Your Favorite Semi-Auto Pistol Caliber and Why

10mm Auto, because it brings the performance and versatility of the .357 Magnum to the autoloader. If you can only own one handgun to do everything from hunting to defending yourself from two and four legged threats, the 10mm Auto is your cartridge. Or if you just like really ringing that steel.

If we’re talking about practicality, I’d go 9mm and .22 in a close second place.

If it’s just about fun I’d go .45, .22, and 9mm in that order. All the .45s I’ve ever shot have been a good time, especially the 1911.

TTv2 said:

While I have nothing that can shoot it, for me it's 10mm. You can get low end power levels equal to .40 S&W or up to Underwood 10mm, so that's a wide range of options you have and weaker 10mm akin to .40 loads would be great in a subcompact like the Glock 29, the hot stuff for a full size like the Glock 40 MOS. Heck, 10mm can even shoot .40 without having to change any parts.

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If I am going to add calibres that I don't have, I would add 357sig. On paper, it looks great. I just never got around to adding one. I suspect that I will add 22tcm before 357sig. The main thing that keeps me from 22tcm is that it is a single vendor product.

That being said, if the Springfield EMP was offered in 357sig it would be on the short end of my shortlist.

There can be only one....... .45 Automatic Colt Pistol.

What’s my favorite pistol caliber and why? 45 ACP because it’s fat and heavy, like me......lmao

9mm. It's power-to-cost ratio is pretty dang good.

and

.22 LR. It's fun-to-cost ratio is pretty dang good.

.22LR for the economical price. Everything else I have to be mindful of the wallet drain. The .45 ACP is my other choice but I have to keep count of how much I shoot those. The .22LR and .45 have the nicest triggers so shooting those is fun. The 9's I like too but the triggers compared to the 1911 is worlds apart so read that as my ability to have good trigger form.

More design of the guns I like than the caliber itself for me. I truly love an m9/beretta92/taurusPT pistol. But the 22 versions I have tried flat out suck. So 9mm is wayyyy up there. The next has to be 10mm because it seems right in a modern 1911. Fat and slow hits too close to home for me to like a 45 but a faster and lighter round with more hunting capability fits what I like in a handgun.

.45 acp. It works even when the 5.56 won’t

Stopping power



And someone is in big trouble for fusing all those rounds up

favorite semi-auto caliber and why?
first of all, i like the 357 mag and 44 mag best for pistols... but they don't belong in autos so...

10mm; it has the best power commercially available for auto-loaders. i don't own a 10mm because i don't like any of the pistols it is offered in (except the sig p220 but it don't have any capacity advantage over my 8-shot 357 so..) but the question was about caliber, not a specific gun.

#2. 357 sig... this one i do own in a 5" s^w m&p. again; power! when i choose a gun for ccarry the question in my mind isn't "what's the puniest gun that would intimiddate a bad guy?"

i do shoot an aweful lot of 9mm .40 and .45 for economys sake... nothing impresses me about those calibers though. i actually shot my deer last season with my sig 1911 .45 with a 200gr hornady xtp and was quite disappointed in its performance.

Hasaf said:

If I am going to add calibres that I don't have, I would add 357sig. On paper, it looks great. I just never got around to adding one. I suspect that I will add 22tcm before 357sig. The main thing that keeps me from 22tcm is that it is a single vendor product.

That being said, if the Springfield EMP was offered in 357sig it would be on the short end of my shortlist.

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SharpDog said:

The .357 Sig is a great all-purpose round. The original loading available from Underwood, Buffalo Bore, etc. very closely mimics the .357 magnum while the popular loadings are close to the .40 S&W. Kind of like a .357 mag and a .38 spl. but in the same caliber. I would not feel under gunned against anything from black bear on down with suitable bullets.

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I use to dig the sig, it's got a lot going for it like good power and the bottleneck is good for reliable feeding, but it's limited to 125 grain mostly with 147 grains rare and expensive plus it's a PITA to reload. For the money, 10mm is more bang for the buck, greater variety of ammo, easier to reload.

I still think the .357 Sig has huge potential for military applications, but until it gets adopted by a service branch or by various police departments (which it won't cuz $$$) the sig just doesn't have much merit for civilians to consider owning it other than they like it and are willing to pay the price for liking it.

I got tangled up in the survey and only voted for one caliber. I prefer 40 S&W because my everyday gun is a G23. However, #2 is a H&K USPC in 45ACP. My favorite carry revolvers are 357 Magnum and a 44 Magnum. These rounds have a track record.

I would go with the 9m.m. parabellum. It balances power with recoil that is manageable in most guns and has the largest selection of handguns so you can choose what fits your needs best.

Jim

Trunk Monkey said:

Stopping power

View attachment 826461

And someone is in big trouble for fusing all those rounds up

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I respectfully disagree, while it's popular to say "stopping power is a myth" IMO it's closer to the truth
to say the terminology is sorely misused. IOW, would you agree that 44 magnum, when compared to
.25 ACP, is a substantially stronger round ? The point is that stopping power can be somewhat
effectively used, as a comparison tool, when sizing up different calibers. But it's total hogwash to
select one caliber, hold it up, and say "THIS has true stopping power.". The problem with actual
"stopping power", as borne by statistics, is the more powerful the round, the less likely the average
Joe will be able to shoot it effectively under real life conditions. Otherwise, everybody would be
using 454 Casull. (No, I'm NOT advocating usage of 454 Casull.)

Gunny

But who's kidding who? I really love the 45 Auto. Aint nothing more fun then putting big holes in things.

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While the 9mm. is my EDC, target shooting, and plain old plinking fun favorite, the .45 ACP is my sentimental favorite for the same reason. That plus the fact that when I was growing up a Colt Government in .45 ACP was just as iconic as a S&W N frame in .357 Magnum.

bannockburn said:

Gunny



While the 9mm. is my EDC, target shooting, and plain old plinking fun favorite, the .45 ACP is my sentimental favorite for the same reason. That plus the fact that when I was growing up a Colt Government in .45 ACP was just as iconic as a S&W N frame in .357 Magnum.

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The best thing for throwing 230 gr rocks at paper.

jeepnik said:

.45 acp. It works even when the 5.56 won’t

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You don't really think your .45 is more effective than a 5.56, do you?

9mm because most of my European milsurp handguns are chambered in it

GunnyUSMC said:

The best thing for throwing 230 gr rocks at paper.
View attachment 826485

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This is on my list of Must have guns

I tend to bounce between .45 ACP and 9mm as my two, but I've been trending to 9mm a lot more lately.

Accurate, does what I need and is fun to shoot. Reloads a bit cheaper than .45 and I've found some loads that my guns really like and shoot very similar to my carry HPs (4.2 CFE under RMR 147 grain round nose ).

I think I get drawn back to .45 occasionally because I love my 1911s so much, but I've got a line on a trade for a DW Valkyrie in 9mm that might push me even further into mostly only shooting 9mm.

I used to be a .45 ACP guy when it came to autoloaders. Then I got my first 9mm then another. Then I sold them both and missed them so now I have 2 more and am considering another. (This isn’t about the guns, it’s about the ammo)

Why did I switch? Cost was part of it but I just enjoy shooting 9mm more. I am more accurate with it, probably because I practice more. I have quicker follow up shots when practicing. It weighs less for carrying loaded mags and when lugging my gear to the range. It takes up less real estate in my gun bags and ammo cans. I just love the round.

If you would have told me 15 years ago I would be a fan if the 9mm I would have laughed.