Do you feel comforatable with only 8 rounds of .45ACP?

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joey93turbo

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Tonight I pulled into my parking garage and in the spot next to mine were six goblins, two hangin in the window of a car with four in it. They were argueing about something and were pretty reluctant to get out of my way when I was pulling in, but didn't say anything to me or my buddy. I live in a bad neighborhood and I would bet at least one had a gun, based on statistics of this area. I had my P220 on me with one spare mag but I didn't feel very comfortable at that moment, thinking about six of them and one of me, with only 8 rounds. I haven't been carrying long and haven't practiced tactical reloading yet. It just made me wish I was carrying something with higher capacity.
 
Yeah, I feel plenty comfortable with 8 rounds of .45 ACP.

Bear in mind that once the bullets start flying most of them are gonna run. (Wouldn't you??) Criminals are opportunists, they don't have the will to go toe-to-toe with a guy armed with a "mere" .45 and 8 rounds.

I guess my point is that you don't have to be forever ready to defeat the Mongolian horde. 8 rounds plus a reload or two ought to be enough to buy you the time you need to escape.

Besides, skill and tenacity count for much, much more than equipment. Learn to use what you already have before replacing it with a hi-cap.
 
Perosnal preference, but at the moment ide rather have 15+1 9mm than 8 rounds of .45

In my opinion, they will obth kill you. One just does it better.

Plus, you dont have to use ball ammo like the military when you use 9mm.
 
Attributed to Abe Lincoln:

Q: Five crows sit on a fence. You shoot two with your rifle. How many crows are left on the fence?


A: None. The rest were scared off by the shot.


The point? Bad guys are like crows. Scavengers, not soldiers. They don't want a battle.
 
Attributed to Abe Lincoln:

Q: Five crows sit on a fence. You shoot two with your rifle. How many crows are left on the fence?
Click to expand...

A: Seven.

You have terrible eyesight and missed the "five" completely.
The crows know this, and stayed put.
Two both had the idea to "play dead" as a joke at your expense.

Give it up already.

.
 
Yes, I feel comfortable with "only" 9 rds of .45ACP. That's 8 in the mag and 1 in the chamber - not 8 total. I think most people swap out their 7rd mags for 8. Anyway, I train. Therefore, I have confidence in my ability to hit what I aim at. I shoot my .45 better than any 9mm I've ever fired, so I'll take my 9 rds over 16 rds of 9mm, thanks. Since nobody's said it yet...shot placement, shot placement, shot placement. If you place the first one or two well, it's unlikely you'll need many more. Goblins tend to scatter when their numbers start dropping....

Besides, the muzzle of a .45 looks way scarier than that of a 9mm :neener:
 
No. That's why I carry a Para-Ordnance Colonel, with 14+1 rounds of .45 ACP. :neener: Oh, and two additional mags are rarely very far apart. If 43 rounds of Hydra-shok .45's won't do the job, it's probably a situation I shouldn't be in anyways.
 
Shot placement indeed!

Always makes me laugh when someone says shot placememnt as an argument for lower capacity firearms. If shotplacement matters so much (which it does) then why does the caliber make a differnce if its a critical wound...

But its all what you feel comfortable with!

And i will not post anymore in this thread.
 
Six people, that close, the ONLY thing I would want would be a 45. First shot, in the one presenting the most immediate danger, then try to get a COM or chest cavity hit in the other five, as fast as possible. If they charge you, you're dead anyway, you just need to make sure they don't leave the garage, either. A 9mm, trying to get two rounds in multiple targets, is way slower than slapping the trigger when the front sight passes a sweatshirt.
 
A handgun in general makes me uncomfortable in a defensive situation. Even a $3000 custom 1911 is not as superior a fighting tool as a $200 Mossberg 12ga or a $300 Romanian AK clone loaded with cheap ball although the handgun can be there when the long gun can't.

That being said, my main defensive piece is a Colt 1991A1 loaded with 230gr hydra shok. Backed upwith 2 more 8rd mags and I don't feel all that uncomfortable with that. Actually while most armed incounters fade away once the gun is drawn or shots fired one thing I read once I always remembered.

On a battlefield, the enemy soldier generally does not want to be there or really fight and in many cases is probably a lot like you but in a different uniform. A violent felon fights because he chooses to do so. He was not drafted.
 
Since nobody's said it yet...shot placement, shot placement, shot placement.
Click to expand...

Shot placement is important but it isn't the only part of the equation. If it was, why not carry a .22 then? You could fit quite a few rounds in one, especially if it were the size of a 9mm semi-compact. It would probably be a lot lighter and more comfortable to carry. And if you don't have any shots but you still need to place some, you are in quite the pickle.(I've always wondered why being in a pickle was bad. I like pickles.)

Shot placement comes first but it wouldn't work without a round capable of doing the required damage. It won't work if you require a shot and don't have one either. It is unlikely you'll need more than 8 rounds but even having to use the weapon is unlikely. The criminal will probably bug out at the sight of your piece. It's all how many of the "unlike-lies" you are willing, or able, to prepare for.

I'd say keep the 8 rounds of .45, and carry a spare mag. Can't go wrong there. 8+8= the same 16 as a 9mm.
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Yep, the same round count. But it isn't all "on tap" in the .45ACP. You'll need a second or two to be able to use those rounds. And if you carry the 9mm with an extra mag you now have 32 rounds.
 
Perosnal preference, but at the moment ide rather have 15+1 9mm than 8 rounds of .45

In my opinion, they will obth kill you. One just does it better.

Plus, you dont have to use ball ammo like the military when you use 9mm.
Click to expand...

You don't have to use ball ammo like the military when you use a .45 acp, unless you have a .45 acp made before hollowpoint ammo was made and even then some will feed it.

For the record, I have a couple of older 9mm guns, one being a WWI Luger and it feeds hollowpoint ammo just as poorly as my WWI 1911.

The whole 9mm v. .45 acp can be argued forever, but when considering high cap versus low cap, I like to think back to some steel matches I have been in and watched how the 9mm folks had to double, quadruple, or more tap some of the targets to make them go over that, actually needing multiple hits in VERY close succession together to get the required momentum, that would otherwise fall when hit by a .45 acp. My low cap .45 acp could take down more targets then a high cap 9mm with double the number of rounds.
 
It just made me wish I was carrying something with higher capacity.
Click to expand...

Well, in your situation, I would wish that my buddy was also carrying.

Anotyher thought. You're sitting in the driver's seat and the lil' ones are outside. You are a sitting duck. If you are really frightened, drive away...
 
With luck

they will come in a "Bowling Pin" pattern where you shoot the leader with a single 45ACP round, and they all go down as you yell "strike!" :neener:
CT
 
The Old Fuff isn't turning into Jell-O at the thought of "only" having 8 rounds in his .45 or whatever. To be honest while he sometimes packs the big pistol he is more often found with a 5 or 6 shot .38 snubby. He hopes though, that he has enough situational awareness and common sense to not park next to what looks like obvious trouble. ;)
 
The weapon I carry most of the time is a Taurus 450-.45 LC- loaded with 5 225gr Silvertips. I figure it'll do for 99.9% of the problems I might encounter excluding grizzly bear and terrorist attacks of course. :D
Biker
 
Springfield GI-issue Hicap mag, 13+1.
throw in a few extra mags...
and if you aren't well enough prepared with that, haul yer ass outa there.

how about 6 rounds of .357 and a few speedloaders? that will be my first handgun... it should be sufficient until i get a 1911 or something like that.

~TMM
 
You have terrible eyesight and missed the "five" completely.
The crows know this, and stayed put.
Two both had the idea to "play dead" as a joke at your expense.
Click to expand...



Man, good thing these crows haven't developed opposable thumbs. They're smarter than Heckle, Jeckle, and the whole chorus from Dumbo combined!
 
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