Posted on 05/19/2016 8:15:59 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
While there is a difference in the bullets I posted above, the size difference is FAR SMALLER in terms of impact than the SKILL difference. Looking at their sizes as well, one can see why wound channels by various HPs of different calibers are difficult to differentiate.
Citizen carry is not legal where I live so any defensive gun use would be home defence. It that case, size/weight doesn’t matter, and the main consideration is the cost of practice ammunition (which reloading takes care of).
In any case i split my time between what, for the moment, are two very safe cities.
If the risk was just street crime, I wouldn’t carry even if I could. What I do worry about is a Mumbai type attack. We have already had a terrorist murder a soldier near the Parliament and then get gunned down after he ran inside the building. (5 blocks from where I live).
Mmmmmmm
That’s what I carry in my G19. But I’ll bet I get in a lot more range time than most NYPD peeps so I sure expect to put holes in what I shoot at.
I live in bear and mountain lion country and moved up from a 9mm to 10mm (G20). I didn’t feel under gunned with a 9mm in town but honestly 15 rounds with double the muzzle energy isn’t a bad thing.
In my G19 I practice with 124gr. hardball and carry 124gr. Gold Dots. Carry Winchester 230gr. Rangers in my .45ACP. Of course, my Ruger LCR is always in my pocket when I go out loaded with 135gr. Gold Dot Short-Barrel. That’s the NYPD issue for snubby .38 “back-up” guns because it is ballistically similar to the 9mm 124gr.
My “woods” sidearm is a 4” Ruger GP-100 with handloads of a 185gr. Bear Tooth cast lead flat point. Lots of four-legged toothy critters here in N. Idaho. Some of the two-legged critters don’t have so many teeth ;-)
Oh yes it was!
nypd ping
I live in the Florida Panhandle. When I am walking around the yard or nearby woods I generally keep a French Unique model L in my pocket.
It is a .22 and does not hit hard but it hits hard enough.
If I could afford a new pistol it would be a Glock 20. I would use it for all carry situations except what I mentioned above. I once had 3 10mms. Two Delta elites and an off brand which actually was decent.
I have to rely on two old Browning Hi-Powers which I have had for a very long time. They are serviceable and you could do a lot worse but yeah, like you I would love a Glock 10mm.
BTW I could barely tell the difference between a 10mm and regular .45 auto. Certain not punishing at all.
I saw bullet proof Carhart jackets for sale at a gun store this winter.
According to FBI and other stats, certain 9, 357, 40 and 45 all approach 95_% one shot stopping capability.
On the other hand, a 9 may expand, but a 45 won’t ever shrink.....
The 9 may be more “shootable” for some, but 40s and 45s are not difficult to learn to shoot well either.
What I find amazing I is the shot/hit ratio compared between citizens and LEs. 6 and 4 compared to 14 and 3.....
As for being more shootable - it is true that the 9mm is more shootable than the .40/45, but that is only part of the equation. There is capacity as well, there is also price (much cheaper to shoot 9mm, even if you reload other calibers), and then there is the projectile itself. While it is true that a .45 will 'never shrink,' the fact is that modern 9mm projectiles (like the HST 147gr) have extremely consistent expansion - and what's interesting is that the 147gr HST expands more than most .40 HPs, and bonded rounds like the Critical Duty 135gr outperformed .45 caliber rounds in the FBI protocol. Basically, modern 9mm ammo will match (and even outperform) their larger caliber cousins, not to mention aspects such as cost and speed of shooting (not just shootability, but also the speed of follow-on shots).
There is a reason teams like Delta moved from their highly customized 1911s chambered in .45 to Glocks chambered in .40 and now to Glocks chambered in 9mm (with the SEALs recently following Delta, SF and MARSOC to Glocks in 9mm). Lighter platform, increased round count, measurably faster follow-up shots, and with modern HPs (and the special unit teams use HPs), the same level of lethality as found in .45s.
Most importantly, if someone does their job the round will do its job. By this I mean if both you and I are great shots (and I don't just mean putting holes in paper, but dynamic shooting), and I am armed with my Glock 17 (went up from the 19 I had last year) that is loaded with 147gr HSTs, and you are armed with a Kimber 1911 in .45 that is loaded with 230gr Gold Dots.
Right, so we face off against goblins. As we are both proficient, our shots are going to be accurate, they are going to be quick, the bullets will find their mark.
There is no way that the goblin you hit with the .45 Gold Dot is going to notice any difference from the goblin I hit with the 9mm HST, and vice versa. That's the wonder of modern ammo - the 'rules of thumb' that made a lot of sense decades ago (.45s don't shrink, Moro Moro Islamic tribesmen needed .45s to put them down, etc etc) do not apply much nowadays.
If you hit your goblin several times center mass, and I hit my goblin several times center mass, the results will be exactly the same. The only difference is that I will still have more rounds left in my magazine than you had when your magazine was full, and round capacity is important. Why? Please see the excerpt below on a cop who used to carry .45, had an 'interesting' experience, and now carries 9mm.
But bottom line is this - with modern ammo (modern HPs and not FMJs or old-tech HPs), a 9mm is more than adequate for all homo sapien-related shooting, and may even be better than .40 or .45 for the reasons I listed above. That doesn't mean that .40 and .45 (or even 10mm) are bad rounds, not at all.
Here's the link of the cop who used to carry .45 and now carries 9mm:
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