Glock 19 or 23: 9mm vs 40

Pick one. You're good to go either way with good hollowpoints.

I like the 9mm. I have a Glock 23 and while it is an awesome gun, it is not very much fun to shoot. The recoil is extremely snappy and after about 30 rounds, I dont feel like shooting it anymore. The gun feels like it wants o leap out of your hand on every shot. I got a storm lake 9mm conversion barrel from the G23 and that works 100%.It's 9mm is tame.. just goes "pop" as opposed to the .40cal's "BANG!"

It's just your basic caliber war question. Do a search for THR threads with comparisons of 9mm and 40.
They're not that far off from one another.

Honestly, the best thing you can do is shoot them both. See which one works best for you.

I made a mistake the other day by selling my Glock 23 insted of selling my glock 19.

If you get a Glock 23 in .40 you can spend 100 bucks, get a 9mm barrel and you now have a Glock 19.

You can not go the other way. That Glock 19 can not shoot .40 and basically be a glock 23.

do the 23. Its more adjustable


JOe

The 23 can become a .357 with no modifications other than a drop-in .357 barrel, and a 9mm for range time with a drop-in conversion barrel and 9mm magazines, and it can become a full-time 9mm if you like that best with a bare minimum of fuss and a few quick minutes of swapping out the easily replaced ejector block with a 9mm version, if you want you can switch the extractor as well and the transformation will be complete.

I've had good luck with just the barrel and mag change-outs though.

I'd say if you aren't planning on playing with .357 or a 9mm conversion barrel, get whichever one you find the better deal on, and they both have plenty of very good options for defense loads out there, so don't overthink it.

What round do you guys keep in your 9mm carry pistol?

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I buy police surplus ammo. Currently my Glock 19 is loaded with Winchester Ranger 124gr Partition Gold but would be happy with any of the Winchester Ranger SXT , PDX , Federal HST, Hydra Shock, Speer Gold Dots, or Remington Golden Sabers.

Personally, I'm cool with 11-14 as optimum, 12 is a little better, I think reliable 13 is perfect.

I like the 147+P HST, it's great, and 180 HST or 165 HST for my .40 pistols.

But, any of these will be fine, and all meet that arbitrary but reasonable 12 inch number-
Hornady XTP (less expansion than most, but known for superb accuracy potential and deep penetration), Remington Golden Saber, Winchester Ranger-T, probably that new Winchester load that looks identical to a Gold Dot, PDX I think, Speer Gold Dot, Cor-Bon DPX (expensive though). I'm sure theres a couple other great ones out there that I forgot, but those are the major ones that you can't go wrong with.

For what it's worth, I have carried generic Remington, Winchester, Georgia Arms, and Fiocchi JHP before and didn't feel that I was any less well-armed, however in a life or death struggle any last drop of performance you can squeeze out of a load is worth it to me.

Plus the HST is so reasonably priced it wasn't difficult for me to get plenty to test my guns for reliability and have a bunch left over.

And I've carried the 124+P HST as well, again, didn't feel any more or less well-armed.

I too consider most premium hollow points in 9mm/40S&W to be effective for SD (as to which might be better, that's another thread ).

You should carry whichever caliber/bullet you feel the most comfortable and can accurately shoot with. Caliber/bullet selection won't mean much if you can't hit your target in real BG situation.

It's the G23 for me!

How many inches of penetration in ballistic gel do you think the round you use for carry should get?

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A much over-hyped statistic. Any of the Big 3 (9mm, .40, and .45) will suit your needs. If you're really concerned though, perhaps consider .357 SIG or 10mm.

I personally carry a .45, but have realized that it doesn't really matter what you carry to the object on the receiving end. Whatever you decide to go with, PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.

2TransAms has it right I think.

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.

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+1, absolutely!

Get which ever one that allows you too shoot more accurately in a faster time frame.

I've heard lots of people complain about shooting the 23, and seen at least a couple of guys who couldn't qualify with one.

I don't remember ever hearing anything but positives about the 19. It is a great balance of weight, concealability, power, capacity, reliability and controllable shootability. I don't have any real affection for Glocks and carry a 1911 on duty. But when I carry a belt gun off duty, which is often, it's a 19.

Two years ago, I bought a Glock 23 after a long time love affair with my Glock 19 that I purchased back in 1994. Thinking I'd have the same feelings for the Glock 23, I got one but didn't keep it long. I never could fall in love with the recoil of the 23 and honestly found it unpleasant to shoot, so I sold it five months after buying it brand new.

In my 19, I carry 124 +p Federal HST in the pistol and feel more than adequately protected. It shoots reliably, is low maintenance, lends itself to being carry friendly with its light weight and fairly compact size, and has extremely minimal recoil. The Glock 19 is the best all around pistol I own, and any of today's quality ammunition make it a great pistol choice. It's just one of those pistols I'll never part with.

I can somewhat related to the OP, since I have a 19 and a buddy has a 23. My reasons for the 19 are basically lower recoil and high mag capacity. They way I figure, the whole "one shot stop" idea is nonsense. Any target worth shooting at all is gonna get a controlled pair and probably a followup. So that's 3 rounds per target. You can simply engage more targets with the 19 than with the 23. And when using modern JHP rounds, and variance in expansion due to diameter is really negligible. I understand that when talking about FMJ or old HPs, the .40 had better ballistics due to it's greater diameter. But with modern rounds, it's pretty much even except for minuscule differences. And to me, the few extra rounds and greater control of recoil more than makes up for a few millimeters of expansion. And then there is the fact I see a lot more stories about .40 kabooms than 9mm....

I essentially traded my G23 for a G19 and have been happy with my decision. My G19 is now my most carried handgun. I like how you can swap calibers with the G23, but for me, I am fine with the 9 mm and wanted a 9 mm from the factory.

If you want Glock, I'd stay away from the .40. Lots of people have already complained about the recoil because it's a lighter gun and the .40 has a pretty significant snap. Also, I've read somewhere that the Glock .40s do not have a fully supported chamber (not sure what that actually means, but I've heard it more than a few times) and thus the "kaboom" phenomenon can happen. Like someone else also mentioned, the original chambering for the Glock design was the 9mm. Given the lighter weight of a Glock and that fact, 9mm would be my personal choice if buying one over the other. You can buy the conversion barrel for 9mm, but why pay extra when you could have gotten the 19 to begin with?

If you like the ballistics of the .40 S&W, choose a different make.

If you like the ballistics of the .40 S&W, choose a different make.

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OR get the Glock 23c (compensated). It REALLY does reduce muzzle flip and it honestly shoots very similar to the Glock 19 9mm

The whole idea of not getting a Glock 23 because of "Kaboom's" is just silly. Do you know just how many there are out there RIGHT now? a TON... and the occasional story you hear about Kaboom's is usually the same story being repeated with different words or phrases that the person posting makes to make the story their own or a friend of theirs blah blah blah.

Glock .40's are also more willing to blow up if you attach a light to the rail... (see how stupid that sounds, but people do say that).

Call me nuts but go out and shoot both and let your hands decide. You TRULY can't go wrong either way and make the decision for yourself.

just my free advice.

you really can't go wrong

My two .40 caliber Glocks have never exploded.

A slightly higher pressured round available in some calibers, including 9mm, .38 Special, and .45 ACP. There is no +P in .40 or .357 Sig, and .357 Magnum just has different levels of 'heat'.

It brings the 9mm into its own in some ways, though I personally don't find the recoil to be noticeably different in a service pistol. Adds usually between 50 feet per second up to a maximum of about 100 feet per second, generally seen combined with 124 grain or 115 grain bullets, though there are a few 147+P loads too, like the HST.