Stopping Power of .45 Compared to 9mm

[Norinco982lover]

Hey all!
I am thinking about purchasing a Springfield XD this summer to go along with my Norinco 982 for Home defense. What is the stopping power of a .45 compared to a 9mm? Ratio 1:2? My friend (how he comes up with this I do not know) says that I should just get a 9mm and leave Law Enforcement "hollow points" in it. Do we already have the foot/pounds/energy + ballistic charts up somewhere? Is it reasonable to trust a 9mm hollow point to your families safety? Thanks!

p.s. completely unrelated question. IF it is illegal to have a short barrel shotgun (whatever the law is?) than is it illegal to carry "the Judge" in .410 guage?

 

[Halo]

Oh boy, get ready for it!

With modern hollow point bullet designs, you'll find that the major handgun calibers give surprisingly similar penetration and expansion in gelatin tests. I'm a fan of the 9mm and think it is too maligned in the USA, mainly for historical and "not invented here" reasons. I love the 45 ACP too, the classic American handgun caliber. You will be well served by either.

 

[buzz_knox]

Individual jurisdictions might vary (as in CA) but the Judge has a rifled barrel so it is legally a pistol. It has the capability of firing shot shells, but so do many other pistols out there.

As for 9mm and .45, neither has real stopping power, nor do most handguns. For full metal jacket rounds, the .45 is anecdotally considered far more effective than the 9mm, although 2:1 might be a stretch. Using modern hollow points (such as the ammunition officially marked "LE Only" but legally available to everyone), the rounds are comparable for most purposes. The .45 has an edge over the 9mm, but for many people the 9mm's advantages (smaller platform size, lower cost to operate, ease of use) outweighs the ballistic advantage.

 

[AirForceShooter]

Shot Placement.
They'll both work.

AFS

 

[james_bond]

as for the acual caliber choice you are on your own (I vote .45 acp) but the XD is a fantastic tool I have the XD-45 Tactical and love it.

 

[HKUSP45C]

Let's also not forget that mosty 9's will carry considerably more ammunition than an identically sized .45

Now, I'm a big fan of .45 ACP but I will echo that my experience is in modern hollow point self defense rounds the difference is so small as to be a non-issue.

One of the frequent posters on this board has something in his sig that goes like this: "Let's face it, it's been a hundred years and people are still arguing about 9mm vs .45 and it's not for a lack of corpses to study."

Pretty consice way to put it in my opinion. Hand guns are enemic man killers to start with. Pick the round you shoot the best in the platform you shoot the best and carry that.

ETA:
+2 AFS

 

[jad0110]

Pretty consice way to put it in my opinion. Hand guns are enemic man killers to start with. Pick the round you shoot the best in the platform you shoot the best and carry that.

I second that. Also consider ammo costs. If you don't plan on reloading your own, consider that 9mm is much less costly than 45 ACP. Less $$$ spent per round = more ammo = more practice.

BTW, for that reason, be sure to put a 22LR handgun of some type on your wish list for the future (if you don't already own one). Dirt cheap, fun practice.

 

[Norinco982lover]

Let's also not forget that mosty 9's will carry considerably more ammunition than an identically sized .45 ~HKUSP45C

With extended clip I believe the XD carries 16+1 9mm rounds and 13+1 .45 rounds. I have shot both, and like both. I will probably get the subcompact in 9mm (not really into .40 caliber) because it will be easy to conceal. Have to get the money first Thanks!

 

[Shooter57]

It's not fun owning a gun you can't shoot because of the cost of the ammo.
Remember a few 22's hitting the target is better than all misses with a 45.

 

[springmom]

Norinco, you might enjoy some surfing over at www.theboxotruth.com They have done some very cool tests with different types of ammo, and apart from just being a fun site to visit, you can get some pretty good ideas of what various ammo will do.

Disclaimer: I own a BHP in 9mm and a Kimber Ultra Carry II in .45. I carry the Kimber (although I did finally get a holster for the BHP yesterday..yay...so will carry it once in awhile now) . I carry the Kimber because it is concealable, accurate as all get out, and I trust that those JHP's in it will do what needs doing if, God forbid, I ever use it for anything but slaughtering defenseless pieces of paper.

It is all about software, not the hardware. Caliber, or type of gun, is far secondary to what's between your ears.

Springmom

 

[searcher451]

Police officers in the city where I live switched from 9mm to .45 a year ago. The move wasn't made because the 9mm didn't do the job; they said the switch was made because a double-tap with a .45 handgun will put the perp on the ground every time, and they didn't share that same confidence with the 9mm. As to whether either round is "effective enough," see the thread under way at the moment on the deadly nature of .22s under General Discussions.

 

[MikePGS]

The difference will be negligible. As Air Force Shooter said shot placement is key. If you feel more comfortable with a .45 than a 9mm, go for it. On the other hand, i recall hearing sometime ago that the highest percentage of one shot stops was produced by 9mm +p.

 

[GRIZ22]

Is it reasonable to trust a 9mm hollow point to your families safety?

Yes, as other reposnses have said. I may disagree with some of their reasons but do not feel underguned with a 9mm. You also have the option of using FMJ if penetration is what you want.

IF it is illegal to have a short barrel shotgun (whatever the law is?) than is it illegal to carry "the Judge" in .410 guage?


The Judge has a rifled barrel. As with any shotshell fired in a rifled barrel the pattern opens up in a very short distance due to the rifling limiting the effectiveness of such things.

 

[ExSoldier]

In my youth I was a dyed-in-the-wool 45 fan. I still own three and would never feel unprotected with any of them at hand. Still as I age I'm aware of other factors: Capacity, recoil, accuracy and reliability. The relative stopping power of the calibers is miniscule in differences owing solely to current bullet technology. The bottom line as it has ALWAYS been throughout history has to be SHOT PLACEMENT.

I'm currently in the process of switching away from the 45 as a primary ccw firearm to the fullsize 9mm instead. Fully dressed, these days, I'm carrying a Sig P226 "Blackwater Edition" 9mm with Mec-Gar 17rd mags one in the gun and one on my hip. But for trips I also carry 5 fully loaded Sig 15rd mags too, in a bag. I carry in an extremely comfortable CROSSBREED "Super Tuck Deluxe" IWB holster. I can completely conceal the full size Sig under a button down oxford style long sleeve dress shirt. No problem.

However the Sig is still pretty heavy and even with the optional short reset trigger, the trigger reach is just a tad too far so I will eventually add an H&K P30 9mm (adjustable backstraps will custom fit to my hand) and also purchase 5 15rd mags. Maybe Mec-Gar will do 17rd flush fitting mags for this gun too, in the future. I'm afraid that CROSSBREED hasn't yet made a IWB holster so I may have to resort to the COMP-TAC variant, although I much prefer the CROSSBREED for wear-ability and comfort.

 

[Dravur]

well, ya know...

According to Fogie McBlowhard..... The .45 will kill a man even with a near miss while the 9mm will go through the heart and the guy who was shot will not even notice.

I read it on the internet, so it must be true

 

[NG VI]

9mm is far cheaper, and as ammo prices are only rising, that may be a major factor later. Bullet selection is far more important, as well as practice. Lots of round options out there, and it's getting easier and easier to pick a good JHP.

I'd say pick whichever one fits your hand better, but I'd lean towards the 9mm just for ammo costs.

 

[goon]

I'm sure you'll hear this from some grouchy old curmudgeon if you haven't already, but try the search next time. Not to be impolite, but you're probably going to catch all kinds of grief because this comes up about once a week.

"Knockdown power" is a figment of the imagination.
I have shot steel targets weighing about 40 pounds with .308, .303 British, and 7.62x54. The bullets hit and the target took the full impact.
They were not thrown several feet away - they just fell over.

Any handgun is not going to carry power like those rifle rounds do. Any common defensive handgun is anemic compared to any rifle round.
If you have to defend yourself it will probably take more than one shot no matter what.
Some would argue that the .45 is superior and it seems on paper that it may be by a little. But in the real world I can't see a significant difference between three .355 inch center mass holes and three .451 inch center mass holes.

My answer?
Doesn't matter.

 

[Sprfld1911]

.45acp
Reason...bigger hole, bleads out faster, slower = hard thump. Other than that I think they are 6's. Buzz Knox is right, though. Niether has real stopping power. There was a case when I lived in Arkansas where a guy holding up a covenience store was shot point blank with a .44 mag. He turned and ran about 100yds across a field before he fell because he blead out. If a .44mag didn't have enough stopping power nothing does.

 

[Sistema1927]

I like new questions. We haven't heard this one before, have we?

 

[Halo]

As others have cautioned, this is one of those subjects where people like to spout opinion as fact. My suggestion, go look at different pistols, handle them, rent them at a range if possible, and decide on the pistol you like first. Worry about the caliber after that.

 

[CCW1911]

Ask yourself this. How often do you hear the stopping ability of a 45ACP questioned? The 9mm?

 

[tblt]

I don't wana get shot with anything but I like the fastest moving bullet I can get 9 mm +p+ also I get more chances to hit someone

 

[CWL]

Airforceshooter and goon have the most valuable advice here Norinco982.

Gun + bullets don't mean anything, it is the abilities of the individual to hit the target repeatedly during times of stress that is important. This comes from mindset & training. The hardware is secondary.

 

[gp911]

The search feature will show tons of threads on this.

I carry a .45, but a LEO I know when asked if his S&W was a 4506 said "No, a 5906 (9mm). I'm not carrying that non-penetrating POS. We had a guy stop a .45 with his wallet! I'll stick with the highest velocity I can get."

I think either one can do the job, and a large component of the equation is luck. Neither one is a magic death ray. Whichever you are more comfortable with is the way to go.

gp911

 

[BattleChimp Potemkin]

Most of the folks I overhear while working at the range that claim one round cant do something or this round (take your pick, Ive heard them all so far) cant do that usually have patterns rather than groups and dont know what they are talking about when it comes to firearms in general. To heck with caliber, bullets or all that. The guys here are right. Get a gun you like (not what some mall ninja online likes) and learn to fight with it. Shot placement, various shooting conditions, reloading, all that! Dont listen to gunstore hype or "this police dept/military is using this gun" or this gun is all the rage in the gun rags. Just get one you personally like, fits well, fits the situation you would be using it for, a caliber you feel comfortable in using (use your mind, not machismo) and it will be right as rain.