Free: Contests & Raffles.
I recently bought a 9mm xdm, and I really like it. I did a lot of research on 9mm vs .40 vs .45 before I bought the pistol, and this was my conclusion... Many people rail against the 9mm as being underpowered, but this is not true. Standard .45acp loads fly at such low velocities that at longer ranges they can have difficulty making it though thick clothing and penetrating deep enough to do sufficient damage to the target. With that being said, 9mm, .40, and .45acp at close range are going to be equally inefficient at stopping a person with one shot in a self defense scenario. In order to kill or incapacitate a person in one shot with a pistol you must hit them directly in the head or the heart or the round must penetrate deep enough to completely sever the CNS. It is not realistic for me to assume that I can make a one shot kill with a pistol in a self defense scenario on a moving target that may be firing back at me, so I went with the pistol that can carry the most ammo - the 9mm. My 9mm xdm is a 19+1 weapon, and with the new 9mm self-defense loads the 9mm is a very effective self-defense pistol. I bought the full-size 9mm, btw. If you are planning on carrying I would buy the smaller version.If you do not trust the 9mm to do the job then I would certainly go with the .40. I found no practical reason to have a pistol that fires .45acp. With all of that being said, it doesn't really matter too much what size of bullets the pistol you have fires. If you can't hit the target you might as well just shoot peas through a straw. Get the pistol you feel most comfortable with and can handle the best.I hope that helped.
blah blah blah... gimme a 9mm , 40 cal, 45 cal I'll still get the job doneMS
I'm pretty sure the prohibition against using hollow points is a factor for the military decision. If I had to just use ball ammo then I would think a .45 would be better than a 9mm or even a .40. We aren't limited to that. Neither is the LE community. Many police departments are dropping .45's and .40's and going back to the 9mm. Much better grouping of multiple shots is an often cited factor. I feel the need to sound off because I do think its sad that a large strata of the gun owning community simply thinks that 'bigger is better.' If you're interested in studying what is hardest hitting it would be good to review the nature of kinetic energy: 1/2mass x velocity^2. Velocity has a much greater effect on the energy of the round..45's are great. They'll kill and 1911's make for nice looking guns. The round also requires about 2x the amount of raw materials to make as one 9mm round, which will kill someone dead just as much. More materials = more costs. Recoil on the 9mm is much more controlled for a majority of shooters, making those followup shots far more effective.
Too top heavy for me. I went with the Glock.
