In your opinion what do you think the best handgun caliber is and why?

[Oppforce]

Well in my opinion i am undecided between the .357sig and the .40.

I like the .357sig because it gives off a nice feeling when the trigger is pulled. Also it is pretty lethal. It underpenetrates so it will most likely go through the victim :eek:
I keep a Sig p229 in a drawer next to my bed for self defense, since i am not a big fan of large barreled shotguns the .357sig serves me quite well for now.


Now for the .40. Personally i would prefer this caliber over the .45 because it is in the middle between the 9mm and the .45. The .40 travels at a faster speed than the .45 and has more impact force than the 9mm. Also the recoil is much much lower than the 45.
For me, this means more accurately placed shots without wasting precious time.


Please share me your opinions i want to know :D

[Noss]

They are both good rounds. I carry a 40. I sleep with my 40. They will both work fine. it's just a good size for me and I feel confident with it. I can't tell you what is better since it's going to depend on a ton of factors if you do have to shoot someone. I just know they will both kill you in the hands of a good shooter.

[sharpshooter996]

Hey Oppforce. My 2 cents, accuracy is the most important factor. If you dont hit your target the biggest baddest bullet in the world will do you no good. Use the gun caliber combination that you are the most confident with and the most consistent. As long as the bullet has enough force/energy to stop attacker. I personally would not recommend the 9mm, or 357sig. The 357sig is harder to shoot consistant, over penetration, and not a faithfull expander. The 9mm lacks stopping power and has a reputation of over penetration. My feelings are that the 40 and 45 give the best choices for knockdown and controllability, without over penetration. Where these are top of the line needs for in home defense. Another debate is expansion of hollow point bullets. They are not always faithful in this regard. As they pass thru any barrier ie clothing flesh, the hollow point fills with this material and can react like a traditional fmj round. If this occurs and it does much more often that you think at some degree, you are loosing a hugh amount of your killing power. If you don not believe this ask any avid hunter. How often do you get a perfect recovered bullet. One that has expanded 100%. Now think about this in a life or death situation. I would suggest using Federal's Expanding Fmj rounds. These are guaranteed to expand 100% of the time. And dont forget get out and practice with that trigger finger. Practice, Practice, Practice...

[Richard J]

i like my standard model ruger 22 http://mysite.verizon.net/reswhz6f/id22.html since i can hit anything i'm looking at with ease. i have shot quite a few different caliber guns in my time and i like the 22 best. like sharpshooter said, accuracy is the most important and a 22 placed in the right spot will do the job just as good as little larger round. i have heard stories of 25 cal rounds not killing someone yet a 22 shot in the same place had fatal results.

[eatingmuchface]

when you say accuracy sharpshooter, you don't really mean the actually guns accuracy do you?
as in, what type of group it can shoot right?
i would think it's more important that you are good with the given round and gun you are using.
that it lines up good and quick and feels right for you and you can shoot well. (possibly without aiming. instinctive shooting is probably best at some ranges)

another things, doesn't .40 operate at a higher pressure than .45?
I would think it would have more kick. but thats just speculation.

some .40 round are more like 10mm rounds.
I know doubletap ammo makes some great, really high power rounds and I wouldn't hesitate to trust my life on them.
:D

[Macgregor]

.45, big slow round.

Love it, and love every gun chambered in it.

[sharpshooter996]

when you say accuracy sharpshooter, you don't really mean the actually guns accuracy do you?
as in, what type of group it can shoot right?
i would think it's more important that you are good with the given round and gun you are using.
that it lines up good and quick and feels right for you and you can shoot well. (possibly without aiming. instinctive shooting is probably best at some ranges)

another things, doesn't .40 operate at a higher pressure than .45?
I would think it would have more kick. but thats just speculation.

some .40 round are more like 10mm rounds.
I know doubletap ammo makes some great, really high power rounds and I wouldn't hesitate to trust my life on them.
:D

Thats right Faceman. Not the guns accuracy, the users ability with that particular weapon. That is what i spoke. Some can shoot a 45 like a tack driver, and others using the same, will not be able to hit a man size target.

When you suggest instinctive shooting. You are 100% right. Some states like mine consider using the gun sights premeditated. If your are going to use your gun for self defense you should be proficient enough to be able to get consistent vital hits with this technique.

With regards to recoil and pressure, they are two very different things. Recoil is felt and generated by many variable. Pressure does have an influence on recoil as well as Gun weight, Barrel length, Bullet weight and other variables. The 40 S&W is loaded to a higher maximum pressure limit of 35,000 psi, where the 45 auto is loaded to a maximum of 21,000 psi. This does not directly translate into recoil. A better way of thinking of it the 223 remington and 358 winchester are both loaded to 52,000 cup pressure, but they sure dont recoil the same now do they.

[Macgregor]

Some can shoot a 45 like a tack driver

:cool:
.....

[eatingmuchface]

ahhhh. true sharpshoter.
I forgot that .45 is so heavy.

Although .45 is generally a "slow" round, it actually can get good penetration with the right load. (so i hear)
either way a 230 grain at 1000 fps will do the trick every time.
:D

[itxploded]

.45, big slow round.

Love it, and love every gun chambered in it.

im with Mac:thumb: cant go wrong with .45:rockon:

[slipfirep40]

9 mickey mouse.

[culpeper]

There is no best hand gun caliber. Most popular for self defense? 9mm and .45. For me, .40 S&W. Its the only thing I can hit the side of a barn with.

[Oppforce]

Hey Sharpshooter i agree with your opinions and viewpoints that a gun is only as lethal as the person using it. But i have been training with the .357sig for a long time about 4 years. I go to the shooting range with my buddy almost weekly and just have fun shooting up paper targets. The ONLY thing i would use the .357sig would be for home defense. I know that the cartridge overpenetrates but hey, if someone is trying to harm my family he deserves it.

It doesnt really matter what kind of bullet you are using. 2 shots in the heart and 1 in the skull will drop everyone whether it is a 9mm(if they dont have body armor then just shoot at the head). The person you just shot wouldnt even have noticed.

[sharpshooter996]

Hey Sharpshooter i agree with your opinions and viewpoints that a gun is only as lethal as the person using it. But i have been training with the .357sig for a long time about 4 years. I go to the shooting range with my buddy almost weekly and just have fun shooting up paper targets. The ONLY thing i would use the .357sig would be for home defense. I know that the cartridge overpenetrates but hey, if someone is trying to harm my family he deserves it.

It doesnt really matter what kind of bullet you are using. 2 shots in the heart and 1 in the skull will drop everyone whether it is a 9mm(if they dont have body armor then just shoot at the head). The person you just shot wouldnt even have noticed.

Thanks for the reply Oppforce. Dont get me wrong, I like the 357sig and 9mm very much. I just feel the 40 and 45 are a better choice, for more than 1 reason. Im not sayin that i dont see a great use for say the 9mm. If my main concern is lightweight and concealment, I would have no prob carrying my Kahr PM9. With the right load a 9mm will kill every time. But if im home I feel better wtih a Sig 220. And for those people out there who say 8 rounds OMG how am i going to defend myself with that, I need 15 or 17+ to feel safe. Well im really sorry for you. May be you should just be wearing BDU's and carrying your M4 :rolleyes:

And some of you guys are missing the point on Overpenetration. The problem with this is if you shoot someone in your house or outdoors and the bullet goes thru that target, where is it going to end up. in the next room of your house in your wife, son, daughter??? or across the street and kill a innocent person. This is the problem. To kill a human being you only need 3-5" of penetration. And a bullet that can empty all of its energy in this space is the most effective for self defense. That is why the 45 is top dog.

[zenlifter]

However, one might consider a Glock 17 with a Glock FACTORY produced 33 round ambush magazine. You might also consider loading it with grey tipped Glaser Safety Slugs if you live in a colder climate or blue tipped Glaser Safety Slugs in a warmer climate. Or......you could stagger it with both and have the best of all worlds. ;)

Practice, Practice, Practice, Safety, Safety, Safety.

[svdspecialist]

i would say the .40 S&w is the best all-around caliber. although my favorite is the 10mm auto, i cant hit jack shit with my Glock20. i knew i should have gotten a cheap 1911, but i had to have a 10mm and i am paying for it

[smokey0118]

9mm. There is really very little difference in terminal ballistics between 9, 40 and 45. The main difference is you get ~ .1-.2" bigger permanent wound cavity as you move up in diameter and you get more momentum. Even though 9mm, 40, and .45 have similar energies in ft/lbs, their momentums will vary. The slower, heavier .45 will have more momentum than the faster, lighter 9mm...even if their energies in ft/lbs are very close. This means that the .45 will have less deflection through barriers like glass or bones than a 9mm would. Read this link for a real-world test which illustrates what i'm talking about (http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/buickot1.htm).

9, 40, and .45 will all penetrate between 12-16" and have a diameter between .6 and .8 when they're done in any decent defensive ammo. It translates roughly to stabbing someone with a broomstick wherever you shoot them. The wounding mechanism for handgun projectiles is the permanent crush cavity. There are some exceptions where the temporary cavity may cause damage..such as in inelastic parts of the body like the liver or brain...but for the most part you're looking at the permanent crush cavity as to what causes the damage, which is going to be very similar between the 3 loads.

To stop a threat, you've got some different things going on. They can pretty much be divided into the psychological and the physiological reasons someone would stop. Psychological could be seeing a gun, hearing a boom, seeing they've been shot and giving up...or a myriad of things that causes a person to make a conscious decision to stop attacking. Since the psychological reasons could yield the same results with a .45 as with a bb gun, we'll focus on the phsyiological as the important factor. To make a person's body not capable of attacking anymore regarless of what their brain wants to do.

In order to stop someone's body, you've got 3 options....1) cut off the signal- hit to the brain or spinal cord instantly stops the threat 2) break the skeletal structure so their body won't mechanically work 3) Poke enough holes that they bleed out...their blood pressure drops...and they pass out. For any of these tasks, the most important thing is location of the hole you poke in them. A .45 to the shoulder isn't as good as a .22 to their brain.

So far, 1) handgun terminal ballistics are relatively similar except for the increased momentum of the heavier and slower projectiles 2) Shot placement is key


I like the 9mm, personally, because i'm very fast shooting with it and transitioning from target to target. Guns in 9mm also have a larger magazine capacity than 40 short n wimpy and usually around twice the capacity of a .45. While defensive shooting typically involve ~3 shots, I don't think anyone's ever complained about having too much ammo in a defensive situation. Especially in one in which you are mag dumping to center mass until the threat stops. It may take one shot, it may take a full mag...people are amazingly durable things.

Ammo in 9mm i like:

147gr pdx-1(the 124+p has shown failure to expand in denim tests)
147gr or 124+p gold dots
147 gr golden saber bonded
winchester ranger 127gr +p+
**************Federal HST's in 147 gr***************

they'll all do the trick with great expansion, reliable penetration(more important than expansion), high capacity and quick follow-up shots. the subsonic 147 gr will also be quieter and easier on the gun than +p loadings without giving up penetration.

look to brassfetcher to see the test results for yourself and make your own judgements.

[Hammerfall]

to achieve victory in a gun fight, the weapon is just one of the factor. more come to the perparation, discpline and ability of obeserving people. i don't know how skilled and disciplined you are. but for most of people, if they caught off guard and the attacker is determinded to kill. usually the fight will be over as soon as the contact is made.

for normal folks i suggest to get the weapon you are most confortable and confident with. in a sudden emergency, it will help you get back from the shock and fire back as quick as possible. if the attacker is not experienced and not determinded for the kill. you will have fair ok chance to live.