9mm vs .45ACP

Hidalgo

Hidalgo

Well-known member
I don't want to start a debate about this (well...yeah...maybe I do /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) but I'm going to purchase another handgun in the next few days.

It is going to serve me as a personal defense weapon. Either in the nightstand, in the truck, or in a holster.

I'm going to buy a 1911 type pistol. Still undecided about which one, but a 5" 1911 is my choice.

My concern is...I've always owned a .45ACP. I had one 9mm and didn't shoot it enough to even remember much about it. Since I want this to be something that the wife won't hesitate to use if the need arises, I am kinda leaning towards the 9mm because of the recoil factor. The .45 doesn't bother me at all, but she might not be comfortable with it.

I guess my questions and concerns are whether or not I'll be confident with the 9mm after all these years with the ACP. I have a Colt .38 Super, but it isn't going to get drug around and beat up. She loves to shoot it, but the recoil is more tame (although more sharp) than the .45

Is this making sense? Do any of you have a 9mm that replaced a .45? Are you comfortable with the lesser powered round?
 
If I am gonna go with a full size 1911, then its got to be the 45, only reason I carry a 9(kahr PM9) is because it is so small and light. If i was going to tote the weight and especially leave it in the truck and such it would ba a 45 all the way.
 
I think the 9mm would be fine, it can be debated all day about stopping power, but in reality who wants to be shot with either. I honestly doubt that any attacker if shot in the chest would continue the attack much farther. I have both and I don't think in the real world it matters which gun you have, what matters most is that you have one and know how to use it.
One thing that might matter is the size of the gun and how it fits her hand. If you want her to shoot it, she should have a voice in what she would feel comfortable holding.

Dave
 
Why don't you split the difference, get near 9mm Recoil forces with near 45 ACP energy's. Get the 40' S&W. The last one I had was the Smith 4013 Tactical and my old shooting partner has one of the Taurus Lightweight Millinium's and it's very pleasant to shoot.

This is his little 40 compared to my light weight 38 snubby. For my use I prefer wheel guns, just to many buttons and switchs on a semi-auto for me.

100_7553.jpg
 
There sure aint much out there in the way of good single stack 1911 style 9mm's these days. I wish I had a nice Gold Cup style of 1911 in 9mm. 5" barrel, accurized, Millet sights, the whole shebang. There is such good 9mm defensive ammo out there nowadays that I would just about as soon use it as my .45.

I hope you can find one that your wife likes. The good old S&W M39 sure was a dandy single stack 9. You may want to give one of those a looksee.
 
Steve, I would have similar misgivings as you do with the exception of my preference being the 10mm vs the .45 acp... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

While I accept the shortcomings of the 9mm/38 spl/.380... I have each of them stashed around the house and do carry any one of them on occasion (even a little Kel-Tec .32 once in a while).

My wife used to be a correctional officer and I taught her to shoot with the .38 and 9mm as she had to qualify with those as well as a 12 ga. pump shotgun... She 'could' function with a larger caliber, but she is comfortable with the 9mm and I'd rather have something she is more likely to use that something that would cause her to hesitate.
 
I am with Shooter in the fact that if this is a full sized
frame 1911, it may as well be a 45 ACP. My wife will not
shoot my 1911(45 ACP), but on the other hand, she will
shoot my Browning BDM(9mm), and does so well enough that
if she gets to it before the Bad Guy gets to her, he will
have a bad day. I like the BDM because it has a slimmer
hand grip, and it is a double action. Just push the safety
up, and pull the trigger. This works much better for a
person with not a lot of experience with handguns, and
in a combat situation, the less thinking, the better.
And the slimmer hand grip works well for the typical
woman's hand. So for personal defense, I choose easy
to handle, and operate, over stopping power. But with this
said, she needs to know to keep shooting until out of ammo.
Even if the BG goes down, KEEP SHOOTING, unless there
is more than one BG. The 9mm doesn't break bones, like the
45 ACP does, so the BG is going to keep coming with 9mm
holes in him, unless there is a head, neck, or spine shot.

Me, my pistols are 45 ACP, and if my wife was comfortable
with a 45 ACP, her's would be, too. But given I would
rather have her practicing comfortably, often, rather that
afraid to shoot it, hers will probably always be
a 9mm...Now I do load some pretty wicked 9mm ammo, but
I always switch her mags out with softer fp target ammo.
In the heat of the moment she probably won't notice the
extra snap of the jacked up XTP ammo, if she has to use
the pistol /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Squeeze
 
I'm a .45 fan all the way. I own a 9mm H&K that I shot once and put back in the case. I carry either a .40 Firestar or a .45 Sig 220 depending on my style of dress.

The .45 hold a great advantage over the 9mm in stopping power in my opinion. Rather than giving up that advantage I would address the other concern of recoil by handloading. I would load down some .45 case and let the wife shoot them till she found the max she was comfortable with and still remain an effective man stopper.

There are several 1911 .40 on the market now, Para-ordance make a nice one but we talking about some serious somolians. It a good compromise and a .40 in a 1911 should be easy for her to handle.
 
You should "feel" a S & W model M & P in either 9mm, 40, or 45. They have a great double action trigger that even a woman could easily master which is much better than the Glocks.

I live at the end of a dead end road out in the country, people dump off a lot of animals. I have to dispatch these animals, I can feed only so many.

The 9mm is not an effective killer with any ammo that I have tried unless you hit them in the head. The 357 with the 125g Sierra loaded with 18.7g of IMR 4227 is a very effective killer. In the 45 ACP, a hot load with a 185g Speer gold dot is very effective, and I am not impressed with the 230g Ball ammo at all in a 45 on dogs. In the 40 S&W, the Winchester 155g Silver tip is the most impressive of all, this round really knocks a hole in large dog. The last dog that I shot was a 100 lb dog, and the 155g Silver tip put a hole through him the size of a base ball.

I realize that a dog is not a human; for my self defense, I want a 357 with 125g HP, 45 ACP with 185's, or best of all-40 S&W with the Winchester 155g Silver tips. It would be hard for a Surgeon to sew up a perp shot in the chest with the 155g Silver tips...massive tissue damage with penetration.

Another thing, I hope that none of you have to actually experience being assaulted and/or robbed by multiple perps, I have. When you are so scared that you are having trouble breathing, you don't want to even think about having to mess with a safety or remember to pull back the hammer because it may just cost you your life!
 
Do you guys really think a robber is going to keep coming with a 9mm hole in him. Crimials are cowards, they prey on people they think are weak or an easy target... Rambo exists only in the movies. The real question isn't stopping power, it is what she will be comfortable with. He wants a 1911 she can shoot.. Yeah I agree if I was buying a 1911 for me it would be a 45 hands down. Sooooo either buy two guns or the 9.. The only 40 S&W I have shot seemed very loud to me.. much louder than I expected.. It was a friends, he had it 3 weeks and got rid of it... I didn't ask why..

Dave
 
Dlr8, you will notice the 9mm has disappeared from most LEO holster. Much of that was because of it poor stopping power. The combination of a slender bullet and high velocity allow the bullet to penitrate and exit with a miminum of damage. Hollowpoints did a much better job but still lacked the punch to take a person down.

The larger diameter of the 45 cause much more impact and the bullet will start to caviate in the body almost immediately.

I beleive you are right that a perp with common sense would fleas as soon as the bullet start flying butI have read several account of persons high on drugs who continued on after serveral 9mm shot passes thru them.
 
Last edited:
I am not saying the 9mm is the perfect round, I am saying that for the answer to his question which was 9mm or 45 in a 1911 to me his answer is the 9mm... Yeah LO's have changed away from the 9, alot of it is political alot has to do with stopping power too... But for civilian self defense a 9mm is a good choice especially for a female.. LO's often encounter an armed suspect often more than one where stopping power is critical. If you are talking about someone being in a conflict with an armed person and defending his/her self.. I would argue that you are in a bad situation where the crimial already has the drop on you, with their weapon drawn and ready to fire that is a no win situation if he is intent on firing.. no matter what you are carrying.. Personally I keep a 45 with me when ever I can.. I am not knocking anyones handgun or their choice.. just trying to honestly answer his question as it was written ..9mm vs 45

Dave
 
Well...it looks like I DID start a debate after all. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Seriously, I genuinely appreciate everyone taking the time to give their opinions and insight. There were several points made that are causing me to give this a lot more thought. I've never fired a 40, but I have a friend who owns one and I am sure he will let me try it, so that will either open up another option, or at least keep me at only the two I started with.

I just saw a used 1911 Commander for sale in a local paper that says it is a 9mm. I wasn't aware that Colt had made the shorty in the 9mm, but I guess we'll find out. That would be a viable option if the pistol is well cared for.

Thanks again guys. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

If anyone else has anything to offer I would be glad to hear it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Quote:

I just saw a used 1911 Commander for sale in a local paper that says it is a 9mm. I wasn't aware that Colt had made the shorty in the 9mm, but I guess we'll find out. That would be a viable option if the pistol is well cared for.





Just remember Hidalgo- those were made to be reliable with hardball ammo. It may or may not feed well with todays HP ammo. It probably will work OK like it is, but some feed ramp work may be needed if not.

But whatever, those old Commanders were cool. If the price is the ballpark, I would get it too.
 
Never under estimate the power of a woman. My wife loves shooting a .45 ACP. When she attended the police academy she qualified with a .45 ACP. The instructor forced her to get a smaller caliber since that is what most police use. She requalified with a .357 MAG, but has refused to consider carrying anything, but her .45 since.

She needs to try several calibers until she is comfortable with what she wants.

There is a reason the military wants a .45 ACP as there side arm again and it is not because the 9mm is tooooo deadly.
 
You did start a debate Hidalgo and you knew you would.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Most important is if the wife is going to have any dealings with that weapon, then it must be comfortable to her, and she must shoot it well. I believe we all know that's a no brainer.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Generally you only get one chance in a gun fight. So many different types of defensive ammo for all the calibers mentioned it's not funny.

I like the 45, have owned several and carried one for a number of years. But again it's about shot placement and not the caliber.

I have seen non fatal wounds from a 45, it is not the all mighty knock them down as many believe and will no doubt argue.

But if I were to carry the 45 as my primary weapon again, I would carry the 185 gr bullets offered trying to keep my velocity up above 1000 fps or close.

I've never been impressed with slow heavy bullets being the man stopper, you need speed to penetrate into the vitals not bulk.

However, big heavy fast bullets produce lots of recoil and muzzle flash out of handguns, so most people lose there ability to control their weapon in rapid fire mode and getting back on target. Yes I know there are those who can.

The 38 super is a sleeper and always has been, to my knowledge not a large variety of bullets selections for that caliber. But no need to carry a collectors item to stay safe either.

I'd let your wife choose to be honest, support her in her selection, and of course if she can put 10 in the 10 ring or close, who cares what caliber she shoots, I wouldn't want to be on the recieving end of the volley... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Here's your answer...

USMC Rules for Gunfighting During War

1. Bring a gun. Preferably bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns.

2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.

3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.

4. If your shooting stance is good, you’re probably not moving fast enough or using cover properly.

5. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)

6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun.

7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.

8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading and running.

9. Accuracy is relative: Most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on “pucker factor” than the inherent accuracy of the gun.

10. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. “All skill is in vain when an angel [beeep] in the flintlock of your musket.”

11. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.

12. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

13. Have a plan.

14. Have a backup plan, because the first one won’t work.

15. Use cover or concealment as much as possible. The visible target should be in FRONT of your gun.

16. Don’t drop your guard.

17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees.
18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. (In God We Trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see them.)

19. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.

20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.

21. Be polite, Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

22. Be courteous to everyone. Friendly to no one.

23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to
avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

24. DO NOT ATTEND A GUNFIGHT WITH A HANDGUN, THE CALIBER OF WHICH DOES NOT START WITH A “4”.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top