9mm big enough?

crackerbarrel2 said:
Put a 9mm round beside a .45acp.....What else is there to say??
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Miss with a .45ACP because the round makes you flinch or the gun it comes in doesn't suit you well, and say "oops." There isn't a cartridge or a gun that is always the best for every situation. If you don't practise enough to be effective with a 9mm I bet you don't practise enough to be effective with a .45, and if you do you don't need anyone else to reassure you that the 9mm is good enough or that the .45 is even a bit better.
 
Have to agree with first reply, wouldn't want to get shot with a.22, stands to reason anything bigger would be worse.... IMO I like 9mm , but in a crisis, i would grab the first one that comes to hand.......
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I just go by what I'v seen personally.I own and shoot both and find the .45 has more knock down power when shooting at various types of target's .This observation may not be very scientific,but I just call it like I see it..I obviously agree that either will get the job done...
 
If you want to put a 3/8" hole in something a 9mm is a good choice.It is a poor choice however,if you need a 1/2 inch hole.Unless you like shooting things twice.
 
9mm has worked well in the past and it still will today you want to carry your gun(CCW legaly of corse) every day the big heavy guns will get left home alot of the time the small light guns are not a issue

i say 9mm as here you will only be punching paper no ned to waste lead on paper
 
Take your .45 and 9mm out and start shooting things. That is the ONLY way to see what the rounds are capable of. I'm thinking of doing this sort of picture comparison this spring.

.45 makes you feel tougher I will admit, it's a big beefy round. I expected it to do some major damage to things.

Two of the first things I tested it on was a golf ball and an external hard drive. The golf ball had NO damage from the .45 whatsoever. The golf ball would go flying and the .45 would instantly mushroom (these were FMJ) and fall to the ground. We found all the mushroomed bullets lying where the golf ball used to be. The external hard drive was funny, one round skipped off the hard drive and the other was stopped dead. The .45 is beefy put the penetration just isn't there. Granted these were more solid objects that flesh in a defense scenario.

But when we tested the same objects with a .22LR that penetration was better but the holes were smaller. The .22LR went into the golf ball but stomped almost instantly. As for the hard drive it almost made it entirely through.

Am I saying the .45 sucks for home defense, no. It's still a beefy bullet and does damage.

Can't wait to test a .45 side by side with the 9mm next! :D
 
I guess if your talking penetration only,smaller would probably be better.I would think though in most defensive situations at relatively close range I would want a larger round for impact..just my opinion..Like a previous poster said..own both..
 
sobo4303 said:
Really?!? This conclusion was arrived at - how? Just what are you believing are their intended purposes? Your statement has me curious now. As my 357 - with leads, will stop anyone in their tracks at close range if they are so inclined on doing me harm. All they gotta do is see that I'm armed with a revolver with a big dark hole for a barrel diameter, that should be enough. That'd be one stated purpose. Another is that (same round) is really accurate at 25 yards too. A third, is that it really moves those heavy gongs.

As to the Op's question. I think it would be whatever you are comfortable with. I buy my handguns for target use, as the self defense thing kinda wears a bit thin from all those rags. As to the 9mm argument, well, there are way too many police departments whom have chosen that as their goto round, so it cannot be half bad.
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http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/carbine-vs-shotgun-vs-pistol-for-home-defense/ Take a look at this article, mostly breaks it down fairly evenly. My favorite part though:

Let me break it down for you. There is only one reason we use handguns, and that is because they are convenient. They’re small, light, and you can conceal them on a person. I would look a little goofy with an AK47 under my shirt.

But in comparison to a long gun, they lack power, and they are much more difficult to learn to shoot well. Anything you can mount on your shoulder is going to be a far easier platform to get fast, accurate hits with.

To put this in perspective, when you shoot somebody in self defense, the goal isn’t necessarily to kill them, it is to stop them. You want the bad guy to stop doing whatever it is they are doing that caused you go pull a gun in the first place. Live or die is really irrelevant. You want them to leave you alone. Sadly, the best way to make somebody leave you alone is to shoot them in their vital organs, and that often results in the bad guy’s death. But that’s his problem, not yours.

So to stop somebody, there are two main ways to do it, psychologically or physiologically. Now when I say psychologically, that means the bad guy quits because he decides to, as in “OH CRAP! He’s got a gun! Run!” Or if you shoot them with a non-fatal wound, and they say “Damn, that hurt. I’m done.”

But you don’t control the brain waves of the critter attacking you. You might get lucky and get a bad guy that will just quit, the kind of guy that if he wanted to work hard for a living, would get a job. Victim with gun = work. On the other hand, you might get some really crazy, evil, whackadoo, who ain’t gonna stop, no matter what. And that guy, you’re going to have to shoot. A lot.
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http://www.gunweek.com/2005/feature0910.html

Many disparage the 9mm’s stopping power, and knowing that only military “ball” ammunition was available, I asked if this had been a problem. Spook said that it hadn’t. He knows what some of the gun magazine chest-beaters claim in print, and admits that he hasn’t shot any blocks of ballistic gelatin. He has shot eight men with the nine, though, and all went down with center thorax hits. One or two shots sufficed, if well placed. Spook knows that others have complained about the nine, and wonders where they hit their opponents. He has talked with a couple of tank crewmen who shot Iraqis off their huge armored mounts, and they seemed satisfied, too.
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A big plus, too, is the 9x19mm's lower hoop stress, compared to the .40 S&W, at the same pressure. This is why kabooms are so rare with nines.
 
my home defense gun is a 9mm with hollow points . I dont want to get my 1911 full of blood. I can just throw the glock in the dishwasher ...

To be honest what ever handgun I grab under stress will have to do... I just hope its not the GSG... lol ....
 
You could also put down the purse and go .50AE..........Or .460 S&W

i have both, they really make the paper terrified!
 
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