Charlie Fox, do you ever write articles for Backwoodsman magazine?
I could swear one of the authors has that name.
I like 9mm well enough, and carry one often.
I prefer .44 or .45 caliber, and carry them, too.
Shot placement is the most important thing, as long as you have a round with enough penetration to reliably do the job.
However, with equal shot placement and penetration, the projectile that makes the largest hole is better, due to more tissue destruction and blood loss.
Unfortunately, I can't fit a Mossberg 590 into a CC holster.
You can't count on expansion, but you can count on a large diameter projectile never shrinking.
The main reason I bought an SR9 is because the SR45 didn't exist at the time.
Now that it does, I can't find one in the stores.
Not that I'm going to get rid of my SR9. It's easy to shoot and carry, and I just like it.
Honestly, I don't trust ANY pistol round to be an instantaneous fight stopper.
I do trust my .44 Spls, .45s, and .357s to do it more reliably than my 9s.
However, a man's got to know his limitations. We should all carry what we can carry and shoot comfortably, accurately, reliably.
Since Ruger doesn't make an SR12, I'll hang on to my SR9.
Funny, all the talk of .45 having such recoil. I've never noticed objectionable recoil from any .45 ACP auto or revolver.
I prefer the .45s recoil to that of the .40.
Of course, the SR9 is a very soft shooting pistol, but none of my .45s recoil enough to keep me from making accurate shots.