Out of all of em' 9mm is hard to beat.

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Personally, my caliber migration has been opposite of most of those on this thread. For years I owned mostly 9mm hand guns and used them for recreational shooting and for CC. For me, the less expensive nature of the caliber was a huge draw. I was able to practice far more with it than say my .45s.

Then I started reloading and then casting my own bullets and my thoughts changed a bit. I still have no problem with the 9mm but I have found far greater accuracy and consistency for my reloads in 45. Being a lower pressure round, it is much easier (at least for me) to achieve good accuracy and reliability than 9mm. My cost difference per box from 9mm to 45 is about $1.25 too which makes it much less of an issue.

Over all, however, my favorite caliber by far is the .357. Back when I was buying ammo, I shot .357 maybe a couple of times per year. Now, being able to cast and reload, I shoot it nearly every week. I love the fact that I have light loads down in the 600fps range all the way up to heavy rounds in the high 1400s. As I get older, picking up brass becomes less and less appealing as well.
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I agree, after all these years, .38/.357 is my favorite caliber and revolvers still suit me better. I now own 5 .357 revolvers and 3 .38 specials. BUT, I do not limit my collection to one caliber nor to one type of firearm! Variety is the spice of life. When I carry, it's usually a .38 in a pocket, a .357 joins it. on the hip when I go to town. One speed strip of .38+P can load either revolver. But, the 9mm Kel Tec is a favorite alternative, has been since 1996 when I bought it. :D

My motto for some time, now, "I will NOT sell or trade another firearm!" I've got too many I wish I had back.
 
There is a reason I like having guns chambered for what I consider the most common service calibers. During the Obama panic when all the other calibers were sold out & no 9mm or .45 was to be found I could always round up some .40. I like the idea of being able to shoot what is available even if my first choice is not.
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I never pay attention to commercial center fire ammo availability since I only ever buy it for the brass. There was a little glitch in primer availability during the last few years, but I was able to buy primers. .22 was short, of course, but I can shoot 9mm as cheap, cheaper than what available .22 was going for. :rolleyes: I did my shooting, small game hunting, and plinking with centerfires for a little while until I was able to round up enough .22. :D

And, the next ammo shortage might well involve .40. What'er ya going to do, then? Lots of folks sold their .22s last few years. I kept all of mine, of course. Ammo shortages come and go. Reloading gets me through and if that don't, I have cap and ball revolvers for which I can make percussion caps and cast the ball. I could also make the black powder, but haven't gotten in to that, yet.
 
9mm is fun to shoot and effective. So are 38, 357, 40, 44 special and magnum, 45 acp and Colt, the magnum 32's... and probably some others that I'm not experienced with, such as 10mm.

There are so many good calibers that it's hard to pick a favorite. If I had to, I might pick 45acp, since I can enjoy it with semi-autos AND revolvers that I own (gotta love that Blackhawk).

The one I have shot the most in my life is definitely 22lr, though. I have probably gone through as many rounds of 22lr as I have all of the rest of them combined.
 
.45 ACP and .38/.357. Nothing against the 9mm; I love the Hi power and Glock 17 and 19's. I just shoot what I started with, I shot a 1911 long before the first 9mm I shot, which was a Hi Power. I also like .45 LC, though the only gun I have in that caliber is a SxS derringer. I'd really like to get a Redhawk .45 LC/.45 ACP.
 
.45 ACP and .38/.357. Nothing against the 9mm; I love the Hi power and Glock 17 and 19's. I just shoot what I started with, I shot a 1911 long before the first 9mm I shot, which was a Hi Power. I also like .45 LC, though the only gun I have in that caliber is a SxS derringer. I'd really like to get a Redhawk .45 LC/.45 ACP.
 
I've drilled over a 929 at my LGS several times and hope to find a way to add ôone to my collection one of these days.
 
It really is hard to pick a "favorite" caliber when there are so many good ones out there. I still want to pick me up a 10mm Glock whether its a G20 or a G29 some time in the future ;)
 
MCgunner said:
I like the 9 as a pocket gun caliber. My Kel Tec P11 is a favorite. I own other calibers, handload for every center fire I own. I do shoot a lot of 9. I have a Ruger P85, big beefy DA auto and I have a Ruger Blackhawk 9mm/.357 magnum convertible. I like plinking with it and 9mm 105 grain cast (from a Lee mold) SWCs over 3.2 grains Bullseye. Nice light plinker and costs nearly nothing. Brass lasts forever. This load has just enough pop that it ejects 100 percent from my autos, yet drops the brass just to my right. I stand at the edge of an 8x12 plastic tarp and I'll drop 'em all on the tarp. :D



My carry load involves a compressed load of Unique and a 115 grain Hornady XTP, listed as a +P load in the Speer number 11 manual. It pushes 1263 FPS out of my Kel Tec and is quite accurate shooting to POA. I carry my .38 snub a lot and the P11 is a bit more compact even than that. :D



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Cool pic! I had a KelTec P3AT several years ago.
 
bannockburn said:
Of all my handguns I have the most in 9mm. One of my favorites is the Browning Hi-Power. Perfectly shaped for my small size hand and has all of the reliability and accuracy that I'm looking for in a semi-auto. One of my "sleeper" favorites is my Colt Commander in .38 Super. Lighter weight and easy to carry concealed, with handloads it can give me slightly better performance than the 9mm. while still giving me the flexibility to convert it to 9mm. with just a barrel change and a magazine.



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Good looking pistols!
 
.45cultist said:
I like .45, especially 200gr and plain old hard ball. 9X19MM in 124gr, but some 147 loads are good too. .22LR is handy, and I'm learning to like .38/.357 N frames. I ventured into the '80's with a G21 decades ago, am considering a G19. The 9's are coming back in LE use due to the complaints of the .40 and HP technology improving.
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Glock claims the Glock 21 was developed in 1991.
 
Don't get me wrong but that old internet crap about the newest whiz bang technology has made 9mm the same as every other round is a big load of ****. Why? Because the same whiz bang technology was applied to every other round as well. 9mm is a good round and is better today than ever but that does not make it equal to all other handgun rounds or "so little difference to matter". Like I said, good caliber but.......
O yea, my "go to" round is 357 magnum.
 
Don't get me wrong but that old internet crap about the newest whiz bang technology has made 9mm the same as every other round is a big load of ****. Why? Because the same whiz bang technology was applied to every other round as well. 9mm is a good round and is better today than ever but that does not make it equal to all other handgun rounds or "so little difference to matter". Like I said, good caliber but.......
O yea, my "go to" round is 357 magnum.
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Oh, I like .357, too, but I also like 9 and .38 special for carries and have been known to tote a .45 from time to time. If it's enough, I ain't worried about arguing which has more excess, if indeed ANY handgun could be excessive in a gun fight. I guess .460 S&W is a might excessive. :D
 
ljnowell said:
Maybe he meant 80s technology? Let's be honest, glocks really aren't any different since then, save for some pieces of plastic that clip on the backstrap.
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That's awesome! 80's technology that most of the top manufacturers are trying to copy today.

Sig's still trying to get it right.
 
22lr is my favorite. why? recoil, reliability, recreation, repetition!

murf
 
They all perform great and serve their intended purpose but what's your favorite cali

9mm. Inexpensive and effective.
 
Sigokat said:
That's awesome! 80's technology that most of the top manufacturers are trying to copy today.

Sig's still trying to get it right.
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I like my 80s technology G21. It's a great pistol, I just don't shoot it that much anymore.

With the exception of rails and backstraps not much has changed in polymer guns since the 80s.
 
As the OP put it on the second page (I believe) of the thread, 9mm is my "go to" round for the reasons others have mentioned. Since I don't reload and am a cheapskate, it the cheapest center fire cartridge for practice. I have a 9mm collection of shooters & have even committed the blasphemy of having my 1911 in 9mm (JMB, forgive me!)

I have a couple of handguns in .40S&W due to the scarcity of 9mm a few years ago, my pocket EDC's are .380acp, and have range guns in the others (.22short, .22lr, .22WMR,.25acp, .32acp, .38spl), but the majority are 9mm.
 
Of the "major" semi-auto calibers, 9mm can be made into the smallest most lightweight pocket pistols.

No one has been able to make a 40 S&W pistol as small and as light weight as the Rohrbaugh R9.

The PM40 / CM40 are not as small or as lightweight as the PM9/CM9, although its probably as small as a 40 cal pistol can get...

The .45 ACP can only be made so small in semi-auto before it starts having reliability problems.

The Rohrbaugh R9 is also smaller and lighter than most 38 spl ultralite revolvers, AFAIK only the Taurus view is lighter and has a smaller footprint.

The 9mm lends itself to miniaturization of the platform and still retains enough power to ensure adequate penetration and expansion out of the smaller guns.

I know the Precision One's loading of Hornady's XTP did well (for .380 ACP) in ShootingTheBull410's tests but that round still doesn't perform as well as 9mm 147gr Federal HST or 147gr Winchester Ranger "T" Series RA9T rounds out of pocket pistol-length barrels.
 
I can never settle on a caliber for long. I pick one because it is great at X, but then begin to see that something else is better at Y, or another is a good balance of Q and Z. I have carried everything from 22lr to 44 magnum in revolvers, 22lr to 45acp in semiautos. I really like 32 caliber guns for the range, and have carried 32s but usually gravitate back to a larger caliber.
 
I have owned and shot many different calibers over the years. I know there are more powerful rounds out there but the 9mm has became my overall favorite.
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.45 ACP is my favorite, .38 SPL is my sentimental favorite, but I shoot more 9mm.

The price of range ammo is so cheap and that means more training time! With advancements in ammunition and today's technology, 9mm hollow points perform as good as the rest.
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Factory 9mm range ammo is cheaper, but when you shoot a lot of it, it's not cheap. The 9mm +P JHP ammo we have now is so good that I traded off 2 of my .40's in favor of .45's, so I will always prefer .45 over .40S&W.

I love my 1911 .45 but when I can pick up my Glock 19 with 16 rounds in an overall lighter package, it's hard to pass it up. I love .40S&W as well; I think it's an awesome round but today's 9mm is as good if not better in certain tests. I know some claim 9mm is too small for self defense and then there's the crap about the .40 being "too snappy", (my Beretta 96 and G23 shoot sweet!) and then .45 is big and slow... They all perform great and serve their intended purpose but what's your favorite caliber and why?
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I carried my G-17 and never thought I was undergunned. And I like the .40 S&W Sig P226 I still have, but I much prefer .45ACP to .40S&W.
 
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