More accurate 9mm or .45 ACP?

I owned both, had a glock 34, 17 and 19...had a m&p 45, hk usp 45....i shot my 19 much better tha any of my 9mm because of the match barrell... i shot the hkusp 45 in single action much better than my m&p...that said...its not really the caliber...its the shooter and the gun combo... there are some awful handguns out there...pick the one you are accurate with, shoot the crap out of it and reload...caliber dont matter, practice and a good rig does
 
I can't see one caliber being inherently more accurate than the other...the bigger hole does somewhat make sense, but it can never take the place of practice, practice and more practice
 
clhdluke said:
I can't see one caliber being inherently more accurate than the other...the bigger hole does somewhat make sense, but it can never take the place of practice, practice and more practice
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Definitely agree with that. That comment about a single action revolver being easier to shoot has got me thinking now though. May have to get one of those some time in the future to test that out. Damn :p
 
Calibre is one of the least important aspects of accuracy-- any calibre can be worked on to achieve one hole at any reasonable distance. The projection devices however are a completely different story. In handguns, 22s are easy, all you need is a good barrel, 45s in 1911 patterns are also easy to tune to that level, 38special seems to be intrinsically accurate even in autos like the S&W M52 and 1911 conversions, but getting good accuracy out of a 9mm is a VERY expensive project, a waste of time and money unless the requirements of the game force that calibre's use. So CMP "leg" matches now require 9mm since it is the standard sidearm of US forces, and consequently it costs in excess of $ 3000 to make a Berretta into a 1.5 inch at 50 yards gun. And yes, sometimes the sum of errors involved in the shooting process wind up producing a group smaller than the gun can shoot -- but it is very rare.

Dr. Jim
 
Hello,

Could you educate me please, what is special with 9 mm what it makes so difficult to tune corresponding pistol for desired accuracy ?

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Thanks !


T&G said:
Calibre is one of the least important aspects of accuracy-- any calibre can be worked on to achieve one hole at any reasonable distance. The projection devices however are a completely different story. In handguns, 22s are easy, all you need is a good barrel, 45s in 1911 patterns are also easy to tune to that level, 38special seems to be intrinsically accurate even in autos like the S&W M52 and 1911 conversions, but getting good accuracy out of a 9mm is a VERY expensive project, a waste of time and money unless the requirements of the game force that calibre's use. So CMP "leg" matches now require 9mm since it is the standard sidearm of US forces, and consequently it costs in excess of $ 3000 to make a Berretta into a 1.5 inch at 50 yards gun. And yes, sometimes the sum of errors involved in the shooting process wind up producing a group smaller than the gun can shoot -- but it is very rare.

Dr. Jim
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It is relatively easy to accurize a 1911 even in 9mm to make it shoot under two inches (at50yards), but the Civilian Marksmanship Program mandates the use of the M9 aka Berretta 92F in the matches. This pistol has virtually no adequate locking features for it's floating barrel, and the frame is aluminum - smiths have developed techniques to overcome these "features" in the form of match barrels, screw in front bushings, adjustable set screws to elevate the rear end of the barrel to force lockup, and regularly now go through the exercise of 'welding' steel rails onto the frame. I don't even want to think about the gymnastics needed to get a decent trigger on that gun. Shudder! Because most 9 mm bullets are rather short, with little groove contact it is difficult to get accuracy, USAMTU eventually settled on a particular 124gr hollow point to get enough bore contact without going to 147gr bullets. Doesn't matter up here as that competition is restricted to the US.

Dr. Jim
 
T&G said:
It is relatively easy to accurize a 1911 even in 9mm to make it shoot under two inches (at50yards), but the Civilian Marksmanship Program mandates the use of the M9 aka Berretta 92F in the matches. This pistol has virtually no adequate locking features for it's floating barrel, and the frame is aluminum - smiths have developed techniques to overcome these "features" in the form of match barrels, screw in front bushings, adjustable set screws to elevate the rear end of the barrel to force lockup, and regularly now go through the exercise of 'welding' steel rails onto the frame. I don't even want to think about the gymnastics needed to get a decent trigger on that gun. Shudder! Because most 9 mm bullets are rather short, with little groove contact it is difficult to get accuracy, USAMTU eventually settled on a particular 124gr hollow point to get enough bore contact without going to 147gr bullets. Doesn't matter up here as that competition is restricted to the US.

Dr. Jim
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I'm pretty happy with my CZ Shadow in 9mm. What are your thoughts on that design?
 
Had a shadow for a year or so, nice gun but I could not get decent accuracy out of it so after trying a single action trigger and match hammer, doing all the Mossi tuneup things, I sold it. A friend had much betterluck with his, and could stay in the black on the 25 meter NRA slow fire target. As I said, liked the gun but it would not work for me.

Dr. Jim
 
What would be suggestion for 9 mm pistol suitable for bullseye type of shooting ? Probably one extreme case is SIG P210 for 3K. Could anybody propose alternatives ?

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Thanks in advance.
 
ekp said:
What would be suggestion for 9 mm pistol suitable for bullseye type of shooting ? Probably one extreme case is SIG P210 for 3K. Could anybody propose alternatives ?

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Thanks in advance.
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Nobody competes in Canada with a 9mm, the most common centrefire pistol on the line for both ISSF and the CF stage of the NRA 2700 is the Walther GSP 32. But Pardini HP 32 is starting to appear in greater numbers. If you must use a 9mm, the P210 or a custom tuned 1911 or the Pardini GT9 are your options.

Dr. Jim
 
clhdluke said:
Wow, the knowledge, I had no idea that every 9mm round was inferior to every .45 round and/or visa versa....pretty broad brush, don't you think breeze??
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Get a hold of Koldt here on the board and ask him about the conversation he had at the US PPC Nationals a few years ago with the S&W custom shop technicians and their inability to get .40 S&W chambered guns to match the accuracy of guns chambered in other calibres.....
 
Thank you for explanation !

I always was surprised why GSP conversion to 32 is so expensive, but now I see it's a bargain -))


T&G said:
Nobody competes in Canada with a 9mm, the most common centrefire pistol on the line for both ISSF and the CF stage of the NRA 2700 is the Walther GSP 32. But Pardini HP 32 is starting to appear in greater numbers. If you must use a 9mm, the P210 or a custom tuned 1911 or the Pardini GT9 are your options.

Dr. Jim
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if, the 9mm is the same as a 38 in accuracy then why is it not used more often in bulleye, ie; S&W 52 vs glock 9mm, same shooter better groups with the 52, imho
 
Smith and Wesson now makes a 5 in barrel auto in 9 mm designed more for Ppc more than anything else but is built with the kind of attention they used to put in the model 52
It's kind of the successor to the 52
Sorry cant remember the model right now but they give an accuracy guarantee and are rather pricy
 
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