Change of mind from .45 to 9mm

[Tarwater]

POTENTIAL CALIBER WAR OH NO
Yes, I know this isn't the most original question in the world. If this kind of thing bugs you just move on.

The similarly-named thread a few lines down made me want to ask this question. Has anyone gone from preferring .45 to 9mm? I'm seriously considering trading my XD45 for a 9mm M&P. I've only had .45s before and never really gave 9mm a chance until I got a pocket 9 for CCW. I'm so enamored with the thing that now I'm looking at getting a full-size 9 for plinking/home defense/backpacking open carry, in that order. The high capacity and low cost of ammo are both very tempting and I'm starting to think the bullet size between the two just isn't enough to make much of a difference in terms of a defense situation. This is more of a talk-me-down-or-talk-me-into-it thread, basically. If you've made a similar switch, please tell me why you did it.

(Also if anyone owns both an XD45 and an M&P9 I would love to hear what you think)

 

[Black Majik]

I do believe in standardizing to common calibers (and what's available to WM WWB value packs ), but BOTH a 9mm and .45 are "must haves."

They serve each purpose different, and both are loads of fun and enjoyment. 9mm is cheaper, and if that means you'll practice and shoot more, by all means go for it.

But I say keep you .45 and save up for another 9mm. You might actually regret it.

For record, I've standardized to .22, 9mm and .45 for my pistols. I enjoy shooting 9mm just as much as I do .45 ACP, so my view might be a bit biased. But I still think you should keep it, only unless you absolutely hate the .45 ACP cartridge.

 

[Tarwater]

I do have one more .45 besides the XD that I would never get rid of, but that's still probably good advice. The only problem is that I'm both poor and impatient, so that's why I'm considering trading instead of trying to save up vv

 

[Waywatcher]

The high capacity and low cost of ammo are both very tempting and I'm starting to think the bullet size between the two just isn't enough to make much of a difference in terms of a defense situation.

You're making too much sense.

 

[Tarwater]

You're making too much sense.

Sorry!

 

[kokapelli]

I'm with you! I have gone to 9mm only for carry and home defense.

Only one caliber of ammo to buy and keep track of and of course cost of ammo is a major consideration too.

One size barrel brush, jag and patches.

Of course, I have always liked simplicity where others may not mind having to duplicate everything for each caliber they own.

 

[Fat_46]

I just got my first 9mms - a Glock 19 and an XD9 (2-fer-1 gun swap). I've primarily been a 45/1911 guy, but toss in the S&W 36 depending on cover garment and temperature. I reload for the 45, but figure I'll just use Wally World value packs for the 9.

Haven't been to the range yet, but in all honestly I cannot believe that a 4" barrel and 15 rounds of 9mm weigh as little as they do, at least in comparison to a steel 1911.

 

[universal]

Has anyone gone from preferring .45 to 9mm?

Well, sort of. I have owned two .45ACPs in the past and later became a big believer in the .40S&W caliber. I now prefer the 9mm and this is only caliber semi-auto I own. I found that I shoot it a little bit better than the .40 or .45 and due to health reasons I also need a caliber I can shoot without causing too much pain. The .40 was a big problem for me. I have not shot a .45 since I became ill. My primary handgun caliber is the .38 Special. I can shoot it well, without much pain, and enough to keep up with my shooting skills.

I have come to like the 9mm so much that were I to return to law enforcement (I wish ), I would want to carry a 9mm chambered sidearm if possible.

 

[.357 magnum]

Tarwater

Gosh Tarwater I am a huge .45 fan. But I would say keep .45 so you do not have any regrets and get a low cost but high quality 9mm. [such as a Taurus 24/7 or XD 9mm] Yes a .45 is a better man stopper, but a 9mm is still enough to get the job done and your cost for ammo is less. I have found my accuracy with a .45 is excellent, but even I have been tempted to get one 9mm because of the cost of ammo. If you have some extra money get yourself a 9mm and have some fun with it, see if you like it.

The Best to you and yours!

Frank

 

[redbearde]

Has anyone gone from preferring .45 to 9mm?

When I took my CCW class, one of the fellows who taght it did. He related the following experience.

His wife had just gone out the front door to walk their small dog. He was at the door watching them go. Before she even got to their picket fence, a neighbor's dog from down the road came bounding up and started attacking her (with two more in tow). He immediately grabbed his .45 1911 colt. He was a marine many moons ago, and had been around guns (indeed this one) for decades, yet in his excitement he forgot to rack the slide on his way out the door. So he gets to the fray of his wife, their er...dog......and the 3 attacking dogs. He aims his colt, goes to pull the trigger, and of course nothing happens. He immediately worked the slide and put a federal hydroshock through what he claimed was a perfect heart lung shot.

The dog kept moving. So he put two more through it before it stopped moving.

As he said, "I did the math"...6 rounds, took 3 to take out one, and there are 2 more dogs. ruh-roh....fortunately for all involved the other two dogs, again in his words, "chose wisely" and ran off. I suppose the big boom of the .45 is useful in and of itself.

He then explained that he now carries a 9mm G26 with some round that has 1500fps muzzle velocity (he didn't specify, and I wonder what the hell round that was, but he was clear that it wasn't federal hydroshocks) and many more rounds in the mag.

I think his conclusions are a bit jumped to, but he did indeed switch from a .45 to a 9mm.

 

[MICHAEL T]

In last year I have added 3 9mm to my collection. I enjoy the 9 and carry but 45 still king.
As for the so called instructer. Should have had fully loaded 7+1 or 8+1 not empty chamber and 6 rounds. 2nd Ive see a sick house cat take a 357 125HP and still kept try to attack the owner. 2nd round headshot put down.
Animals are not people and react different.

 

[skers69]

I seem to recall a topic just about like this....but who cares.

I have two 9mm pistols a cz pcr and sig cpo p226. Love to shoot both of them. The ammo is cheaper with the 9mm than the 45 i shoot. But I would keep the 45 you have and save up for the 9mm. You can find a used cpo sig for around 450-500 and a cz 75 around 400. I feel both the 9 and 45 would work just fine for HD/SD.

Just my opinion.

9mm G26 with some round that has 1500fps muzzle velocity

I know that corbon have some hot loads...but i dont think it was 1500 fps.

 

[MikePGS]

For the record i have no idea what round goes 1500 FPS in a G26 (Maybe a sub 100 grain round of some sort?). That being said, as strange as this may sound... i've never actually shot a 9mm to my recollection (maybe a long long time ago, but i don't really recall). That being said as i'm sure we'll hear dozens of times on this thread, its all about shot placement. If we gun owners spent nearly as much time practicing as we did arguing about calibers, we could all tote .22's and take eye shots hitting every single time


EDIT: I just checked Mr Stephen Camps excellent webpage http://hipowersandhandguns.com/Glock26Velocities.htm and noticed that yes there are a couple of rounds that he tested that went 1500 FPS plus. They are the Aguila 65-gr IQ HP which travels at the speed of 1517 fps and the Glaser Silver Pre-Frag +P (not sure what grain) which travels at a rate of 1514 fps. Maybe the guy was using glasers?

 

[Lone_Gunman]

He then explained that he now carries a 9mm G26 with some round that has 1500fps muzzle velocity

He would need to tell me what that round is and let me see the specs before I will believe that any 9mm will do 1500 fps out of a short barrelled gun like the G26. That is well beyond what most 357 magnums will do out of a short barrel. If such a round exists, which I personally would doubt, it would have to be very light and I would doubt how well it would penetrate.

Basing your decision of what round to carry on anecdotal data is statistically unwise..

 

[MikePGS]

Check out that link to Stephen Camp's site lone gunman. But like you said their pretty light rounds (90 and 80 grains i believe) and the 80 grain round is a glaser.

 

[461]

Yup, no more 1911's and one Glock 34. Semi-auto that works every time requirement met, now I can get back to revolvers.

 

[loplop]

I switched from all 1911's and 45ACP to 9mm for carry. Ammo cost was one. I also found that my preferred 3" 1911's were a little tough for me to control; I couldn't get off follow-up shots as quickly as I would have liked. This was compounded by the riding cost of ammo, which led me to practice less.

Ironically, my first 1911 was a SIG in 45ACP. I wanted to stay 45ACP, and the SIGs were my 2nd fav to the 1911's back when I got into pistols, so I grabbed one. I was so impressed with that P220 "Carry" that I wanted an even smaller SIG for hot weather carry. No smaller 45ACP's, so I bought a P239 in 9mm. I thought "why not."

Well, what do you know. I've really enjoyed 9mm. So cheap to shoot, and after a thousand rounds or so I started my 9 as well as any 45ACP. Because the ammo is so cheap, and I have 3 free range days a week, I shoot a lot more frequently. Which has brought my level of competence (and confidence) up. 9mm's have also started multiplying around my house.

I still have a 45 most nights in the nightstand... but I have had a 9mm watch on occasion, and as I shoot my 9's more than my 45's now I'm starting to grab them more frequently.

So yeah. I've changed my mind. I still love shooting my 45's... But it's weekends only nowadays.

 

[redbearde]

Well, like I said, it seemed to me some of his conclusions were a tad jumped-to.

No usual 115 gr or 124gr or some other more usual round for a 9mm will do much better than 1100...though I saw at ammoman.com some +p+ federal JHPs at 115gr that he claimed would do 1300...

but out of a subcompact?

I remain...skeptical...of his 1500 fps.

However, I do think having more ammo readily at hand is generally better than less.

The ultimate point is that yes indeed someone might decide to swap a .45 for a 9mm.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Redbeard,

The Winchester Ranger-T 124g JHP +P+ will do about 1250-1275 fps out of my Glock 34. I have chrono'd that myself and know it to be true.

But thats a long way from the 1500 fps that is being claimed, and the Glock 34 has a much longer barrel than the G26.

 

[Biker]

I think that every man should own a .45 and a 9mm. After all, sooner or later you're gonna meet a woman and she'll need a handgun also. That nine is just money in the bank...

Biker

 

[kokapelli]

I have some Hirtenberger, 100 grain, +P+ that was chrono'd at over 1500 fps from my Kahr K9.

It's been about 12 years ago and I don't remember the exact speed.

 

[n00bdave]

Yeah, I just made the switch. I started out with a USP 9mm. Great gun. But I lurk on some car enthusiast boards on and I kept hearing about how great the .45 XD was. So, I bought one. Nice gun...low recoil for a .45, liked the way if felt, and the 13 shot mag was nice too. But I was never satisfied with how I shot with it. It was me, not the gun. The other problem: I don't reload. So I would scout around all the area Wal-Marts, looking for Blazer Brass, since WWW was like $28 with tax for the "value pack". Meanwhile, I shoot better with the 9mm, AND it's cheaper to plink with. So the Springfield got traded up for a Beretta 92FS, and I couldn't be happier, I have a polymer 9mm and a metal frame 9mm.

 

[okcorral]

9mm all the way.

Cheapest to shoot so you will get lots of practice. Enjoyable to shoot. Will stop an attacker just the same. In fact you might even stop an attacker more effectively with the more practice because of the cheaper ammo. More rounds per magazine.

I know people love their 45's but I can't stand them at the local indoor ranges. You can actually feel the concussion on your body. They sound like hand cannon's and it always seem that need to stand right next to me.

 

[redbearde]

The Winchester Ranger-T 124g JHP +P+ will do about 1250-1275 fps out of my Glock 34. I have chrono'd that myself and know it to be true.

But thats a long way from the 1500 fps that is being claimed, and the Glock 34 has a much longer barrel than the G26.

Exactly. *shrug* it was still an entertaining story to me...especially because I'm somewhat concerned about having a similar "interaction" with my neighbor's 2 dogs. My XD9 has 16+1. I think 8 each might be enough for me...

 

[redbearde]

kokapelli, that's some remarkable velocity, sir. you like that k9? Ever had any trouble with it at all?

I'm considering getting one.