4 Choices for Self Defense in Urban /Suburban. Situations. Your Choice.

[tarosean]

Own them all and could press any into service. However, I am rural so excluding my vote.

 

[Charlie98]

Own them all and could press any into service. However, I am rural so excluding my vote.

'Other' doesn't apply to you?


I would rather have a .45 in the instance of self-defense, but it's difficult to pack that on my body... so I carry a 9mm.

I think shot placement overshadows bullet diameter in many circumstances.

Amen. Further, I think shot placement overshadows bullet type as well. Ballistic gel isn't going to pull a knife on you, and there are so many variables that are out of your control. Get the bullet to the right spot is paramount...

 

[bannockburn]

Miami JBT

Heck, give me my Beretta Mod. 81 in .32 ACP. And I'll feel fine with it as long as it is loaded with proper European FMJ loads.

I use to feel the same way about my Beretta Model 84. I thought that even 14 rounds of .380 ammo would at least be going to get some intruder's attention.

Nowadays I have gone slightly upscale in my cartridge selection and magazine capacity (15+1) to a SIG P229R E2.

The frame rail is another nice plus as well.

 

[Gary H]

The most limiting situation is conceal carry. For me, that eliminates the magnum cartridges. 9mm is used by more police agencies, so it seems that 9mm is the safe choice. I don’t believe that advances in technology make the 9mm as lethal as the .45acp, unless you choose ammunition to skew the results.

 

[jar]

Miami JBT


I use to feel the same way about my Beretta Model 84. I thought that even 14 rounds of .380 ammo would at least be going to get some intruder's attention.

Nowadays I have gone slightly upscale in my cartridge selection and magazine capacity (15+1) to a SIG P229R E2.

The frame rail is another nice plus as well.

The rail is the one thing I hate about my P229.

 

[dodo bird]

.40 S&W

 

[4v50 Gary]

Old fashion. 45 ACP. It's what I carried for decades.

 

[grampster]

I have various choices, but for home protection I have my Beretta Mod 96 in .40 using Federal hydra shok. During Covid when there was a bit of minor unrest around town, I kept my Ithaca XL900 20ga upstairs in a closet. My carry pistols, depending on circumstances and clothing choices are a Ruger LCP .380 or a Ruger EC9s 9mm. I use ball in the LCP due to my experience with mouse guns not feeding hollow points reliably now and then. Just a personal preference, not particularly scientific. EC9s is fed Federal hydra shok.

 

[bannockburn]

jar

That's kind of interesting as the rail was the one thing I really wanted on my HD gun, so I could put a light/laser on it. The gun was used (but LNIB), had the SRT, the E2 grips, and came with three mags; all at a very affordable price!

 

[jar]

jar

That's kind of interesting as the rail was the one thing I really wanted on my HD gun, so I could put a light/laser on it. The gun was used (but LNIB), had the SRT, the E2 grips, and came with three mags; all at a very affordable price!

Yes, I'm very much an outlier since I don't put lights or optics on any of my handguns. And I aesthetically find the rails fuggly. But I'll also point out that quite a few of my pistols do have them; I just wished they didn't.

 

[film495]

.38 Special, because I have a 3" ultralight revolver I'll actually carry.

 

[Rival]

Personally I carry either 40 or 357, these are the only ones I have on my license to carry.

40 urban, 357 suburban for the most part, but I can switch em up depending on the mood.

 

[Kleanbore]

I wouldn't choose a cartridge without choosing the handgun.

As long as it has adequate terminal ballistics, it is chosen on the bases of two things: whether is can be carried concealed comfortably all day, and how well I can achieve a balance of speed and precision when shooting it.

 

[IJ1981]

Noop. No 10mm AUTO in the poll = major poll fail.

No 40S&W listed either, but that’s understandable since it’s been declared a ‘dead round’ by the FBI’s ballistic experts.

83% of THR have voted for the 4 poll choices. I would not consider that a poll fail and it DOES cover most of the forum!

Am I missing something?

 

[trackskippy]

As with any other situation, the choice is whatever you shoot the best with, in a realistic manner, and on a regular basis in practice. Caliber isn't as critical as what you can do with what you have. Caliber can be more of a hindrance than a help, but you also have to be realistic about things too.

Id be willing to bet, that most wont do well with the larger calibers (or any caliber for that matter), especially in a smaller gun, and especially if they arent shooting them all the time to gain and retain proficiency.

If you've shot any of them side by side in any kind of more realistic course of fire, the heavy recoiling calibers with a heavy muzzle blast and a reduced capacity make it pretty obvious, they arent the one.

 

[GEM]

As with any other situation, the choice is whatever you shoot the best with, in a realistic manner, and on a regular basis in practice. Caliber isn't as critical as what you can do with what you have. Caliber can be more of a hindrance than a help, but you also have to be realistic about things too.

Id be willing to bet, that most wont do well with the larger calibers (or any caliber for that matter), especially in a smaller gun, and especially if they arent shooting them all the time to gain and retain proficiency.

If you've shot any of them side by side in any kind of more realistic course of fire, the heavy recoiling calibers with a heavy muzzle blast and a reduced capacity make it pretty obvious, they arent the one.

Agree, I shoot a 1911 fairly regularly and I'm on target and faster with more shots with a 9mm Glock. Given modern rounds, I don't really gain anything from the 1911. Not that it wouldn't be an effective SD gun, but the 9 is better. The revolvers are effective guns but I see no advantage in giving away round count for 'stopping power'. If a bear enters the house as a surprise and a 44 is at hand - ok, a fantasy maybe. If I had warning of a bear (they are 6 miles way), got the long arms.

I do like to shoot the 1911 - I like the boom and big holes. My old hands can still handle it. At the last match, a 1911 shooter kept on accidentally flipping on his safety between shooting stations - oops. The old do I need a manual safety to cross with the stopping power debates of the Internet.

 

[nofendertom]

In 12yrs of shooting matches, I have seen that happen a number of times. Usually the shooter says he/she was making the gun safe while changing stations so they
wouldn't be DQed.

 

[General Geoff]

9mm pistol on the go, 9mm carbine at home if I could only have one caliber. Change that to 5.56 at home if that's available

 

[Charlie98]

Id be willing to bet, that most wont do well with the larger calibers

I found the poll choices pretty reasonable... except the .44MAG part. I'm not surprised it hasn't been picked by anyone...

 

[trackskippy]

The 357's, especially in the smaller revolvers can be a real handful and are no treat to shoot, and trying to shoot them reactively and repetitively, can be a challenge, even for experienced shooters. They certainly don't breed the desire to practice with them as often as they need.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

In colder weather, 9MM FMJ more efficient against thick clothing. For members of SNM-Sons of Neanderthal Man-like me, steel frames dampen recoil better, allow for faster follow up shots. 44 Magnum ? As Bill Jordan said, unlikely that you'd need a follow up shot against someone clobbered with this cannon but the fact that he might have a confederate cannot be overlooked.
The 38 Special should have been on the list. As Jordan noted it is the most powerful round the average man-i.e. most of us-can expect to master.

 

[Kleanbore]

The 38 Special should have been on the list.

Yep.

 

[I6turbo]

jar

That's kind of interesting as the rail was the one thing I really wanted on my HD gun, so I could put a light/laser on it.

Same here. An HD handgun must have a rail, else it probably won't be serving me as my go-to HD handgun.

 

[jdc1244]

38 Special, because I have a 2" j frame I'll actually carry.

 

[ms6852]

I'm ok with any caliber listed . Though I carry a .357, for urban warfare scenario I would carry my 1911. I have high capacity drum magazines for my 1911's.