First of all, I will admit to not having anywhere near the knowledge and experience that most of y'all have.
That said, here is what I believe, bullet design and type can make any cal. better or worse. By that I mean a good bullet design that opens up and penetration is good will work better than a bullet that does not do either.
I did shoot IPSC for a very short time and shot in the "Limited Ten" division. When we shot plates, the 45 would take the plate down right then. The 9mm would give you a "plink sound" and when you were 4 or 5 plates down the rack, they would start to fall. Now most guys were loading to avoid recoil and therefore I am sure that had some to do with it as well.
At the time I thought "heck I need a 45 for a carry gun" because of what I saw at the plate rack. I will admit, I was dumber then than I am now, and now understand the whole "load to make min." concept.
Fast forward many years and my neighbor (he was a Special Forces Ranger in Afghanistan) and I were talking and his comment was "you will never hear anyone that has ever been in a firefight say, DANG I HAVE TOO MUCH AMMO".
All that said, I do carry a 9mm with high cap mags with "good ammo", and I carry a 45 with "good ammo". Even with "good ammo" it is like everything else in the firearms world, accuracy, and shot placement matters.
Last edited by pullit; 04/26/21.
