Most popular? 9mm, .40S&W, or .45acp

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Sarvisian

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What is the most used round for semi auto's today? I'm not looking for opinions on which is better, just the most in use today by both law enforcement as well as regular shooters.
 
Regular shooters? Definately the 9mm. Followed by .45.

LE, probably the 9mm, but from all I've heard from my limited chats with LEO's, they're phasing out both 9mm and .45 for .40, around here. So .40 is probably second.
 
Worldwide it would have to be the 9mm, aka 9mm Parabellum, 9x19mm, 9mm Luger by a wide margin.
 
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September/October 2007 American Handgunner
COPTALK column by Massad Ayoob

“While 9mm is still far and away the best selling centerfire handgun caliber among retail customers, the .40S&W is the clear-cut bestseller in the police sector, followed by the 9mm and .45ACP.”​

Don't know how that applies to the international scene, the numbers were based on Winchester's sales figures.
 
I would agree with that for worldwide, I should have been clearer and asked about U.S. use.

I guess I'm wondering how big of a foothold the .40S&W has gained in the marketplace. I know the 9mm was the leader and I'm thinking the .45 will be a strong third place here.
 
Thanks JohnKSa, I imagine that Massad Ayoob has plenty of information available to him on this.

So, looks like it's still the 9mm as a general rule but the .40 is closing the gap.
 
Currently in the US 9mm is the top seller, followed by .45 and then 40 S&W.

However, the .40 and .45 are so close in sales to one another that they will flip from year to year and from manufacturer to manufacturer.
 
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