I like my .45s. ..45colt cowboy loads. Black powder loads......all the way up to 300grain dinosaur tamers 'ruger only' loads.
38 special / 357 mag for concealed carry & personal defense 45 acp for home defense and high capacity carry. 41 mag for wilderness hiking
38 Special. 45acp. 32 revolver - mine is a 327, but I roll my own so do not load to 327 mag pressures. I sometimes carry a 9mm because it conceals well, but it's not a favorite.
9mm serves its intended purpose, though it is nice to have something with a little more power in the bear/hog woods.
I think it's kinda like the Glock (or insert polymer wonder 9 brand here), it does the job, it's economical and ubiquitous. But it's not super flashy or fun.
I shoot more 22lr than anything else. Second-most shot is probably a tie between 38 special and 9mm. But the ones I enjoy the most are 45acp/44 special/45 colt (all firing similar weight projectiles at similar velocities).
38 special/.357 magnum and 44 special. I carry all 3 concealed in snubbies depending on my mood and the Ruger Blackhawks scratch my itch for shooting heavy loads. Launching a 240 grain RNFP out of the Flat Top 44 at between 950-1000 fps is a real hoot. Accurate! 200 grain RNs at 1100-1200 fps in the .357 is another good combo.
I wholeheartedly agree - the 9mm is, as Waveski said, a "bread and butter" cartridge. I like it, and have a couple of pistols chambered for it, but my favorite handgun cartridges are a little more "flashy or fun." Actually, I guess that's not quite true. One of the cartridges I listed as one of my "favorites" is the 22LR. I don't think any 9mm pistol has anything over my ol' 22LR "kit gun" in the "bread and butter" department. And my 22LR "kit gun" is fun too!
It complicated... In a semi-auto 40S&W In a revolver 45 ACP I don't own a 9mm I wish I owned 455 Webley. 38 S&W/38-200 are a close second in the revolver for favorite. I am currently using 38 Special more than anything else. 10mm Auto and 44 Mag gets honorable mentions 38 Short Colt belongs on this list somewhere... Yeah its complicated.
Well , for a number of years my most shot round was .38 special. I have an affinity for K frames and carry a J frame. 9mm and .22 lr were tied for second. Then - along came the accessibility of surplus High Powers. That made semi-auto pistols and 9mm quite attractive and fun. I've acquired five 9mm pistols in the last year or so. ( Two are polymer - Lord help me!) Today my favorites are : 9mm , .22 lr , 38 sp , in that order.
.500 JRH....my backup revolver has a 5 1/2-inch barrel and iron sights. It is literally a do-it-all round. I figure your back-up, or "oh crap" revolver ought to be a big hammer.
I was gonna do “an order of importance or order of my likeability” (if that’s a word) but decided that I can’t. These are my favorites: 9mm - autoloader and semiauto carbine .38 Special - revolver .357 Magnum - revolver and lever gun .22 Long Rifle - revolver and semi auto carbines. .45 Colt - SA revolver I hope to add 10mm to this list soon. I am sure I am going to like that round. Just gotta but a gun that shoots it.
Based on quantity of reloads I fire and rely on it's the .38 spl and .45 acp. Hunting it's the .357/.45 Colt/.41 mag and .44 mag, in that order.
For many years the 357 mag. followed by the 38 special, but when my dad passed I inherited his 41 mag and it is rapidly becoming my favorite.
I like .45 Colt and .45 ACP for 99% of my needs. But I certainly have a liking for the 10mm, .41 magnum, and .44 magnum flavors too. Some of my .45 Colts: Just one of my .45 ACP's:
They’re all so fun, all so different. 9mm P365 for carry and its a real challenge for bullseye center fire, really tests technique. 500 sw loaded down, lower noise than 44 with good punch. 22lr sw41 for match shooting and swapping off with the 365, helps point out technique errors. 44 m69 for unencumbered deer hunting. And sooo many more I have yet to try...
