Hey Lonely Libertarian,
Mark here reaching out in hopes that you’ll help us create
the most epic guide on 9mm vs. 40 S&W vs. 45 ACP on the web. As you probably
know it’s a common debate but there isn’t a very good place out there to get
good information and learn from other shooters’ experience. We’d be honored if
you’d be a part of the guide.
We
know that the question of “which caliber is best” depends on each shooter.
Still, we believe a case can be made for each caliber and that knowledge is
valuable to folks, especially new gun owners. They’re greeted with the
unenviable task of slogging through scores of blog posts and forum threads with
no way to know who to listen to. We want to create a
single resource that summarizes these threads in a well-formatted and
authoritative way.
Will you help me?
If you will, can we cite you as a source?
Assuming the answer
to both is yes, here’s what you can do to help:
1.
Tell me which
caliber you think is best and why: 9mm, 40 S&W, or 45 ACP. Please feel
free to be as detailed or as ambiguous as you like. We realize you might have a
preferred caliber for specific purposes, so feel free to say under what
circumstances you’d choose that caliber.
2.
Share your favorite
caliber’s survey with your audience (Google+, Facebook, and Twitter are fine
too). If we can get people who are passionate about shooting to take a few
minutes for the survey, we’d end up with some truly useful data to pass along to
our readers, and we’ll share all of that data with you once we have it
compiled:
Thank you so much for your time
and for hopefully sharing your knowledge. If you have any questions, please give
me a shout.
Mark
Mark Ollendale
P.O. Box 85073 #45605
Richmond, VA 23285-5073
Phone - 800-581-0293
Fax – 800-760-8511
9 comments:
Wow. Bucket o' Worms, indeed! LOL This is akin to asking motorheads whether Ford, Chevy, or GMC is best (we all know its Toyota, of course). I'll try to answer my opinion, though:
1. Honestly, the best caliber is the one that you, the shooter, feels most comfortable with. My wife has the Springfield XDs in .45. I carry the Springfield XD in 9mm. For me, the recoil is much easier with the 9mm, and the XDs is such a small gun that the recoil from the .45 is rather intimidating. It hits my wrist about as hard as my Mosin hits my shoulder. I can shoot her XDs, but I don't really enjoy it. However, I have shot a Desert Eagle 1911 .45, and absolutely LOVED the gun. It was easy to grip, felt good in my hand; the barrel was a good 5", so there was plenty of metal to combat the recoil bounce; and it fit my hand so well that the recoil back against my hand didn't really feel like a .45. So, if I had a choice for everyday carry, it would either be my 4" XD (which I do carry) or the 5" Desert Eagle. I have no problems with my wife carrying her XDs, since she likes the gun and shoots it well.
As far as which one's more effective, that again all depends on the shooter and the shot placement. A .22 round, placed correctly, will kill a person. The FBI has decided that, to be an effective defensive caliber, it needs to penetrate at least 12" in order to reach the maximum vital organs (the average thickness of the human body, when struck center-mass). Hit someone in the torso, and there's not many places where there's not something really important within 12". Check the link below, at the end of the article (talking about .40S&W, BTW) is a comparison of the ballistics done by the FBI. .380 falls somewhere between 9mm and 357.
So...which one is best? The one the shooter is most comfortable with.
http://www.guns.com/2012/08/27/does-the-40-saw-get-enough-credit/
I don't do surveys, but .45 ACP would be my answer.
How are you lately, dear heart?
I'm okay, resolved, resigned, reconstituted?! I don't know, things are stable. :-)
.357 magnum In a S&W revolver but I'm old --Ray
Hey Ray. That right there is my hunting backup every year. S&W Highway Patrolman .357 4-1/2" in an old JayPee holster. No safe queen, built like an anvil, and really bad to be on the receiving end.
I'm also old.
45 ACP
45. I carry mine loaded with Hornady 185 gr XTP hollow points. I may look into buying a 9 this weekend at the show. Never hurts to have another caliber. It would go good with the 380 and the 357.
With the modern JHP ammunition there is very little difference. The controversy began with military use, the .45 ACP was the American round, the 9mmP the Euro. Each round was based on the military experience of the parties involved. The Euro round was used on heavily clad conscripts who, no matter who one were still little more than slaves. The American round was based on the experience with the Sioux and Apache, then the Moros. Give a conscript the slightest excuse and he's out of the fight, not so the Moro or the Apache.
But today, well, unless one lives in one of those benighted places where civilians can't carry effective ammo any of the three will do about as well. I would be more concerned with the ability to keep the shootin' iron out of sight. Here in Resume Speed, Texas we're just about where the temp will still be 95 degrees F at midnight. Sorry, what works down here in the summer is a very small firearm, like an S&W Mod 60 or Ruger LCP.
Well, gee, I own all three, shoot all three, and like all three. Which would I take into a fight? Whichever was closest when the fight got to me.
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