For Those Who Consider 9mm Inadequate For Self-Defense, Why?

[5-SHOTS]

These are the synthetic percentages of one shot stops for the most reputable pistol calibers.

Hollow Point bullets:


Full Metal Jacket bullets:


They are all pretty close.

The only interesting thing I've red is that the .45ACP is more capable to break bones due to the higher momentum caused by the heavier bullet.

 

[Officers'Wife]

Any caliber is good provided you have enough of them...

 

[GEM]

The local Sportsman's Warehouse once had a newspaper ad for SW 40 MM. Should have bought some.

 

[Bazoo]

9mms main benefit is low cost of factory ammo. It’s second main benefit is it’s easier to shoot with because it’s got a milder recoil than a bigger cartridge. Is it enough, barely.

It’s lumped in the better than nothing category for me.

 

[barnetmill]

Any caliber is good provided you have enough of them...

From Chicago Chuck Norris Code of Silence cop bar hold up scene. Did not post video due to language

 

[The Glockodile]

Any caliber is good provided you have enough of them...

From Chicago Chuck Norris Code of Silence cop bar hold up scene. Did not post video due to language

From "Predator 2."

It's a regurgitated trope of sorts.

 

[GEM]

That's clearly the Bernhard Goetz incident going very badly for all involved. Seated guy threatened by bad guys with screw drivers. Unlike Goetz, he didn't open fire immediately with a limited capacity revolver. They pull guns - and the rest of the passengers also do the Bernhard. The cops draw - the Predator arrives - unlike the NYS subway car.

 

[docbrown]

The king of handgun calibers for one shot stops is 357 Magnum, with 40 S&W pretty close as I recall (bear with me - going from memory because I am too lazy to get off my recliner and go into my garage to find the article - it I even still have it out there). Other calibers were not too far behind until you got to the .32 and .25 autos. .45, 380, 38 Special and 9mm worked decently too. 44 magnum, 45 Colt, 10 MM were on the list, but there was not a significant amount of data because those are just not carried as often as 38 Special 357 Magnum, 9MM, 45 and 40. I really think bullet selection and marksmanship are probably more important than caliber when you are talking about handguns. If the bullet passes through without dumping its energy or doing enough damage to cause enough blood loss or you do not get a CNS hit, a determined attacker will keep coming. It's better to hit your target with a .22 short than to miss with a 44 magnum, so marksmanship is huge. I carry a variety of calibers depending on the situation (38 Special, 357 magnum, 9MM, 357 Sig and 40 S&W). I do not feel undergunned with any of them because I can hit equally well with any of them.

So, can you hit with a 9mm, and do you have a good bullet/cartridge (not an FMJ)? I would say that if the answer to those two questions is "yes", you should be OK.

 

[Roverguy]

There is nothing inadequate about the 9 with modern bullets. Any decent study of pistol caliber incapacitation shows that anything from 32acp up is effective if shots connect with major blood vessels or CNS and that larger calibers are not necessarily more effective in delivering such shots.

People may however have preferences. If one prefers something larger or harder hitting, and one can develop a modicum of proficiency with it, then more power to them. Literally.

If through stature, insufficient musculature, or some other disability, 9x19 is the most you can handle, then it will be fine if required. No need to feel inadequate

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

For those that don't know, the science is settled.

 

[FL-NC]

First, pick the right 9mm bullet. Helps if ammo is +P.

After the famous 1986 FBI Miami shootout occurred, there was a lot of research done & the 10mm & 40 S&W were born. Bullets design was changed.

If you google the shootout, i am sure more can be read. https://www.police1.com/police-prod...-officer-involved-shootings-Ff0sxVITdSX8iAn7/

And the circle has spun back to the 9mm as the preferred round.

 

[Mike J]

I remember a conversation I had with a local law enforcement officer about handgun calibers. His attitude was that 9mm was enough therefore anything beyond 9mm was a waste. I tend to look at it from a perspective of if 9mm is enough then anything beyond it is just more. I don't think having more than enough is a bad thing. FWIW I tend to like .40. It is out of favor now but that doesn't matter to me. However the size of the pistol has a lot to do with caliber choice for me. If I am going micro or subcompact I probably want a 9mm. If it is compact or larger I like .40.

I know people who choose .38, .32, .380, etc. for carry. With some it is simply preference. With some it is because they don't do well with a lot of recoil, or have diminished hand strength. Everyone makes their own choices for different reasons.

 

[Bazoo]

One cannot discount the use of FMJ ammo in 9mm, or any caliber. Reason is plain and simple; availability.

Worst case scenario is you’ll have to use fmj for defense. Given that, 9mm is at a disadvantage.

One thing I consider, being a handloader and a caster, is how does the round perform with the cast bullets I’ll be using. Fact is, I couldn’t afford to shoot hardly at all without casting my own. So, I generally can’t afford fancy HPs either.

 

[jrmiddleton425]

Why is 9mm not adequate for you?

9mm is so inadequate for me, I bought two of them! I'm thinking about buying another. Note that the first sentence was sarcasm.

The 9mm Parabellum cartridge has been around since 1901. A lot of people, on both sides of the battlefield and the law, are either living or dead because of it.

If it floats your boat, there's nothing wrong with any cartridge from .22 LR to .500 S&W. All that matters is CAN YOU SHOOT IT?

 

[FL-NC]

If the 9mm is so wanting for antipersonnel use, how does it still exist? Why didn't it just "fade away"? Let alone, being pretty much the "world standard" for semi automatic service handguns for LE and military use (people who carry handguns for a living for the express purpose of possibly shooting people)- not to mention lots of SMG's? Why is its usefulness so exhaustively questioned in the US where there are so many other options - many of which have fallen into different levels of obscurity- in spite of the articles in the gun magazines where all of these "better new calibers of the future" were showcased, with the sexiest latest example being a coveted cover girl gracing the front of said gun porn magazine? I'm not stating that rounds like 40, 10, 45 ACP or GAP, 357 Sig, 5.7, 41 AE (anyone remember that one?), 30 super carry, 38 super, 9x 21/9x22/9x25 (what?), 40 super, 40 Co-Bon, and whatever else was "the future" when they were new and in "cover girl status" in the last x many years are/were good, bad, or somewhere in between- but practicality, availability, and the old concept of the better mousetrap come to mind for me on the matter. Much of this talk about the impotence of the 9mm is just parroting of old chin music, passed down through generations of different "gun people". Many people who sing this song the loudest in my observations are already challenged effectively using the "puny" 9mm, but somehow thing that a more powerful handgun (with more flash, blast, and recoil) and less bullets in it is somehow the answer to the problem. Almost everyone in on the argument has never experienced a gunfight as an active participant at all, let alone one using a handgun that failed after properly employing it to the task at hand. I believe that using smaller calibers like 22 LR or 32 ACP is a bad choice, if an individual has the means to use a more powerful handgun and the ability to use it. I also believe that using something like Tula ball ammunition for self defense in any caliber is a poor choice if the individual has the means and ability to obtain HP rounds of some type instead (assuming the handgun will function with them). The good news is, for the most part, civilians in the US are free to use whatever caliber they want, or opt to not use a handgun at all- but whatever you use, if it can't be relied upon to function properly or if you can't get good hits with it- what's the point?

 

[Paul R Zartman]

Most of us have bigger calibers and 9 or smaller is our last pick, sorry for your shortcomings if you don't have the big ones...but that being said...good shot placement becomes more important as the caliber gets smaller, that and the fact that most people don't want to get shot with anything that might be pointing at them...22 will do in the tight hands

 

[cslinger]

I am and always have been fairly caliber agnostic. That said I’d be lying if there wasn’t a psychological draw towards bigger calibers as “bigger is always better.” and I believe many many folks have that general idea in their head. Now scientifically with handguns does caliber make much of a difference especially with modern ammo. Hell no.

9mm is probably the best martial caliber ever produced. It balances power, capacity, weight, recoil all beautifully into a great defensive/Jack of all trades caliber. I have no issues with it at all. Heck it’s my bedside caliber. I still really like .40 and .45 though because it’s hard to shake that “bigger is better” thought. I also just really enjoy .45.

But hey as long as I have a round measured in caliber or mm I am happy.

 

[Atavar]

Is a small light 9mm better than the .40 or .45 you left at home? You betcha.

 

[John_R]

Is a V6 engine adequate? Usually, especially if turbocharged. Is a V8 better? You be the judge.

Barrel length matters, and the shooter’s skill matters. Too many variables to just go by bullet diameter.

 

[Charlie Martinez]

I've always been a 45 ACP or 38 Special +P guy because they are the most powerful SD calibers I can shoot without earplugs. if I wore earplugs all the time (which is ridiculous) I would prefer 357 Magnum. For SD pistol calibers I made up my mind about the 45 ACP some years ago immediately after I shot my first 357 Magnum without ear plugs and at the time when 9 mm ammo was considered minimally adequate for SD. My understanding is that today's 9 mm ammo is much improved from what it once was but old habits die hard and I'm still a 45 ACP guy.

 

[Hangingrock]

Before my current residence we relocated from out of state. I was a member of (3) Sportsmen's Clubs. Each had facilities for handgun shooting. The yard lines were 25 & 50 for all three clubs. I had succeeded in putting a 7- yard line for two of the three clubs. One would see a mixture of revolvers and semiautomatic handguns employed by shooters. The two clubs with the 7-yard lines was the most used yard line compared to 25 & 50 yard lines. The average shooter were not that proficient in marksmanship thus the popularity of the 7-yard line. At the time of my relocation I'd say that revolvers were more popular than the semiautomatic pistols. Fast forward to this day I shoot on my own private range on the property. I am also a land share owner in a shooting association from what I've witness the semiautomatic pistol in 9X19mm appears to be the most popular in usage.

 

[Roverguy]

For those that don't know, the science is settled.

Well played!

 

[tark]

Why is 9mm not adequate for you?

Ask Gabby Gifford that question. She was shot just above her left eye with a 9 mm Glock. The bullet penetrated both hemispheres of her brain.

She is walking around today. Her Husband is the Senator from Arizona, Mark Kelly.

 

[243winxb]

Spray & pray 9mms get the job done. If you empty a 15 shot magazine , shoud get 2 or more hits?

The 9 is easier to control then the 10, 40 or 45 for the average person.

 

[tactikel]

The 9 mm has flourished for 110 years because it was more than adequate!
A self defense handgun allows you to get home safely, a 9 mm is a great compromise between accuracy, controllability, and lethality. No handgun commonly used for SD has single shot incapacitation. 2,3,4, hits of 9 mm will.