great, now i am rethinking my 9mm purchase

[thevic]

i can take six 9mm rounds on PCP

[-R-]

There isnt a HUGE amount of difference between the common handgun calibers (9mm, .40 & .45).

Pick which one you are most comfortable with and shoot the best with, that is the most important thing. Load it with some quality self defense ammo and call it a day. The caliber wars will never end but when it comes down to it, all three will perform adequately enough to get the job done in a self defense situation.

[Rob454]

I have both a 9mm and a 45. both great calibers. one jsut more expensive to feed than the other. IF you plan on using the 9mm for HD get HD ammo for it and you will be fine.

[SixPointEight]

Your neighbor is too tacticool for school. 9mm is a fine round. Your thoughts on shot placement are way off. The shot placement talk isn't about shooting a 1.2" group in a badguys left eye with adrenaline pumping, but more along these lines: if a gun recoils so much you can't get it back on target quickly it's no good to you. If when you shoot a .40/.45 and during a rapid fire string you get a hit-hit-miss-miss-miss-miss, that does you no good. Much better to use a slightly smaller round that you can get back on target well(control the recoil well) and put all 10 California Neutered rounds on target.

Anyways, to make a long story short, 9mm will do fine if you ever need it to. .40 will do fine if you ever need it to. .45 will do fine if you ever need it to. 10mm will do fine if you ever need it to. Shall I go on?

[Malthusian]

Practice with the 9mm. Then get the .45

[norcal77]

9mm is a perfectly fine round...just make sure you have some good self defense ammo and you are good to go.

When you pick your ammo try to get something as close to 500ftlbs+ of energy as possible. Anything after that on the human body causes hydrostatic shock, that is the key figure in self defense, can't find the article but that is the magic figure I hear to look for. Not sure if any 9mm exceeds that..but I know that Corbon 125gr +P is pretty close at 466ftlbs.

[leelaw]

My neighboor, who is LAPD SWAT, told me he wouldnt touch a 9mm with a pole in a gun fight. He says he has seen guys shot with a 9mm and they dont even flinch.

Blah blah blah. 9mm is just fine.

[vantec08]

There is such excellent 9mm HD ammo available that I dont get your neighbors rap. There's nothing wrong with talons or XP ranger or federal hydra-shok. If comparing ball ammo of both, the .45 would win hands down - but a 9mm HD round would be far better than a .45 ball.

[VictorFranko]

Dont mention shot placement either. That whole line is garbage anyway. No one can control shot placement in a street gun fight spur of the moment.

Damn, and I have been practicing hard and shooting two IDPA matches a month just so I can control my shot placement if I ever get caught in a street gun fight.
I will stop practicing immediately.
What do you recommend in it's place, "Spray and Pray"?

[CalNRA]

My neighboor, who is LAPD SWAT, told me ...

let me guess, he is a big fan of the 45 because he gets to carry a 1911...


I love my 1911s and other 45 auto guns, I really do.

but there is something magical about a tiny Glock 26 that packs 10 rounds of 9mm +P and still so easy to shoot.

[Lucky Scott]

I like the .38 the best, but not a lot of difference between that and the 9mm.

LEO's and FBI used the mighty .38 for decades and it seemed to work just fine. Now, bigger seems to be better in some peoples eyes..

I was always taught shot placement is the most important thing, not the size.

[evidens83]

As a new shooter I beleive 9mm is a perfect caliber for you to begin with.

[Papa "J"]

The best weapon is the one you are most proficient with. Practice, practice, practice and then practice some more.

[Unit74]

I keep trying to convince her that size doesn't matter...

When in doubt........Whip it out!

[norcal.xd]

all guns kill.......(not water guns though) i always hear 9mm round is no good or the ar is crap. i have and love both guns. i always say aim for the chest or side with a 9mm, try to get the important body parts. liver lungs heart. if there is a whole in any of these parts you are screwed. and i always carry jhp with it not fmj.