Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 9mm +P

I found this video to be informative about this subject. FWIW, this also shows why I carry a 9mm loaded with 147 grain HSTs and got rid of my other handgun calibers. Watch to the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i67WILeK66Y

Pretty interesting. If I was carrying a 9 again, that would be a load to look at and seriously consider. The Berretta NANO is looking like a good one to try out someday, when I can.

I couldn't disagree more. Anybody that's seen the various rounds under different conditions perform in the field will tell you that they can be close, but also can vary alot depending on the load and what it hits.
Last time I looked all the 9mm stuff was virtually identical to the light bullet loads from the .38 Special and the .357 Magnum.
However, the .357 Magnum ammo can be had with loads like the various 158 gr. jacketed bullets of both HP and soft point versions. Then there are the 180 gr. wide flat point lead loads. Far different performance than anything out of a 9mm.
The .45 ACP is also availiable with stuff that is similar to the 9mm but with a wider wound channel. That's because their 165-185 gr. bullets open to around .85- .90 caliber.
Go to the heavier 230 gr. stuff and you've got a load that will shoot through angled windshield glass and not only stay on course but hit hard when it gets there. No 9mm load can do this with any expansion.
You can do the same with the .40. Either use light bullets down to 135 gr. for a shorter, wider wound channel, or use a 180 for deeper penetration especially through barriers.
Meanwhile the rest of the world still thinks the .380 with FMJ ammo is a perfectly adequate police round.
Good luck with that. E

Shooting through windshields and automobiles is dicey with any typical defensive handgun and their ammo.

That's rifle country, plain and simple.

There are definitely some handgun rounds that will slice and dice an automobile, but a 9mm ain't one of them

Neither is the 40SW or 45ACP.

7.62x25 and 357 Sig would fare better, on average.

I'd never choose a handgun for stopping a car, but if it's all you have, well, good luck.

All these calibers perform the same when using top rounds, don't fool yourself.



Any one is as good as another terminally. So we then look at recoil, capacity, ammo compactness, and ammo cost. 9mm wins an overall comparison by a loooooong country mile. Which is why virtually every military force on the entire planet -including the US- uses it.

Me...i like the 5.7x28mm. It actually does things other handgun calibers don't.

PS: 9mm is the most popular police round in the world- not .380.

a really good post, and supported by a stellar graphic.

i agree with this info (for the most part);

a. the material you mention; and, b. that super neat graphic.

and i will add that without question, the 9mm is my favorite of the handgun rounds by a country mile--for all of the reasons stated...

yet despite this, there are times when i tote a .45--when i'm out on the road, or when weight is less of an issue, (and while the proper cartridge/rifle would be better for auto glass, etc., than many handguns), the .45 is good indeed--especially in hotter persuasions when launched from a pistol such as the usp that can easily handle those loads, and even more additional pressure--for the usp was designed around the pressures of the .40 s&w, it has a very large margin of safety when it comes to heavy loads--and though not often, at times i even launch 250 gr pills in mine...

in the examples of ballistics mediums and/or tissue only, the results in that visual graphic posted are very likely some pretty realistic expectations of those cartridges--but, if you also consider or enter glass, car doors, 2x4s, or 2x10s etc., into the equation--things can, and do change. the 9 mm is relatively narrow, so it penetrates very well--i've shot them completely through a railroad tie--great penetration--but there are select times when some additional mass can help to serve up a better dish--on demand...

another beauty of the 9mm--so often sold short by tin horn pistoleers of the past--is that they often claim that "it is not anything more than a .38 special". in the past, when velocity figures were often posted for the 125 grain pill in the .357 magnum, the barrels were usually 6 inches or more in length--but, whack that barrel back to packable/concealable snub nose lengths and that velocity can change some--

and this is why a 9mm in a +p+ will closely share the rarified air with a 125 grain pill in a .357 magnum when launched from a snub nose revolver...