no, I meant yards. I was referring a battle-field situation, not domestic attacks on the street.
The 9mm doesn't have the energy transfer that a .45 has. And I really hate that first DA shot, I almost always miss that one and I can't carry it cocked with a safety on, and the 9mm ball just does not work as well as a .45 ball when it comes to putting someone off their feet.
Hollow and lead soft points are fine, but they're not an option, and probably wouldn't do well on body armor. My choices are... 1911, HK USP, or the Beretta. The 9mm can go thru light/soft body armor, but it still lacks the knock-down power I'm looking for.
The reason is parts and ammo availability. I think I mentioned a 10mm 1911, but I'd still have to provide my own ammo.. decided against that. For qualifications, .45 can be provided. I could get an HK USP .45, but this is out-of-pocket as my personal weapon and I've heard enough horror stories about their custoemr service to not even consider them.
I have no problem carrying a 9mm into combat, but by golly I'm gonna have a .45 too, either way.
My POV on the 9mm though is this: It was desgined to wound, not kill. If it DOES kill with a lower body shot, you should still have enough time to interrogate the victim before they bleed to death. And I think that's the purpose of the 9mm, gathering information/wounding/taking up enenmy resources, not killing. Since it requires more man-power and money to care for the casualty.. I'm not concerned with that, I want them down for the count. Period.
When facing too many to take out with 8 shots, I'll switch to the beretta and leave them or ... gather intel.. whatever. But on a sweep/raid, death is the name of the game unless you're there to capture, but time is a factor; you don't wanna spend too much time exchanging shots with people who're already shot up and still firing while bleeding out.
