9mm vs. .45 sidearms

[bdburns7289]

9x19

If you want to compare .45 and 9mm in war times, a 9mm wont even dent flak jackets or body armor. A .45 would. But the russian 9x19 works well with body armor, so thats my favorite caliber.

 

[Devonai]

Necropost!!!

Welcome to the forums.

 

[MICHAEL T]

A 45 of course, however must be fired from nothing less than a 4.25 in. barell and a 5 in. with a pony on the slide even better.

 

[DMF]

I've heard too many stories from police, etc though about how people kept coming at them after being shot with 9s and how .45s would knock them down even if they were only wounded, so I changed to .45s and .40s.

Comments like this always crack me up. I'm a cop, and as a DT instructor I spend alot of time studying use of force situations. Recently for all the guys in my agency that were complaining our 9mm's aren't enough, I showed them the video of a badguy (stone cold sober BTW) getting gut shot with .45ACP at close range, who not only doesn't go down, but continues to fight the cop HARD for several minutes, until he is cuffed. The badguy lived, with no long term injuries.

Then I showed them the video of the trooper who puts 5 rounds from a .357 Magnum into a BG. AFTER taking 5 shots from a .357 Mag the BG cranks off one round from a .22 which hits the trooper under the arm and penetrates all the way into the heart, killing him.

Now, I'm certainly not saying you should carry a .22 over a .357 or .45, but my point is shot placement, and penetrating far enough to damage the CNS or shut down the heart, is the only way to GUARANTEE a quick stop.

Energy transfer, fast vs. slow, 9mm vs. 45, blah, blah, blah, blah, . . . The key is HIT THE TARGET, keep hitting the target until the threat stops, and penetrating far enough to do the CNS or heart damage necessary to stop the threat is what is paramount.

So get yourself a good gun, and carry a round that has shown to provide 12 or more inches of penetration in gelatin tests. There are plenty of options available in 9mm, .40, .357 (Mag and Sig), and .45ACP. Get yourself a gun you are comfortable with, and practice with it.

The efficacy of the 9mm is often understated, the efficacy of the .45 is often overinflated. Plenty of folks worldwide have been killed by both, and plenty have lived through multiple shots from both.

 

[Sir Aardvark]

My opinion........

If you're going to shoot somebody, make sure the caliber begins with a 4 (.357 gets rounded up).

 

[Pylon]

9mm for me!

 

[RyanM]

How about a real compromise?

A 45mm pistol!

 

[BilboTN]

I pick none of the above.


.44 Magnum through a 6.5" barrel

 

[Pylon]

Let me know what is the largest caliber available...i'll take one caliber larger then that please

 

[Yooper]

Sometimes I wonder how many fewer gun magazines would be sold if I was to solve that problem definitively.

 

[DMF]

If you're going to shoot somebody, make sure the caliber begins with a 4 (.357 gets rounded up).

Well then I guess you're OK with a 9mm, since that's just a .357 bullet? How about a .380 or .38Spl, do they get rounded up too?

 

[Old Dog]

9mm vs. .45 ACP? Not again, please, not again! -- didn't we clear this up in 1992? Please, make it stop!

 

[Brick]

Caliber debates...

Hello everyone.â„¢

Yeah, it's me again...

Hey I'll bet this was never started before:

.22 Short vs. .50BMG?

.17 Rem. vs. .812?

.700 Nitro Express ( ) vs. .50AE?



Hey let's have some fun in the meantime



Last one is .700 Nitro Express.

 

[Nick96]

Unless you reload, ammo cost is going to determine how much you practice. If it's too expensive, you probably won't practice much. And if you don't practice, chances are reduced that you will hit what you want to hit when you really need to hit it. 9MM is typically 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of equivalently loaded factory .45's.

If you actually intend to carry a handgun, then ligh & small with minimal recoil & blast is appealing. The smallest, lightest, highest capacity and easiest to control major caliber handguns are 9MM's

With modern hollow point loadings, the practical defensive difference probably isn't all that great between the two rounds. The .45 is probably a bit better in all around loadings, but the 9MM is perfectly adequate for the majority of situations where a handgun would be employed.

So all things considered - the 9MM is probably a better choice for "all around" use. Now throw in reliability, really light weight & ease of operation - and you'll probably conclude that the small frame .38 Spl. revolver is probably the most useful all around personal defence handgun. As they have been for over 100 years.

 

[fedlaw]

Since I have no experience killing people with handguns, I have to rely on a former client's experiences. He was an enforcer for one of the less gentlemanly gangs and had (allegedly) killed 12 of the opposition in gunfights (he was proud of never being involved in the cowardly drive-by type of shooting). He told me he relied on his Colt Python for work and carried his Beretta 92 for pleasure. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to ask him what he thought of .45 cal.

 

[Pylon]

ohh, the wonderful drama of the 9mm vs .45 debate.

*sits down in chair, popcorn anyone?*

 

[cracked butt]

Let me kill this thread by saying:

"Hitler prefered 9mms!"

 

[seeker_two]

So, we've all agreed that the 9mm and .45ACP are both inferior to the .357Magnum, right?

After all, it's a revolver round. And we've all already agreed that revolvers are superior to autos in our prior posts....


Now that we have THAT settled, let's get back to discussing politics & religion....

 

[Island Beretta]

..i tried to resist the temptation but couldn't..

first, Way of the Gun, FWIW..the guy with the little .38 revolver did the guys in with the .45s and a mass of high-powered weapons.. watch the movie again and LEARN WHAT WIN GUNFIGHTS..

secondly, ask this question, which would you not mind being shot in the brain with, a 9mm or .45 bullet? what about in the hand? see your answer might change because suddenly it dawns on you: HEY, IT'S SHOT PLACEMENT THAT COUNTS..

thirdly, the fact that this question is the question of the internetneeyonder, then it means that the difference, if any, isn't night and day.. i mean which is faster, a Porsche or a Corolla?

 

[Pylon]

Island Beretta, nicely put. I love that movie btw. I never thought about it in the way you discribed it though.

 

[Fumbler]

If you're going to shoot somebody, make sure the caliber begins with a 4 (.357 gets rounded up).

ahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!

Sir Aardvark, I am not laughing with you, I am laughing at you.

DMF is right, you'd have no problems with the 9mm then (which is actually 0.355" not 0.357").

 

[Marshall]

Just have something, heck a .22 is better than nothing.

 

[Island Beretta]

a .22 is a WHOLE LOT BETTER than nothing..

 

[Texshooter]

So the real question becomes - Who here has had to fire their pistol in defense of their life? What caliber, gun, and what happened.

No, not what you read or what so and so said, but YOU. Who here has had to use it for real and what happened?

 

[mikemex]

The nine is the best cartridge out there. Not because it's powerful, but because it's the most practical to date.

For those who say it is a weak round, I would like to propose something:

We both get a gun, yours chambered in .700 Nitro Express, mine in .22 short.

We both get one shot, but I do it first.

An easy challenge, don't you think? With all that powet I am quite sure that you will win...