Anyone else move to .40 or .45 for winter carry?

[88E30M50]

Caliber effectiveness is wholly dependent on the user. I didn't want this to be a caliber battle thread, just a thread to see if anyone adjusted their carry routine when gloves coats and jackets were the norm.

 

[bwframe]

Is the 9mm the magic bullet of the semi-auto pistols? I read on here about all the advances in 9mm technology that makes it perform as good as or better than the 357 sig, 40 S&W, and 45acp. Are the other calibers frozen in time or is the 9mm really a magic bullet?

Rifle bullets will be the magic you are looking for. Otherwise, with handgun bullets, apply with precision in multiples.

 

[Joegrz308]

In the winter, I have no trouble hiding a S&W 629 with a five inch barrel. 44 Mag with 240 gr. hollow points. A four inch 1911 45 for warmer weather.

 

[OurDee]

Sometimes I carry the .454 in the winter. Just because I can. I don't always wear a level 3 holster in the winter.

 

[WebSnyper]

I. use to switch to a bigger gun when I could conceal it under my coat. but lately I have just been carrying a little S&W M&P 380. I do like the feel of a 1911 or colt lawman better, but to me they are just to hard to conceal when you are not wearing a coat. What do you do if you need a coat for concealment and they want to check your coat?

IWB hybrid tuckable holster will hide just about anything, with most any dress code in my experience. Shorts & untucked Tshirt, jeans & untucked shirt, or even dress pants with a tucked shirt if the shirt is tucked over the top of the holster.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Is the 9mm the magic bullet of the semi-auto pistols? I read on here about all the advances in 9mm technology that makes it perform as good as or better than the 357 sig, 40 S&W, and 45acp. Are the other calibers frozen in time or is the 9mm really a magic bullet?

The others aren't frozen in time. Today's top end .45 auto expands more reliably than the hydra-shock, for example. It's just that 9mm benefited the most. Bonding technology that keeps the bullet from fragmenting and shedding the jacket helps lighter/faster bullets more than heavier/slower bullets because heavier/slower wasn't fragmenting to begin with. Heavy-for-caliber bullets tend to do the best in handguns. The .45 was already using 230gr bullets. Going from 115 to 147gr makes the 9mm a much more viable round at standard velocities (and 124gr has good examples as well).

Then add in that everyone (who's worth using) is trying to keep their cartridge to FBI spec. Could you make a .45+P that expanded reliably and penetrated 30"? Probably...but that's too much penetration for self defense ammo. Once you get to the 18" mark, more is not more better. So, regardless of cartridge, everyone is aiming for the same result. Good expansion, barrier blind, and 12-18" of penetration in a variety of tests/situations (heavy clothes, bare skin, through auto glass, etc)

.357 Sig suffers because a lot of the cartridges are recycling a 9mm projectile. Over driving a hollowpoint increases expansion but reduces penetration. It's a fairly common marketing ploy to overdrive a lightweight bullet because it makes impressive numbers for the side of the box. So, .357 Sig is often just more expensive 9mm+P. 10mm as well, more expensive .40 S&W. Why? Because the .40 meets the requirements and is a really good cartridge already...making it penetrate more isn't making it better.

 

[LCSOSgt11]

I carry a .45 all of the time, either a Government sized or Officer's ACP.

 

[dtkw]

I carry a Sig P229 n .40 all the time , Originally i Carried a P226 in 9mm, but I bought myself a P229 with a shorter barrel. I can hit anything at 25 yards no problem with both,

 

[Opie]

I have moved from my Glock 19 to my 21sf for the winter. Not because I feel like the 19 won't cut it, it's fine. That said, the thicker clothing simply allows me to carry a larger gun.

 

[dudley0]

I carry the same thing in the same place all year long. FS M&P9.

I have enough to think about. I don't want to be put in a situation where I need a gun, but I really don't want to add to the variables. I know I do not have a manual safety, I know it is striker fired. I know about where it hits, especially at closer ranges. I know the recoil. I know where it is located.

Have seen in a few classes where people are using a different gun and maybe they don't get the safety off, or one time saw a guy flip the safety back on before trying to fire.

One class that I was in I was testing a different carry position. Ran a scenario and reached for a gun in an empty holster. When I finally did make the change I spent a lot more time at the range drilling for that position.

Change confuses some people... and I am the king of confusion at times.

 

[Rong]

I carry a g43 summer and to church, when I wear heavier clothes and when I feel like it back to the g23. So to answer the original question... yes I go back to a heavier gun in winter. I like guns though, so sometimes just for fun, I will carry something else out of the safe.

 

[churchmouse]

I carried my 10mm bobbed Commander yesterday.

 

[Hop]

Not a caliber swap but an ammo swap. I used to switch to Corbon Pow-R-Ball ammo in the winter but that stuff got too hard to find. It's been 9mm HST year round for years now.

 

[MindfulMan]

I carried my 10mm bobbed Commander yesterday.

I like that one !

 

[churchmouse]

I like that one !

Whats not to like.....

 

[71silverbullet]

Whats not to like.....

I'll tell you whats not to like...I don't like the fact that its in your safe and not mine!

 

[71silverbullet]

I don't do much of a caliber change with the weather, but maybe I'll carry a full size more often in the winter months.
I have a rotation of weapons and holsters. 10mm and 40 S&W, IWB and OWB, and just recently bought a shoulder holster that I'm having some difficulty getting used to. Its probably going to spend most of its life in the drawer, or classifieds.

 

[MindfulMan]

Whats not to like.....

 

[88E30M50]

Just saw this from Mas Ayoob over on a different site:

One of my concerns is weather. When it is cold heavy clothing makes the two legged predators “more thickly skinned,” and inert fabric can sometimes plug even the most high tech hollowpoints and turn them into ball. History by and large tells us that if our ammo is going to turn into ball we want it to turn into BIG ball. Thus my preference for .45 in cold climes or for a single all weather pistol.

I often have to be in states where the law limits me to ten round mags. I have the benefit of decades of training and experience to the extent that there is little difference for me between .45 and 9mm in the speed/accuracy matrix so .45 gets the nod UNLESS I am flying in which case the weight limits let me carry a lot more 9mm in checked baggage than .45.

I hate to sound like a communist but this really IS a case of “to each according to their needs, from each according to their abilities.” And from our motorcycling friends (in regard to helmet laws originally, “ let those who ride decide.”


Insert additional cliches as necessary...

Best,
Mas

He kind of touches on the reason that I tend to save 9mm carry for summer months.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

That's something I'll just have to disagree with Mas on. There's a reason wallboard and heavy clothing are part of the FBI test protocol, and a bullet that plugs is going to have trouble with those tests. Resistance to plugging is a design difference, not a caliber difference. You'll find bullets in all the duty calibers that expand just fine through Carhartts, leather coats, etc. in the real world as well as doing well in testing. You'll also find bullets in all the duty calibers that do not expand in the same circumstances.

While penetration depth in clear gel doesn't correlate to "official" gel, these tests can show you which expanded reliably and which didn't:

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/#9mm

HSTs offer extremely consistent expansion in either 9mm or .45 in the heavy clothing test. Old school Hydra-shoks don't expand consistently in either caliber. See below, 9mm on top and .45 on bottom.

HST:

Hydra Shok:

And I'll say that these tests and my real world observations match up very well, which validates the FBI protocol. I've got some pics in my phone of some hydrashoks that passed through multiple layers of clothing. I'll see if I can upload it.

Ok, it's uploaded in the next post.