Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Is it really a 9mm world out there?

Don't own one. The nine is not a bad cartridge; but neither is the 38 & 357 and I don't own those either.

I consolidated to 45 ACP/LC a few years ago and they're the only handguns I reload or, rarely, buy ammo for. My wife has a 40 and 380 LCP and I need to find a pocket gun in one of the above calibers.

Is it really a 9mm world out there?

No, it's a 45 world, we just let the children play with the nines.

So I guess you consider the military and much of law enforcement to be children?

What I say?

Thanks to all of the fine gentlemens that have taken their important time to educate us on the fine points of the 9MM world that is certainly blooming and booming and effervescently bubbling to an ever increasingly fevered pitch among the wondering audience that walks the halls of the hallowed halls of the shooting world.

African guides are now recommending it for Cape buffalo. It's amazing what bullet design improvements can do.

What's truly amazing is how people get butthurt over something like this. Like it's a personal slap in their face.

Yes it is a 9mm world and I encourage any one that wants a semi auto self defense pistol to get a couple of 9mm pistols, a bushel basket full of magazines and a good holster, etc. The 9mm is easier for most to shoot well and to learn to shoot quickly, the ammo is cheaper so one might shoot more often, which we all need to do. I cut my teeth on a 1911 .45 ACP and love my little Glock 36. But, I have more 9mm pistols then any thing else, except for .22's. I also carry a Glock 43 or Glock 19 more then any other pistol.

Bullet design is so good these days, we truly live in the age of "super bullets". So for the most part at reasonable hand gun fighting distances for civilian's, it is like hunting , shot placement trumps every thing.

The 9MM is good for big bear defense too. It is the do all of all things doable. It has risen above all calibers large and small. All other caliber bows to the greatness of the 9MM. Soon there will only be the 9MM. Thanks for the greatness of the 9MM. I am thankful, others are thankful and many more will be thankful as all of us are.

A few weeks back my buddy went to Cabelas in Wheeling WV and had a new Beretta in 40. Tried to trade it in on a gun at about half its value. Guy at the gun library or whatever they call it told him they could not accept anything in 40.

I like to shoot .40, but I suppose I like to shoot everything.
I'm not surprised that the market is down on .40's but I'm a bit surprised at HOW down it is.

Depending on the gun I think .40 can be the best caliber. I prefer a Glock 22 to a 17 for example. Not a big deal either way but I lean 22.

I guess that's why the current popularity of 9mm surprised me. I had thought the old "three horse race" of 9mm, .40 & .45 was down to 2 (or maybe 2.5). I just found out that its a 1 horse race, at least for now.

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Heh!

Yes, yes it is.

Does this mean 40 is instantly going to vanish from the planet? No.

But yes, it is a 9mm world.

Apart from the United States, it's been a 9mm world for a hundred years. In the US, it's been dominant since about 1980. The S&W Model 59 (fourteen round magazine 9mm pistol) became wildly popular with US police departments in the 1970s, along with (shortly after the 59's introduction) the Beretta 92. The Browning Hi Power (introduced in 1935) already had a faithful US following when these two came along, but 9mm didn't really catch fire until the early to middle 1970s (thanks to the S&W Model 59 and Beretta 92). By the 1980s, 9mm was dominant here.

"According to the 2014 edition of Cartridges of the World, the 9×19mm Parabellum is 'the world's most popular and widely used military handgun and submachine gun cartridge.' In addition to being used by over 60% of police in the U.S., Newsweek credits 9×19mm Parabellum pistol sales with making semiautomatic pistols more popular than revolvers. The popularity of this cartridge can be attributed to the widely held conviction that it is effective in police and self-defense use. Its low cost and wide availability contribute to the caliber's continuing popularity."

- Wikipedia

Hard to get good stats, but I'd bet its killed more people than any other cartridge

Well, Bruce Willis sure seems to favor it in a Beretta 92 in the Die Hard movie series. It seemed way more effective than the Uzi machine pistols in last nights movie. Bruce double tapped everyone until he got down to the last two bad guys that needed shooting and he only had two cartridges left.

I wonder if Mr Nine Millimeter will do a eulogy at the funeral of Mr. Forty Smith&Wesson? It seems only fitting Mr Millimeter should. Mr. Smith&Wesson, I'm sure, would smile upon it.

Tell him to call glockdoofus, he'll take it.