My Personal Handgun Caliber Dogma

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Meh. Everybody has their own "personal handgun caliber dogma", and as such go yours is as good as any other.

ALL handguns, and everything about them, are compromises on a number of things. Weight, concealability, capacity, caliber, power, function, shape, trigger, sights, grip, etc. And let's not forget price, especially these days!

And let's not forget esthetics, too. I'm a firm believer that esthetics may indeed be something very important for some people. I know it is for me. I, for one, won't own a Glock simply because they're ugly as sin in my eyes and I don't want to own an ugly gun. This, despite the fact that Glocks are by any measure an outstanding pistol. Fortunately, there are a great many other pistols to choose from which do appeal to my eyes.

Since all handguns are compromises on many different features, what may suitably fit for one person may not work at all for another. And yes, caliber is part of this.

.380, for example, has been described by many as having mild recoil. Well...sure, depending on what gun you fire it from. My wife's PPK/S will happily let the webbing of your hand between your thumb and forefinger know that it's very capable of hammering the bejeebers out of it, much more so than my 92FS. Yet it's a much easier to conceal pistol than my 92FS.

Some handguns I own were never bought with self defense in mind at all. While I'm quite sure .45 Colt will be effective against an attacker, I'm not about to shift to my Colt SAA as my concealed carry preference.

Also, even within a given caliber, there can be a wide range of performance characteristics based on mass of the bullet, design of the bullet, velocity of the bullet, if the ammo is designed to work better out of a short barrel, etc.

Modern ammo choices these days are far and above what they used to be decades past. There are plenty of suitable self defense rounds in a great variety of calibers these days. Pick something that will function flawlessly in your chosen handgun and go with it, I say.


Frank Ettin has posted this elsewhere on the subject of calibers/bullets. Choose your balance:

So as a rule of thumb --

  • More holes are better than fewer holes.
  • Larger holes are better than smaller holes.
  • Holes in the right places are better than holes in the wrong places.
  • Holes that are deep enough are better than holes that aren't.
  • There are no magic bullets.
  • There are no guarantees.
 
Not a fan of the 9mm because, as the wise man said " Your punybellum may not expand but my .45 will never shrink". :p
 
Mine is much simpler.

9mm is adequate for SD needs and fun for target shooting.

If I need more power I just go straight to 10mm.

Everything else is for fun.
 
9mm is cheaper. That’s why it’s popular. If .40 were the cheapest SD caliber, it would be the most popular.
 
9mm is cheaper. That’s why it’s popular. If .40 were the cheapest SD caliber, it would be the most popular.

Im not sure I agree. In my case I think .40 feels much closer to .45 than 9mm, and in micro guns it’s much less enticing (which are all the rage for CCW/SD these days). I’m hard pressed to find a .40 I truly like shooting that I don’t wish, immediately, I was shooting a 9mm or .45 instead. Conversely I’m hard pressed to find a 9mm or .45 I don’t like.

But that’s just me of course.
 
One guy fighting off Mad Max Clockwork Orange gangs is the exception, not the rule. He has to scare you with those so you’ll pay him big bucks to train you. I know the kind of violent crimes in my city. You do you, I’ll do me.

Oldest sales trick in the book. Scare you, then sell you comfort.
 
9mm is cheaper. That’s why it’s popular. If .40 were the cheapest SD caliber, it would be the most popular.
The popularity of 9mm and 380 is due more to people's choices in wardrobe. If you live in cargo shorts and tee shirts, where do you put a gun, and how big or heavy can it be? If you already need suspenders, what weight and size gun will you favor for the pocket of those tent pants?
 
The popularity of 9mm and 380 is due more to people's choices in wardrobe. If you live in cargo shorts and tee shirts, where do you put a gun, and how big or heavy can it be? If you already need suspenders, what weight and size gun will you favor for the pocket of those tent pants?

I live in cargo shorts and thin shirts, carry a Glock 17 AIWB everywhere, everyday. No problem.
FLsummer4.jpg

EDC2.jpg
 
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So the "average 5 rounds and 5 yards" or whatever is wrong? The above sounds like gang fights, not average citizens stopping an armed robbery.

Examples where 5 hits failed to quickly incapacitate a single attacker:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/do-examples-incidents-matter-to-you.902897/

Police involved: irrelevant.
The take away should be: "Dang, those guys were not quickly incapacitated by 5 hits".
Should we entertain the possibility of missing? (Nah, I shoot like John Wick ;))
Should we entertain the possibility of more than one attacker? (Could happen, even in a "good area" for a "quick trip to the store" - bad guys are mobile)
 
Have you shot a .380 out of a 10 oz gun?
Ha ha ... you must be thinking of the Glock 42. That's one snappy little .380 pistol. It would be OK if the grip was longer. I declined to buy one in favor of the S&W competition.

Note: I posted above before reading the whole thread, so just ignore me. ;)
 
If something attacks me that requires 14 shots of 40 caliber to be put down, it is an alien or paranormal creature or super villain.
Here is Houston the home invaders, carjackers, convenience store thieves and other general bad apples increasingly operate in groups of three, sometimes more. If my pistol has 14 rounds I would like at least 1-2 additional mags available because the baddies can be pretty persistent.
 
Ha ha ... you must be thinking of the Glock 42. That's one snappy little .380 pistol. It would be OK if the grip was longer. I declined to buy one in favor of the S&W competition.

Note: I posted above before reading the whole thread, so just ignore me. ;)
The Glock 42. Snappy? G42 is relatively big for a .380. Known by many as one of the softest shooting pistols they've shot. It's also about 12.3 oz with no mag. 16 oz fully loaded (95 Gr ammo).
 
The Glock 42. Snappy? G42 is relatively big for a .380. Known by many as one of the softest shooting pistols they've shot.
Who's "many"??? Obviously they haven't shot the S&W M&P Shield 380 EZ* to compare. Or a Bersa Thunder 380*. Or a Sig-Sauer 232*. Or a Walther PPK/S*. Or a Beretta 70S*. Or a Beretta 84*. Or ..... (name pretty much any steel or alloy-frame .380 ACP pistol).

* all of which I personally own and have shot, as compared with a Glock 42, which I have rented and shot.
 
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Does it ever print in the wind? Also what's your carry ammo for it?

Note that my shirts have a pattern or print, and are loose fit, another example:
FLsummer1.jpg

Yes, the wind can be a factor, I live 300 yards from the beach; pattern or print helps break bulge if shirt is wind blown into me.
Also, having a claw on the holster helps hold (push) the grip toward my body; these are my AIWB holsters:
1722c.jpg

ETA: current ammo in the Glock 17 is Ranger T 127 +p+ the 22 has 180 HST.
 
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I'd prefer .556 with Hornady 75 Gr T2 TAP BTHP.
Yes, but I can think of no one that I've ever had dealings with on the street that were brave enough to go head to head with a man or woman pointing a 75 caliber swizzle stick at them . Especially when you racked the slide and chambered one of them really fat rounds.

There weren't a lot of .223's out there when I first started as a peace officer in '96
 
Yes, but I can think of no one that I've ever had dealings with on the street that were brave enough to go head to head with a man or woman pointing a 75 caliber swizzle stick at them . Especially when you racked the slide and chambered one of them really fat rounds.

There weren't a lot of .223's out there when I first started as a peace officer in '96
Ancient proverb: Shotguns stop more gunfights before they start than any other weapon.
 
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