Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Help me out with a little study im doing.......

42 years old. .45ACP.

Might be something to your theory about age/firearm relationships. I'm 107 and carry a Colt's Dragoon...


Okay, I'm really 58. Carry is determined by convenience and the thought that having a mouse gun on me is better than a .45 back home, so carry a Kel-Tec .32 ACP. Realizing that it's main function will be to hopefully make enough of a distraction to give me a chance to run away.

.45 ACP is still King of the Hill in my heart. Recoil of handguns is not yet a factor to someone who has shot .44 Magnums and hot .45 Colts for 30 years, so a .45 ACP in a full size 1911 is what I'd call low to medium recoil impulse.

But the other thing age does is provide experience which (sometimes) increases wisdom, so my mind understands that the three most important things in stopping power are:
1 - Placement
2 - Placement
2 1/2 - Placement
3 - caliber and terminal effect.

More and more I'm thinking a good 9mm with proven ammo would work just fine.

Well, I was born in 1947, and love the 9mm. Have several, and use a 9mm as primary carry gun.

Jim in Idaho has it about right: Placement is paramount.

I know lacement is key which is why I chose the 9mm for mny years over bigger or more powerful calibers, However, the topic this time around is simple and not really geared towards "whats more important when selecting a caliber" Im just curious as to what everyones final caliber choice is, not really how they came to the decision to carry it......though that might be my next topic of study.

Placement is indeed paramount and a well placed 45 is never a bad thing

Placement is why when I carry a .45 it's always a full sized, all steel, Government Model, not a lightweight or a shorty. I can shoot that gun just fine right out of the holster without any warm up range time. If I want something lighter weight, I go with an all-steel K (FBI pattern) or D (Detective Special) Frame .38, or at lightest a standard sized Kahr P-9.

Don't even much like the J-Frame .38s, even in all-steel, for shooting, so don't carry them, even though I have a few mainly as collector pieces because I just think they're cool guns. Hate shooting a J-Frame .38, though, so won't carry one. Hard to maintain a constant grip from shot to shot with them, even with over-sized grips.

I am 46 and I carry a 9mm, not because I prefer the cartridge but because the pistol I have it in is small enough that goes with me.

I have a full size 9mm (sr9) and full size 45 (colt government 5" steel) which I rarely carry. Its hard to know which I feel more confidant in, the 8 rds of 45 or the 17 of 9mm. I shoot the 45 slightly better.

If I knew I was going to a gunfight, First, I would stay home and if that is not an option I would take my AR, If I had to go with a pistol. I guess it would the 45.

Im sure the gun/platform you use may also affect your caliber decision to some degree. I might be more inclined to carry .45 if Sig had a 220 that was a double stack or if it just held more rounds. I like the the Sig P series and have been shooting it forever so even if .45 was my first choice I would select a different caliber to stay with a familiar platform.

Another example might be someone who is 100 confident with a 9mm Hi power wanting something a little more than a 9 but refuses to give up the familiarity of the hi power platform until the .40 hi powers came out, then he would be more likely to change calibers. So while a .45 might be my first choice if I shot HK's, its not because I shoot Sigs.

47 yrs, 45 acp all the way
Gunner

OK, now that I got the premise. If push came to shove I would take a 45, if open carry was an option it would be a Government model 1911 45. But as I said in the beginning I am comfortable with the .38 spl due to years of carry as that was the only option for us. The 9mm never gave me the warm fuzzies.

I'm 64. Started with 9mm but now I am a 45XD fanatic. They fit really well in a Crossbred holster. Load it with Corbon DPX's and you are ready for any occasion!! Also carry a 642 Smith with DPX's.

Well first confession is being a gun looney so I carry a lot of different things but primarily:

Duty and Off Duty is 40 S&W in Glock 22. Reasoning is it has good energy, frontal diameter and magazine capacity.

Ruger Security Six/Smith K Frames in .38 / .357's are regularly carried and used as house guns. House guns are same grips, 4 inch barrels, sights so that no matter which one is grabbed they all feel the same to me and my wife. The wife loves revolvers; both single action and double action and hates semi's. So everything is set up with her in mind.

When woods bumming it's generally the above revolvers or a single action Blackhawk in .45 colt or 44 special.

Oh, I am 34 years old, been carrying since I was 10 and live in Colorado.

I'm 48 years old. I live in southern Oklahoma. I pack a Beretta 92FS now in 9mm. I was carrying a Government .45 up until a few months ago. I have a great deal of confidence in the 9mm for self defense. I believe it can handle anything that will fit through my front door. I had confidence in the .45 too, but I like the 15 round magazine capacity of the Beretta. I have a tendency to rip them off kind of fast and the .45 ran dry in about two heartbeats. My idea of the perfect defense pistol is a Government model in .38 Super, but I don't own one now. I'm comfortable too with a single action revolver. I like the .44 Special, but I shot IPSC matches for five years and the autopistol feels like an extention of my hand. Either hand. I grew up prejudice of the 9mm, mostly because of critical feedback from guys like Jeff Cooper. I'm seeing a whole different picture now.

I'm 60. My first centerfire pistol was a 45 ACP Colt, still have it and it's my favorite. My primary carry piece however is a Smith & Wesson 3913 in 9MM. I am at an age where I prefer moderation in all things.

If a Glock is the basis for your wife deciding she hates auto pistols, why don't you have her try a nice 1911 pattern semi-auto. She might totally change her mind. Not that there's any problem in preferring a nice revolver.

i did not read entire thread yet but will later.I believe you are basically right with some exceptions out there.Me i'm 37 currently and i started shooting at a very young age of 2 with dad holding gun and me pulling trigger basically.my dad was born in 34 and went through korean war where he got shot to hell and he always wanted a 45.so when i was at age to get my permit i bought a colt 45 gov't model which i carried alot when out and about but when in woods or around farm you always found the old ruger security six 357 mag that i was brought up with.

Now i still mix it up with the 45 and 357 but i'm lucky enough to own others and the 10mm goes out as does the 475 linebaugh during hunting months.I own a 9mm but never felt it is enough to me.And while not knocking the 40 in anyway i did own one it never was right for me

I'm 28, and my pick is the 45 ACP in a 1911, either 5" steel or 4.25" lightweight Commander.

Part of my choice is ergonomics: the 1911 just fits my hand better than any other automatic pistol I've shot.

The bigger part of my choice is nostalgia: I like guns made from metal with manual safties and exposed hammers. I appreciate that polymer pistols are excellent tools, but I have the luxury of not having to view my pistols as simply tools.

That's part of my thinking too.

I'm 43. 38 special for daily carry. .45 ACP for home or truck, full size 1911 or XD service.