Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire whats best for carry,40 or 45?

Carry a Star PD 45, shooting 200gr Hornady XTP's. Couple extra mags, and I've got 19 rounds with me. carried a S&W 915 for a while. Much prefer the Star

Why not 16-18 rounds without having to change the mag?

for some the .40 is nor good enough

for others the 9mm is not good enough

for others the .380 is too little


I don't want to get shot with any of them.


.4? something was always the grail for me if needing a handgun around


but the faster follow up shots possible with a 9mm certainly seems worthy of consideration.


funny how the CW has changed as society has changed, ergo more group violence whether from flash mobs or terrorists.


mouse guns with concealability was all the rage the last several years.

but it seems hi cap is makin a comeback. and I can see some merit to that.


when chit gets real, just having to squeeze the trigger and put a front sight on what's threatening you would seem to be enough of a job, sans worrying about mag exchanges.

I'm pretty partial to mom's lil Glock 29 I got her for berry picking, not too obtrusive and the lil gun has some firepower available.

a guy could do worse

Hillary once said. "What difference does it make?"
whelennut

I'll tell you what, sometimes it's nice to be able to have your hand on a gun and nobody know it. A NAA .22 Mag can be very comforting.

I'm no expert at CCW, usually I leave the big guns in the car. Just sayin'.

The individual carrying is not likely to get into a need for high capacity like a lawman will. They add a lot of weight. One or two shots will resolve most situations, so make them count. The sectional density of a 45 is hard to beat.

Very true, I hear from the gals that larger hurts more. And no desire for that

Throw these into your own personal blender, and you'll arrive at the best answer for you. Rest assured, you will be corrected for choosing it, and mocked, and lambasted, and ridiculed. But then again, nobody else has to carry or shoot it, now do they?



If, by some chance, you still have a flying [intercourse's] worth of interest in my own tastes, I suppose my decision making starts with:

1) Do I have reasonable faith in the cartridge to provide quick incapacitation? [Rules out cartridges < .38 Spl, to my twisted way of thinking]

2) Can I reliably put multiple rounds on-target with this cartridge, reasonably quickly, regardless of what package it comes in? [Rules out .40 S&W and 10mm, in my case]

After that, it all goes to hell. I have to weigh out...
* How many rounds do I want to carry?
* How many in the gun, and how many reloads?
* How/where will I carry the reloads?
* How much weight am I willing to carry? [gun, ammo, and reloads]
* Am I willing to sacrifice shooting efficacy or comfort to have something more concealable? [Maybe so, if it's so hot out as to be inhumane: a J-frame in one's pocket trumps a M&P left on the nightstand. However, probably not if it means carrying virtually any Kahr: those pistols hate my hands.]
* Am I willing to adjust my clothing choices to carry something less concealable? [If I feel I need to carry a .45, it's aint gonna be a flyweight: I'll need to cover that bad boy.]


Once you come up with what you decide is gonna work for you, practice, practice, practice. Then practice some more.

And carry your selection with you whenever & wherever it's not prohibited by law.

FC

Actually, the sectional density of a 147 grain 9mm is .167 and the sectional density of a 230 grain .45 is .162. The .45 will make a larger diameter hole though.

I bought a M&P 45 compact for this purpose, but it's a bit bulkier than I like. Anymore, it's typically on the nightstand or in the truck. Now I'm considering a M&P Shield 9mm...

Good choice, that's the wife's carry. Get the model without the un-necessary safety.

Fluffy: I prefer the high capacity magazined Glock Models 22 and 23 with night sights - these models are in 40 S&W caliber.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

23 for me as well.

Gee who would have ever guessed a .45 expands?

Idiots. ^^^^^

Apparently 200-300 FPS doesn't matter, either.

I still believe in the old saying. A 9 m/m may expand but a 45 want shrink. That being said I carry a Sig 938. It's easy to hide in shorts . Hasbeen

I like my HK USP Compact .40 in a Milt Sparks VMII; that works for me I don't know what will work for you.

That bears repeating.

I used to be fairly competent with a handgun, but IMHO unless you are practicing weekly you cannot be even close to the top of your game. Ideally you should have a daily dry fire routine and live fire at least once a week.

From what I've seen at the range, the difference between a practiced handgun shot is minute of Akbar at 50 yds. vs. minute of Akbar at 10 yds. And that's on paper. If you really put the time in and the handgun is reasonably accurate you should be able to keep your shots on a B27 at 100 yds.

The 40 just doesn't appeal to me, I'm in the 9mm, 38sp or 45 acp camp depending on the platform.

I've never seen a single document, study or test showing 45 to be significantly better than 9mm. This goes back at least 70 years. The military did a lot of testing in 1946 after WW-2 and concluded then that 9mm was equal to 45 as a man stopper and was far superior at barrier penetration. They wanted to make the swap in 1946, but there was no demand to purchase any handgun at the time.

Most of the 45 legend is due to the fictional writings of Jeff Cooper after the war. Most of the soldiers in both WW-1 and WW-2 did not care for the 1911 nor the 45. Cooper was the PT Barnum of firearms and some still believe the legend rather than the facts.

Today with the best loads 9mm will match 357 mag from 4" or shorter barrels and with 125 gr bullets. The 40 S&W will match 357 mag from 4" or shorter barrels and heavier 155-180 gr bullets. Both are about the equal of 45 with less recoil and at least 2X more ammo capacity.

Deciding between 9mm and 40 S&W really comes down to ammo capacity, recoil and whether you trust 125 gr bullets or want 155-180 gr bullets. I can't see where 45 brings any advantages to the table.