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I used to favor the 9mm in both x18mm & x19mm flavors, but I've gone over to the .357 Magnum with revolvers. The reason being that no longer are wheelguns limited to 5 or 6-round capacities, while 4" & 5" barrelrevolvers aren't as bulky as they used to be and mass-wise can weigh as little as an older 2/3" snubby.
I still like the 9mm for the sheer amount of choice in self-defense cartridges,andlarge cartridge capacities are nice too. Having only 5 or 6 rounds in reserve is just asking for a visit from Mr. Murphy.
And besides the .357 Magnum being my main choice, I've picked up on the 9x23mm Winchester, which approaches the .357 Magnum's power. I can't have a .357 Mag autoloader (unless I win the lottery so I can buy a Mateba), so the 9x23 is the next best thing.
TipsyMcStagger wrote:
how many BG (in their right mind) want to continue an attacking looking down the barrel of a 45.
That is a notion which has no bearing on whether a BG will attack or not, and is a fallacy ascribed to by many without any basis in proven fact. If someone can dig up a cite where a BG admits to retreating because a potential victim's handgun was of a specific caliber, then by all means, that's a big reason to buy a .45.
But think for a second..... How many BG's in attack-mode will consider "Hey, that's just a .380 (or 9mm, or .38 Special, etc)!"and stillpress their attack when the muzzle of a handgun ispointed at their face; or instead think to themselves "Hey, that's a .45 and not a 9mm! I have alarger chance of dying!", and then run away.
There's other reasons why the .45ACP is a decent self-defense round,but betting on an attacker being scared away or intimidated by the muzzle-size is ridiculous. The .45ACP vs. 9mm argumenthas been going on for decades and is not likely to go away anytime soon; but as with the 9mm not being perfect or ideal, there's also good reasons why the the .45ACP shouldn't be the 1st or even 2nd choiceas a SD cartridge. The biggest for me is the fact that JHP .45ACPs do not reliably expand, especially when fired from sub 4" barrels.
This is due to the .45ACP already being a fairly low-velocity round, and when launched from a short barrel they lose even more speed. A 230-grain FMJ fired from a 5" full-sizepistolwill make around 850fps, while the same round fired from a 3"-barreled handgunwill struggle to make 650fps. That's well below the velocity needed to achieve significant & reliable expansion with JHP .45ACPs, which in effect turns them into FMJsthataren't travelling fast enough to upset & tumble.
Most ammo manufacturers started making +P cartridges to alleviate that, but that raised another couple problems.
The.45ACP was designed around the big-bullet/slow-velocity concept with fairly low pressure tolerances (around 20,000psi), and the Colt M1911's manstopper reputation was built on the plain-ol' FMJ which begins to tumble within 6-8" of penetration. The more potent +P cartridges are tough on barrels (especially 1911s), and a steady diet of +Ps will substantially erode the handgun's life-span.
To attain more speed, many .45ACP +P cartridges were made by upping the amount of propellant and reducing bullet weight. The problem with that is penetration, or a lack thereof. A fat bullet lacking enough mass will have a tough time punching through muscle & bone, so even if it does expand, it won't make it far enough to hit vitals.
In addition, the added power of +P cartridges makes any handgun more difficult to control, which is exacerbated by the handgun being smaller & lighter. That makes follow-up shots harder to place on target under extreme stress.
Most quality performance 9mm JHPs will normally expand to .50", whichwill beundeniably more effective than a .45ACP JHP which has failed to fully expand or has only partially done so, and is moving so slowly that it won't tumble or have sufficient energy-transfer.
There are a few modern .45ACP +P cartridges that do exhibit better expansion than most when fired from compact .45 handguns; those are made by Corbon and Hornady, and utilize the Barnes X projectile. But IMHO, compacts in .45ACP are somewhat mediocre carry handguns. To make them more effective, expensive +P ammunition is required if JHPs are to be used, and regular .45 ammo isn't cheap to begin with. And then there's capacity.... most compact .45scarry at most 7 rounds. Some people downplay round capacity, but there's always Murphy's Law to take into account. It's generally not good to be caught short with an empty gun, a wounded & very upset (or multiple) assailants, and no time to reload (or even no extra loaded magazines!). Sure, if a vital organ isn't hit,it may take two 9mm rounds to do the job that one .45ACP can accomplish, but why take the chance?
Am I saying that 9mm is better than the .45ACP? Not at all. All I'm saying is that the .45 is more reliant on handgun choice than most other calibers. If when choosinga handgunit's ascertained that it needs to be small for concealment purposes; a 9mm, .357SIG, .40S&W, or even 10mm is ideal. If small size isn't critical and a 4/5" barrel won't cause issues, then by all means, go for the .45ACP.
