Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Why the .45 ACP "sucks" for self defense

Now on to the second half of your statement. I wish I were young, but I am foolish; many here will attest to that.

But I've also treated more gunshot wounds than most military medics who have been to war, and I've seen first hand what handguns do and don't do. Coupled with hunting experience, I've learned that what may look like a big difference on paper, often times means absolutely nothing in the field. Things such as the difference in the size of a fully expanded 9mm vs. a fully expanded .45 ACP. On paper when you do the math, as a % increase in size, the difference looks big and impressive. But when both bullets hit a living being, that living being doesn't do the math, and you have to search long to find some extreme example where that difference in expanded diameter was THE one and only issue that carried the day. Yet examples of bullet placement carrying the day (or ruining someone's day) can be found in pretty much every incident.

From 9mm-.45 ACP and everything in between, the difference in ACTUAL performance on human beings just isn't big enough to agonize over. I used to...I not only agonized over caliber, but I was very specific about which load I carried; I sweated EVERY detail. Only to learn that your choice in caliber or load being the deciding factor in a gun fight is statistically outside the realm of what's reasonable to worry over. (or what I personally find reasonable, you may disagree)

My chances of being in a gunfight are about the same as getting hit by lightning. Now the chance that I'm actually in a gun fight, but the ONE thing I needed in that gunfight was the flatter trajectory of the 9mm, or that somehow in this particular gunfight NO JHP bullet would expand regardless of cartridge/bullet combination, so starting out with a .45 caliber hole is the only reason I survived. Or the only reason I survived is because I had an 18 round magazine, or I'm alive because only a 180 grain .40 S&W round would have penetrated enough to stop the goblin I was facing.

In the realm of gunfights, there are always incidents you can point to for the purposes of justifying some particular choice in equipment. And those examples are almost always some sort of extreme circumstance.

But in EVERY gun fight, and EVERY shooting scene that I've ever responded to personally, or have heard about, shot placement or lack thereof has been a key factor.

And I KNOW that when reasonable choices are made in firearm, cartridge, and ammunition...followed by good shot placement, in the vast majority of shootings, just that was sufficient. Because shot placement can cover a LOT of sins in your choices. But caliber, capacity, bullet choice, etc...rarely, are those choices sufficient to cover the sin of not being able to place rounds where they'll do you any good.

So I choose my firearms not because of caliber, but for me it's more about how well I and that particular gun get along in the scoring department. Do I shoot it well trumps just about everything...and the other factors come in behind that one criteria (within reason of course).

But hey, according to you I'm young and foolish; so for God's sake, don't listen to me.