShooter78]

Well I can't yet CCW, but I did buy a Colt .45 as my main handgun. It is replacing a .40s&w.

 

[Tamara]

There are people who only carry one caliber?

 

[Al Thompson]

When good JHP ammo became available for the 9mm, I started adding more to my collection. I've avoided the .40 simply due to no desire for yet another caliber.

The 9mm (IMHO) is very dependent on good JHPs to make it viable. Current load of choice is 124 +P Gold Dots by Georgia Arms.

 

[sm]

I carry what I carry, been that way for years.
Have my druthers, depending on semi or revo, based on platforms chosen a long time ago. If carrying a BUG cal may or not be different. Third gun cal don't count -right?

Yeah, another here that just never warmed to the .40.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

I could use only the 9mm from now on and not really look at anything else.

But for me----more guns=more fun.

 

[El Tejon]

"Big" or "Small" it's just a handgun.

 

[Sean Smith]

I went from .45 to 10mm, so technically I guess it is smaller. But it is also about as heavy and ALOT faster.

 

[Marko Kloos]

I've done the roundabout. Started with a 9mm, went all the way to the .45ACP by way of the .357SIG, .40S&W, and 10mm Auto. Now I am back to the 9mm Luger. It's cheap, easy to shoot, lots of cool guns can be had in 9mm, and it'll do the job just as well as any of the others.

 

[Michael_2112]

It all depends...

I carry several different pistols from .380 to .45acp it all depends. I feel comfortable shooting them all.


~Mike

 

[Border]

My first gun, my first carry. CZ75B. I now carry a 342PD .38 for my daily carry. I can't imagine ever needing even that let alone more than that. Lighter than my keys! Federal Hydroshocks in it though. They'll work.

 

[mtnbkr]

I went from a 38special snubnose to a 32ACP P32. I felt I would be better served by sticking to a gun I can carry "all the time" (except for work)rather than a gun that I could carry "most of the time".

Chris

 

[RepublicanMan]

I went from a Beretta 9mm to a Sig .45 but it wasn't because of caliber.
I am more accurate with the Sig and I have more magazines for it.

 

[Pappy John]

My carry pieces have gotten larger and larger the longer I carry. I think that this is because the longer I carry the more comfortable I have become with the weight on my hip and more sure that nobody ever notices what I'm wearing and the better I've gotten at camoflaging the pieces. I've gone from a Beretta Tomcat in my pocket, to a PPK/S .380 on the belt, to a 642 carried IWB, and now its a .44 spec. 696 IWB. I think I'll stop there though. That .44 is both a thumper and accurate as heck to boot, buts its just on the line of becoming too thick in the cylinder for IWB carry.
Or maybe that's just me being too thick in the cylinder.

 

[Ala Dan]

Greeting's All-

Well, I've Stayed The Same--------

By living by the .45 ACP!

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[Dr.Rob]

Done both. Bought several 45's before i had a 9.. shoot the nine a LOT better. Cheaper to practice with the 9. Bought 357. Heap funbig boom.

Need to make more bullets.

 

[BerettaNut92]

I dumped all my .45s and only shoot 9mm now. Very unamerican, but it works for me!

 

[Jason Demond]

I went from a full size pistol in 40S&W, to a compact 9mm.