Which caliber would you trust your life with?

[BHP FAN]

I would carry a .380 on up, but I voted .45, because that'd be my choice if I knew I was going to be using it.

 

[Jonah71]

As long as I can hit the intended target, any of them.

 

[Pete D.]

I'd carry a gun chambered for any of those cartridges (8), regardless of the caliber (4). I voted .45 (.452 cal.) but the others would be satisfactory (.355, .357, .400).
Pete

 

[smalls]

I saw a video somewhere that showed a .380 round not even going through a denim jacket. I'm not sure what gun, or other variables there were, though.
With the size of all these new pocket pistols coming out, you can get a 9mm just a tad larger than a .380, so I really don't understand why anyone would carry such an inferior caliber. I honestly think that. 380 is just a few new pocket pistol designs in larger calibers and smaller guns away from going away as a popular choice.

 

[miles1]

All of them as well.

 

[Byrd666]

Why not "All the above"

All those calibers are potentially deadly as well as the .22 lr or .22 mag. As we all know, or should know, it's more about placement than the actual firepower itself. And I don't see anyone volunteering to stand in front of any of those you or I mentioned to see just how effective they are.

 

[kokapelli]

I saw a video somewhere that showed a .380 round not even going through a denim jacket. I'm not sure what gun, or other variables there were, though.
With the size of all these new pocket pistols coming out, you can get a 9mm just a tad larger than a .380, so I really don't understand why anyone would carry such an inferior caliber. I honestly think that. 380 is just a few new pocket pistol designs in larger calibers and smaller guns away from going away as a popular choice.

I'd like to see that video. In any case I'll go by by legitimate tests like this one from Brass Fetcher.

http://www.brassfetcher.com/380ACP%20ammunition%20performance%20in%20ballistic%20gelatin.pdf

 

[wally]

First rule of the gun fight, Have a Gun!

If a .25ACP was the largest I could carry it beats a pointed stick!

Only one I'd rule out is .22LR because of reliability issues.

 

[Fastcast]

Who here is going to stand up and take a double tap of anemic .380 hardball, to their chest pockets, while wearing their Levi jacket?

LOL

 

[ForumSurfer]

I saw a video somewhere that showed a .380 round not even going through a denim jacket.

That is a video that I would never believe. Having seen 380 rounds slaughter some really thick soup cans, I'd say denim is no trouble whatsoever.

Mindset
Skillset
Equipment

I'd take any of those calibers if I had to.

 

[Montenegrin]

Back in the old days, cartridges like .38 s&w were considered pretty powerful.Wild Bill Hickok made his name with percussion cap and ball .36 navys,which power is little higher than the .380 acp.And by todays standards, .38 spl is close to being called weak,.38 long colt seems to be unsuitable ,and .38 s&w is already weak.In past,people have been dying a lot by bullets fired from guns chambered for these cartridges,and today,they are weak?Only +P seems to be suitable.C'mon,tell me,DID human really evolved and became stronger in past 70 yrs,and became more immune to these cartridges?Not to mention .380 ACP,which is found unsuitable for anything.I saw someone posted ''38 spl only in 4"+ barrel''. Why?Why the hell all people want ULTRA-DUPER-SUPER MAGNUM loads?

 

[smalls]

I tried searching for the video, but no luck. And like I said, I'm sure there were more variables I don't recall.
My main point was why carry something so small when something much better can be had in almost the same sized gun. Plus, .380 is more expensive to shoot that 9mm!

 

[LiveLife]

Please, the OP of this polled thread was to simply get a general consensus as to what people considered "adequate" to trust their lives with and get enough average sampling of THR members' feedback as the discussion on the effectiveness of each caliber will never end.

If you want to discuss whether a specific caliber bullet is capable of poking a hole through some denim material and soup can, that's not what this polled thread is about.

I would qualify "trust your life" in terms of saving your wives/loved ones from certain and imminent attacks/threats.

I hope this helped clarify the intent of the OP.

 

[9mmforMe]

Any one of them would suit me fine.

 

[The Sarge]

I own guns in each caliber you listed after 40+ years of collecting firearms.
I trust my like daily to a 9X18 Makarov round.

 

[BADUNAME37]

I would trust my life with any of those, including the .380. I firmly believe any shot that means anything is a well-placed shot. Anything other than a well-placed shot is, well, I guess, just willy-nilly.

 

[Fastcast]

I tried searching for the video, but no luck. And like I said, I'm sure there were more variables I don't recall.

My main point was.....

and here I thought your point was, you saw a video on the internet that made you believe .380 couldn't penetrate denim. Why else would you post it, if you didn't believe it?

To the OP....why no "all of the above"?

 

[LiveLife]

There is "all of the above" option as you can vote for more than one caliber.

 

[45_auto]

In past,people have been dying a lot by bullets fired from guns chambered for these cartridges,and today,they are weak?

Didn't take much more than a scratch to kill people back in the days before modern antibiotics and medicines. Might take a few weeks for you to die, but pretty much ANY bullet in the gut was a killer .....

 

[ku4hx]

All of them ... shot placement is king followed closely by followup shot(s).

 

[mortablunt]

At the least, a 380 ACP. Ideally, it would be a 7.62x54R from a 91/30 I have my eye on. Let's see you stay in the fight after one of these hits your chest!

Didn't take much more than a scratch to kill people back in the days before modern antibiotics and medicines. Might take a few weeks for you to die, but pretty much ANY bullet in the gut was a killer .....

Also, remember that modern medicine can treat wounds and remove bullets which were inoperable in the 19'th century. A lot of people who died of gunshot wounds back then died hours after they were hit. If the same were to happen to them today, then they would have been taken to ER and survived.

 

[oldfool]

since all can vote for multiple choices, poll is simply too predictable to offer great insight
some (like myself) good with any, but others will go with only "middeweights" and up, while some will only go with "heavyweights"
hence distribution of poll results is a foregone conclusion

only reason the Sig and 10 mm look a bit out of sequence vs power factor is that not as many people shoot that caliber

 

[Kiln]

I picked .40 S&W and .38 SP because I keep a .38 in the drawer for home defense but my SHTF gun is an XDM in .40 Smith.

 

[LiveLife]

since all can vote for multiple choices, poll is simply too predictable to offer great insight some (like myself) good with any, but others will go with only "middeweights" and up, while some will only go with "heavyweights"
hence distribution of poll results is a foregone conclusion

oldfool, the OP intent of this polled thread was not to discuss the merits of each caliber's effectiveness as that's been done on multiple threads ad nauseam but to simply gather THR members' general consensus.

What I am trying to gauge with this polled thread is what the general consensus of how people are defining "adequate" for "trusting your life" is.

In time, we should have an ongoing polling results with maybe enough statistical sample to indicate what the "majority" of THR members view as the minimum caliber they would "trust" their lives with. So instead of several people insisting what their definition of "adequate" is, I am leaning on the opinion of greater average.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

any of them provided the pistol is a good shooter.

my ccw is a Makarov and most times a .32acp Berettaq back-up or when very lightly dressed (swim trunks and t-shirt, etc) the Beretta in a pocket with spare mag other pocket.

as others posted I wanna see the .380acp nay-sayers volunteer to stand up and take a slug thru the denim vest pocket.
practice w/my Beretta has yeilded proficiency to hit an apple @20' consistently.
believe me you don't want to get hit with an aimed shot from my Mak 9X18 (hot handload XTP). an aimed quartering-away neck shot on a large mongrel feral dog terrorizing the neighborhood above me derned near took it's head off. range about 25' over 'bait'. complete pass thru disintegrated spine/back of skull.