Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Does size matter? Excellent info here...

I vote with ample caliber, momentum, good capacity and expanding bullets. That way if one of your magic beans don't sprout, the rest will probably get you home.

Hey I heard about this cartridge the other day, Forty something or other, which combines the mentioned attributes with room to spare. But it is apparently impossible to shoot well because it 'snaps' the user, rendering him or her helpless.

i only know what the big boys tell me.

I plan on leaving my 27 converted to 9mm.. the 23 will stay 40 and the 35 might become my 357 sig (it remains 40 cal).

This my contribution since I have been having therapy sessions.
I am going to leave my 40 S&W's 40 S&W's my 10MM'S 10MM'S my 45 Autos 45 Autos.
I am not going to buy a 9MM.
I carry a 45 Auto probably 85 to 90 percent of the time and a M69 Smith and a 40 Smith and Wesson Glock M27 or a Springfield XDm 40 S&W balanced in the last 10 to 15 percent.
I do not feel undergunned or under capacity. I have owned 357 Mags in the past but dont own any now and don't anticipate owning one in the future.
I am happy with my decisions.

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.

I was just thinking the same thing... Also consider there might be multiple perps.. I'd rather have the available 18+1 in one of my 9mm pistols than the 7-8 available in the compact 45s.. Agreed.

I used to shoot a lot of pistol silhouette. The 357 Maximum was used by some as was the 41 Magnum, but as I remember the 44 Mag was the best of the revolvers, back then (early 70's). Though bullet drop was an issue with the 44's at 200 yards. The contenders and the modified XP-100s did the best for me in steel silhouette.

I can't help but think a 7mm International or 7mm-08 in a modified XP with a 14" barrel would be quite effective, effective as many rifle cartridges.

30 yr progression....

FWiW

629, 1911, P30L

In a high stress I think I want more rounds, probably will not be making perfect shots. I have seen (on the target range) when the beeper goes off, some really good shooters not make the shots hit. That is with the beeper, can't and don't want to think about what real life would do to your stress levels.

Being in a rural area where crime is nearly non-existent other than people doing illegal drugs ( and not harming others) I have little need for an anti-personnel pistol. When I'm hiking where there's mountain lions or wolves or even rabid animals, I might carry a 357. Thinking back when I had to live in high crime areas, I think a derringer would be all that would be required for personal protection. I recently bought a Bond 45 ACP and it shoots surprisingly well. I also bought a slim single stack 9mm which fits in my pocket quite well - If I remember right, it holds 7 rounds. Every now and then I may have to go to the Twin Cities where I feel that a concealed weapon might be prudent. I HATE going to the Twin Cities! I can not imagine a scenario where a lot of rounds would be required.

Back in 1970 a group of us went to Washington DC to sell blood (ours) to get a little spending money. After I gave blood one of my buddies came into the building and told me there was a gang with knives outside and I was needed. The gang of thugs had knifes, but when the number of marines equaled the number of thugs with knives they backed off slowly. As I recall we sold our blood for $15 and we were not going to give that money to those thugs.

I think in that case a derringer would have been enough to cause the bad guys to back off, even if it were only one guy against them.

What seems to be lost, in that it is not definitively stated, is that tissue/ballistic gel behaves as a non-Newtonian medium/fluid - that it does not behave in an intuitive, numerically predictable manner to bullet mass, speed, and shape.

Some combinations simply seem to work better than others.

The way you find out which one works in a manner which may be compared is to shoot ballistic gel.

That was the point of the video.

Tag

Did not feel undergunned when firing my Glock M30 awhile ago with hard cast 230 gr FP bullets with a good sized meplat and Longshot.
Just shot at 25 yards though standing offhand.

A Derringer adequate to face a gang armed with knives... Darwin is smiling right now.

That was my thought as well

Two things stick out to me from my experiences:

1. People shot in the torso with a rifle don't always "stop" right away.

2. I was never in a gunfight and thought, "gee, I wish I had less ammo."

I base my carry weapon choices on those experiences. My home defense weapon isn't a handgun.

I usually carry a M&P compact 9mm, so 16 rounds of HST on tap. If I go small, and it's not often anymore, my 45 shield is only one less round than my 9mm shield, so I carry that. I'll take 7 shots of 45 over 8 shots of 9mm.

I'll probably get a Shield + and call it a day.

Only if you've actually measured it. Otherwise you are repeating a forum myth.
There are YouTube videos of folks testing followup shot time difference between 9mm and 40sw - no difference. I know there is no difference for me.

This oft-quoted piece of information only applies to new shooters. Like a typical FBI desk jockey.

^ Seconded. What decides gunfights is making the decision to shoot NOW, the ability to center your opponent with 1-2 + shots instantly and shoot him to the ground if necessary, If you'll piss down your leg and fail to shoot or throw away shots with a 40 or 45, having a 9mm isn't going to save you.

Like poor Windows. He froze instead of firing his flame thrower at the alien.

^ Yeah we always hate it when that happens;)

Hi DLA ,

As you probably know, recoil is subjective from shooter to shooter, with variables such as hand size, grip egonomics, experience, shooting technique, physical weight of the handgun and individual load in the firearm.

My experience is, myself, and many other shooters, can control a 9mm firearm quicker and more accurately compared to heavier calibers, if other variables such as the firearm remain consistent.

Obviously, as you mentioned, there is plenty of material previously written on this, and physics also tell us this. As a firearm instructor for about 22 years, and daily carrying 9mm, .38 special, 357 magnum, 40, 10mm, 45 acp, and 44 magnum over a period of 32 years as part of my job, I can tell you that generally, handguns that recoil less are quicker to shoot more accurately for most people. Not something I read somewhere, its my experience.

Your experience may be different, I dunno.