Power vs Accuracy: CA Limits

[riderr]

LE receive 40-80 hours of firearms training. Which is 40-80 hours more than the average Calgunner.

40-80 hours of instructional time, when a group of twenty people is yawning while the dumbest one finally finishes his assignment? How is that compared to an enthusiastic gun owner who always seeks an opportunity to improve his skills, go through additional training, self-educations, working on the trigger control, dry-firing, etc?

[Jester3]

Yes!

A hit with a 9mm is better than a miss with a .45

Exactly. I was raised on 1911's. True love was found with my military issue .45 in 1972

But today with my old S&W 9mm, alloy body with good grips, and great ammo selection, I can shoot better than with the .45 that I grew up with.

OP, whatever you can shoot well, use it!

[riderr]

A hit with a 9mm is better than a miss with a .45

A fist punch is better than a missed 50BMG. It's fruits to nuts comparison

[Lead Waster]

If you have ONE bullet, your accuracy will be the same with ALL those calibers. It's the SECOND bullet that will be affected. You won't even react until the first bullet has cleared the muzzle.

BUt accuracy is paramount ... remember the safety rules of firearms ... everytime you miss your target, that bullet and it's energy is still heading downrange until it hits something/someone.

[safety-1st]

Why do you think "it's not hard"?

According to this article in the New York Times, LAPD hit their target 29 to 31% of the time, and NYDP hit their target 34% of the time.

How much training do you have vs the LAPD/NYPD? Is all your shooting done on a static range, while standing perfectly still on a nice afternoon, at a well illuminated target that isn't firing back?

My mistake it was in the form of a question. forgot the ? mark

but to answer your question i hit center mass on call of duty 95% of the time!

[ruchik]

*Groan* Not this stupid crap again.

Power is useless without accuracy. Accuracy is relative to the shooter and his/her skill level. Which means that regardless of caliber, the best caliber is the one that YOU can shoot the most accurately. A hit with a .22 is infinitely more preferable than a missed shot with a 10mm due to flinch.

[Sir Toast]

My thought exactly. Accuracy is primary. Everything else is secondary. 12 gauge buckshot compensates for bad accuracy.

[LkPillsburyDude]

10mm, most comfortable with a Glock 20sf.

[JTROKS]

Accuracy, Power & Speed all go together. You have to find the happy median whether your pistol is a 17 round 9mm or an 8 shot 45. Since the OP said one round only then I'm picking the biggest and fastest I can shoot 1 time, 180 grain JHP in 44 Magnum. What better to do it with than my TC Contender.

[p7m8jg]

Carry the caliber that you shoot accurately and are willing to routinely carry, whatever it is.

I've seen dead bodies from .25 caliber, 9mm, .40, 7.62x39, box cutter & knife wounds, whatever. Each time it was body placement, placement, placement that put the lights out. Period.

If I had a .22 that I was willing to carry all the time, I'd carry it. If I could hide a .44 special on my aging frame, I'd carry that.

There is no "best." But it's fun to watch the opinions fly..........

And no, I do not believe it's "maligning cops" when some of them give up being proficient with firearms once they graduate from the academy. The majority are not going to spend their own time keeping their skills up if they won't get paid for it. At least that's my experience. YMMV.

[Intel0116]

Almost everyone on here is going to say " due to the advancement of bullet technology 9mm is now the equivalent of the hammer of thore" . They forget that those advanments apply to all calibers, its not unique to 9mm. That being said, my first pick would be 10mm, but due to the cost of ammo, and availability, I choose .45, and would reccomend the same to you. .45acp is on the shelf of everygun store/ammo supplier across america, and is alot less expensive. And you cant argue with a 1.1 inch expanded slug with 600 ft lbs of energy behind it. And if you want more power, you could always buy a 20 pound spring for 25 bucks, and run .45 super through the gun you choose, then youll have 230 grains of hell flying at 1300 fps to your target.

[Cokebottle]

I appreciate everyone's comments and input. However any reason why you feel you can't be accurate with the larger calibers? From 5-15 feet it's not hard to hit the center of an average male 5'9" ?

With practice and force-on-force drills, no reason you can't be.

Just keep in mind that when something goes "bump" in the night and you blast out of bed, your hands are going to be shaking, you're barely going to be able to find the trigger, and that nice 2 inch group you're shooting on paper is going to be a 2 foot group on your dining room wall.

[Cokebottle]

The "enthusiastic gun owner" you outline represents probably .001% of the general civilian population.

And some "enthusiastic gun owners" scare the bejeezuz out of me.

Enthusiasm needs to be tempered to a level appropriate for skill and experience.

[AFTII]

.45 - Two of them.

[ee2]

I've always gone with shooting the largest caliber that I can shoot accurately. For me, that's 357 magnum (and yes, a revolver). As for cartridge capacity, if killing two or three people won't buy me enough time to reload with a speed loader, then my situational awareness and social habits need some serious improvement.