Better manstopper 357 Mag or 45 ACP?

[ranger351w]

Machete at 15 ft. as per 1st post

It would not matter unless the weapon was alreadty drawn. the guy with the machete can get to you before you can draw. And dats da truth.

 

[zt77]

whichever you can shoot better
a .22 mag in the heart will work better than a .357 125 gr federal hp to the gut.

the round itself with proper bullets i would say about equal

 

[stalkingbear]

I'll take my 1911 loaded with 230 gr +P Ranger SXT EVERY time! And NEVER feel undergunned.

 

[Taurus_9mm]

I wouldn't feel undergunned with either. However being a wheelgunner at heart, I lean a little more towards the .357 Magnum.

 

[snakeman]

357 with leverevolution ammo or handloads with ftx or xtp bullets get a 4" barrel and have concealability plus a suitable bow range hunting arm

 

[BlindJustice]

Too simmplistic a question....

Define Manstopper if the question was what is the better
HD/SD or "Fighting PIstol" Semi-AUto 45 or even the .45 ACP
revolver wins hands down.

.357 Mag can come in snubbie J-frames, medium frame or large frame
revolvers.... and once the bbl. len. goes below 4" in length there's a
hell of a lot of muzzle blast - slower recovery for a second shot and all that
espacially the llighter the weapon. Nobody makes a small framed .45 ACP
revolver - it's sub sonic mostly and doesn't have to rely on expanding bullets

Instead of "Manstopper" which one yah gonna put by the bedside?

and yes I have a choice a 1911 a S&W .45 ACP 625 as well as an
L-frame and J-frame S&Ws in .357 Mag. THe .45s stay ready the .357s
are cleaned after field/range use and kept in cases.


Stupid argument has been going on since I picked up gun mags
in the mid 60s. .357 Mag Great hunting round.

Randall

 

[drtee]

Pure stopping power? I don't know.

Woods walking = 357
Concealed = 45

Personal preference rules for choice.

 

[Mr. T]

The better Manstopper

Based on the Taylor Knock Out Value formula, the .45 ACP would be the best manstopper. With standard 230 grain ammo it has a T.K.O. value of 13.16. The .357 Mag using standard 158 grain ammo has a T.K.O. value of 9.99.
I happen to own both guns. The .357 Mag is a Ruger GP100 and is more accurate in my hands, the Springfield XD in .45 ACP is an excellent weapon though. It's ammunition capacity will hold 14 rounds of .45 ACP versus just six with the .357 Mag. I consider both to be good handguns, but the accuracy is much better with the .357 Mag. At 50 yards, the .357 mag will hold 4 to 5 inch groups. The .45 ACP will shoot 7-8 inch groups at 50 yards. However at 25 yards the diffence is much less noticable. Experts say that most handgun incidents occur at ranges of arm's length to 10 yards. That's where most people would probably prefer to have the additional ammunition capacity along with the faster follow up shot and with a .45 ACP the combination would have very effective results. The .357 Mag has the edge as a hunting weapon though with it's greater accuracy out at 50 yards; in hunting the edge in accuracy is what would really count.
Good luck with your decision.
Mr. T

 

[LightningJoe]

.357 would be better for shooting at four-footed problems. For bipeds, .45 Auto. For shooting at people, the .357 relies on hollowpoints which are fine in theory but that theory has gone very wrong for some.

 

[okespe04]

either

 

[lanternlad1]

This is an interesting video:
http://www.coldsteel.com/gurkhakukri.html

In the first half of this video, Lynn Thompson shoots a free hanging piece of meat with a .357 mag. The round goes through, but also badly bruises the meat. Since bruising in muscle tissue is caused by broken blood vessels, and dead meat has very little blood in it, this shows a great deal of damage being done by the .357 magnum.

 

[Joshu]

The only way to end this decades long debate woul be to shoot the same guy with both rounds. Of course deciding which round to shoot first would be hard. And after being shot on one previous occansion is someone more or less likely to continue an attack? Oh and finding a volunteer would also be difficult....

The test might also be illegal..

 

[1911 guy]

The only thing I know of to stop a man dead in his tracks is a blonde in a slinky black dress.

If you're talking handguns, all bets are off. Weird stuff happens, one guy will give up with a minor flesh wound, another will take everything you've got to the chest cavity and keep coming.

My personal opinion is to pick a caliber of at least .36" bore diameter, 100 grain projectile and 900 feet persecond velocity. More is better in all categories. Handguns are for when a rifle isn't convenient.

 

[drtee]

It has been said that size doesn't matter.

BUT:

IMO bigger is better when bullet and stopping ability to incapacitate someone, as quickly as possible, is the issue. Of course a 22 short will stop someone if hit in the right place. That doesn't mean I want a 22 if deadly force is required.:banghead: In some instances size does matter.

 

[Clarence]

.45 acp

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Countless arguments, tests, actual police shootings etc, have led me to believe that the .357 with a 125gr. DOES impart hydrostatic shock to a man-type target (boy, is that polictically correct, or what!), with the 125gr. HP .357 dominating the charts of one shot stops in acutal police shootings. The .45 gets better results than many other standard police rounds, even the new ones. However, portability, gun handling, familiarization etc, might cause anyone of us to choose one over the other. If you like autos, you should be well armed with a .45. If you like revolvers, and are not intimidated by the blast or sharp recoil of the .357 full loads, then the .357 may be for you. A revolver guy can move up to the .41 or .44 Mag, too. An auto guy might like the 10mm, which just may EXCEED the .357 in most every way. Bullet placement will easily put one over the other, MAYBE every time.

 

[goose2]

This thread makes want to go down tomorrow morning and trade my 45 acp in on a 357. "NOT" I have been the 357 rout before and I will never own another one. That caliber rings my ears like none other.

 

[mljdeckard]

To the vast majority of shooters in any given circumstance: Absolutely zero difference in real world lethality.

 

[Blakenzy]

It would not matter unless the weapon was alreadty drawn. the guy with the machete can get to you before you can draw. And dats da truth.

Yep. With either caliber that machete is going to hit you at that distance, unless you pull off a well aimed CNS shot that completely severs his upper spinal chord, in which case the differences between Magnum and ACP really won't matter that much...

 

[logical]

I'd say a persons preferance for a revolver or an auto would drive the choice between the two more than any real difference in man stoppage. And do we need a separate poll for ladystoppers?

 

[kauaisurfer1]

I think a 357 would go right through a person and take with it a ton of energy. It makes more sense to me to use a heavy 45 acp that that expels all its energy and stays inside the bad guy with a low risk of an exit. I think that is why law enforcement is going away from the fast 9mm.