Pistols are a close-in weapon - almost a semiauto version of the knife. The M1911A1 is a superb combat weapon because it always works. Always. When it connected, the other guy went down, immediately.
The M9 and the whole corrupt selection process was an abortion from Day 1 and we have imbeciles in the Joint Service Small Arms Program to thank for that. I was unlucky enough to be assigned as a liaison to JSSAP during part of that travesty and had to listen to lectures by “experts”. - who never served in uniform, much less combat - tell us that the 9mm was the best caliber in the world. Being young and not career- oriented, I asked the army colonel running things if “that’s the same 9mm the Germans lost two wars in a row with”. I was told to sit down and shut while the whole room broke up in laughter.
Standard 1911’s are pretty reliable but I have seen many failures over the years.
And the .45 is a good round but many people have been shot repeatedly with .45, in the torso, who didn’t go down.
I think we should run tests on gitmo detainees using .45 and .40 ball and see how much difference in ‘stopping power’ there is. You can stuff far more rounds of .40 in a mag than .45 cal and I would personally trade a bit of ‘stopping power’ for many more rounds.
To me - stopping power is severing the spine at the base of the skull anyway.