Does Handgun Cartridge Still Matter?

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  • Leadeye

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    Jan 19, 2009
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    Over years of hunting and shooting I still believe that wider, heavier, and faster are better.
     

    gregkl

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    I read it. I like short reads that get to the point. I don't always need all the statistical data in every article.

    For me, I'm shooting 9mm or .38/357. I have owned .44 mag and .45 auto. They were fun, but I'm a minimalist and I don't want to be loading so many calibers. For me the 9 mm hits the sweet spot in affordability, shootability, and sufficient defense.

    .38/357 is mostly for revolver fun.
     

    ECS686

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    To me (as someone that started a LE career when revolvers were the shizzle) I saw the original claims of 9mm failure to the rise of 40 and 357 Sig then 9mm is cool again. 45 had its fans throughout

    All I'll say in my experience a lot of folks get way too worked up on specific calibers, brands of hollow points (bonded or not) and God forbid mag capacity when none of that really matters. The hits do!

    Any standard caliber with any quality manufacturer's PROVEN loads and you'll probably live through the night
     

    shibumiseeker

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    near Bedford on a whole lot of land.
    The basic premise of the article is sound, but there IS a physiologic element to higher energy dumps, everything else being equal, when it comes to that mythical stopping power.

    Larger wound channel, both temporary and permanent, and more energy preceding that bullet path, equals more damage which equals higher probability of critical disruption of the person's physiological system, EVERYTHING ELSE BEING EQUAL. No one can say definitively how much because each situation is different and each person is different from how they react psychologically to how their body reacts physiologically, but a larger hole equals faster blood loss, a higher energy round equals a larger temporary channel which carries a higher probability of intersecting a critical organ or blood vessel, and more fragmentation when bone is struck, and so on.

    Under strictly controlled laboratory conditions, the same person shot with a 9mm vs a .45 in the exact same location with the exact same depth of penetration hitting the exact same internal organs will cease to become a threat faster with the .45. The issue becomes that the real world is not the lab. There are far more variables that are involved including those outside the body which have to do with the shooter and the weapon itself (shooter ability and weapon capacity).

    The end result is what it always has been: shoot a caliber you like with enough power to penetrate to the proper depth with a modern bullet design, but practice, practice, practice. Situational awareness and other non-combat skills will keep you out of more trouble than the ability to shoot your way out, yet most people neglect this over focusing on the gun and bullet.
     

    bwframe

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    I think the argument now days is what you are preparing for. If the threat you are anticipating is shooting at you with modern handguns or the more and more prevalent rifle, then capacity with the best reasonable defensive round may be your goal.

    If you believe your threat cannot possibly be educated on modern firearms or tactics, then you are likely good working on the decades old thought that gunfights are all solved in 1-3 shots and the biggest caliber is better all the time.
     

    gregkl

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    I think the argument now days is what you are preparing for. If the threat you are anticipating is shooting at you with modern handguns or the more and more prevalent rifle, then capacity with the best reasonable defensive round may be your goal.

    If you believe your threat cannot possibly be educated on modern firearms or tactics, then you are likely good working on the decades old thought that gunfights are all solved in 1-3 shots and the biggest caliber is better all the time.

    There is a lot of thought provoking prose in this post. We do tend to stand on historical statistics. But today, we have more and more rifles, SBR's and pistols utilizing rifle rounds along with all kinds of firearm configurations.

    The whole 1-3 shots may or may not hold true today and moving forward. I have to think that bad guys have pistols that hold 15-17 rounds and I'm not sure they will stop pulling the trigger by the third round. Coupled with that is there seems to me that the violent prone folks are forming larger numbers of people in them.

    I am guilty of playing those statistics and the statistical chance I will ever have to use a firearm in self defense, but the world is changing and I am too.
     

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