.40 vs 9mm...

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aWoods

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Aug 9, 2009
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Didn't some wise pistol guru say you should carry the largest caliber you can handle well?

I prefer 9mm over 40 due to cheaper ammo, which means I can practice more and handle it better. I can actually handle 45 decently, but nowhere near what I can do with 9mm.
 

Juan Gama

Bearcat
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Aug 16, 2009
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There's not enough difference between them to make any real difference and as with every other handgun round, placement is more important than perceived minor differences in power. My favorite EDC auto is a Smith 3914, and since it only comes in 9mm I am perfectly happy with that.

Juan
 

Landshark

Bearcat
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Sep 26, 2009
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Houston
I sold a Taurus PT-145 (.45) to get a 9MM. Around here, .45 ammo is hard to get and after shooting the 9MM for a while, I wanted one caliber to keep up with and it's a bit cheaper to shoot.

I am in the "shot placement" camp. I worked for a company who had the misfortune of having a double homicide in our parking lot. Both victims were shot at 15 yards with a 9MM. The bad guy shot through the winshield of a pickup. One guy was killed with a shot to head and the other was killed with two shot.

Just my .02, your mileage may vary.
 

fossils and guns

Single-Sixer
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Dec 9, 2008
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NW Arkansas
I own a 9mm and a .40cal, both are high capacity. I love both guns and both calibers. However, I prefer the extra rounds and accuracy the 9mm has over the added stopping power of the .40 cal.
 

ZiggyK

Bearcat
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Sep 2, 2009
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Hotternhell FL
I have both a Glock 17 9mm and now a Ruger P944 40 cal and I can tell you that the Ruger is just as accurate if not more so than my Glock especially with the Winchester Ranger 165Gr and the Speer Gold Dot 180GR ammo.
Alot of times it is the ammo that can through you off so if you're using cheap WallyWorld ammo like the WWB and Federal stuff your shots won't be as accurate as they would be with good ammo. I've been using different mixes of everything I just named because my new Ruger had an extractor problem and was stove piping on me until I had my gunsmith adjust the extractor because it was a hair too tight. I could see the difference in my shots when using the cheap stuff compared to the Ranger and Speer GD ammo. Going forward I'm going to try to stick with the better stuff since I just found a cheap source for it although it is still more than double what the WWB and Federal junk is, but at least I found it for less than $1/rd like alot of people try to sell it for. :roll:
 

Beauetienne

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Feb 5, 2009
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Cajun Country
Shot placement is king; true.

If that were truly the deciding factor in self-defense 22 mag would be the ideal choice. Adequate penetration, low recoil, can be made armour piercing, high capacity, low weight weapons are easily engineered and ammo is inexpensive. Isn't this the same argument made by some for the 9mm?

When the SHTF and the pucker factor dominates, I want every advantage (even those deemed small by others) I can manage.

That's why my HD pistols range in calber to include 40 S&W, 45 ACP and 357. I do like my nines, though. :wink:
 

ZiggyK

Bearcat
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Sep 2, 2009
Messages
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Hotternhell FL
I like my Glock 9mm too but if I now carry my 40 cal outside for self defense purposes since it penetrates better and I can shoot it just as accurately if not more so than my Glock. Alot of it is because of the good ammo but also because the Ruger is alot heavier than my Glock which minimizes the kick I get from shooting a larger caliber. I also find that the 180gr bullets are more accurate than the lighter faster 155-165 bullets that don't have much more velocity and don't penetrate as far.
When double tapping or triple tapping my guns I find that I'm more accurate with the 40 cal than the 9mm because of the weight of the Ruger which allows me to get back on sight easier, whereas the Glock is rather light and if I shoot 115-124gr jhp the kick is almost more than the 40 cal for me because of the weight of the gun.
 

aWoods

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Messages
117
fossils and guns":1l3xpbgv said:
I own a 9mm and a .40cal, both are high capacity. I love both guns and both calibers. However, I prefer the extra rounds and accuracy the 9mm has over the added stopping power of the .40 cal.

9mm is more accurate than 40?
 

fez

Bearcat
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Messages
60
What welder said about shot"placement" is key.I find more control for follow up shots on com with the 9mm than 40-45.I tried my sons service pistol in 40(a glock) and was not on com as much.Also I will practice more with 9mm because its cheaper.Some years ago I shot a 44 magnum(think Clint Eastwood).It took me 10 seconds to bring it back down and rebuild my position.Whatever you get hits with is key.If your a non shooter and can not practice and can only control a 22 for hits so be it.Also with smaller and lighter ccw guns for carry its tougher for your average joe to control a big caliber with those guns.Its tough enough with a 9mm with those small ones.just my 2c.
 

Jumping Frog

Bearcat
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Jun 11, 2009
Messages
90
fez":jqvxfndm said:
What welder said about shot"placement" is key.I find more control for follow up shots on com with the 9mm than 40-45.
Shot placement is very important. Don't presume that a 9mm is going to give better shot placement than a .45 however. It varies by shooter and by gun.

Here are some SR-9 groups (five 5 shot groups at 50 feet):

DSCF0422.jpg


Here are some of my .45 groups (five 5 shot groups at 50 feet):

DSCF0420.jpg


I carry the .45.
 

ZiggyK

Bearcat
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Messages
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Location
Hotternhell FL
I'm with ya Froggie! As I said before, a heavier gun with a larger caliber can be more accurate at times because the perceived recoil can be less than a light gun such as the Glock that is a smaller caliber. You can also find that a smaller caliber bullet that needs more velosity like the 9mm 124gr +P bullets that are best for 9mm self defense have more kick than a 147 or 180gr non +P bullet in 40 cal.
It really does come down to what you are comfortable with, but you should try different calibers before you make that decision. I was quite fine with my Glock 9mm but decided to move up to the 40 caliber because it gets better pentration and knock down power. I almost went with the FN P40 pistol which is a light weight polymer similar to the Glock mainly because I'm a lefty and it had a completely ambidextrous safety, mag release and slide release, but I ended up chosing Ruger because of its renowned durability and the fact that it weighed more so I knew the recoil would probably be less. I could live with not having a lefty slide release but I couldn't live with all the issues I heard the FN had with their 40 cal pistols such as the frame cracking. I do love my new Ruger and find it to be quite accurate and the recoil to be manageable while double or triple tapping. :)
 

graygun

Hunter
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Junction,Tx
I've heard that 9mm over-penetrates,or punches through,rather than expanding a lot like .45 cal. Has that been the main criticism of 9mm?
 

buckshotshorty

Single-Sixer
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Mar 10, 2008
Messages
399
timjo1955a":1zzrpo24 said:
My primary carry handgun is a G23. If I had it to do over again, I might have purchased a G19 to stock and use the same caliber ammo as my KP95. 9mm produces less recoil, especially in a light gun and ammo is cheaper. There are many good JHP options in both calibers.
9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .357 Magnum etc. have all been in short supply at the local Wal-Marts, but 9mm is still less expensive to shoot.
I have too much money invested in my G23(price of handgun, night sights, spare mags) to make selling it a viable option. Plus, I have gotten very used to it and it is now like an old, reliable friend.

Invest another $100 in a Lone Wolf conversion barrel and have the best of both worlds. I have one for my Glock 27 and it runs flawlessly. I use my G19 mags, and just ordered some 26 mags because I trust it enough to carry it.
 

ZiggyK

Bearcat
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Hotternhell FL
graygun":240f5yfs said:
I've heard that 9mm over-penetrates,or punches through,rather than expanding a lot like .45 cal. Has that been the main criticism of 9mm?

Actually 9mm can underpenetrate which is more the problem if you're looking to stop a person from getting up, although overpenetration can cause the same liability too since if the bullet goes in and out then the energy of bullet isn't hitting them fully and chances are they will live unless you hit a vital organ.
You can go here to read more about how and what bullets will penetrate the best: http://ammo.ar15.com/project/Self_Defen ... /index.htm

They have some interesting stuff that basically shows how higher velocity rounds like the +P rounds alot of 9mm shooters use may actually be a worse self-defense round then they may imagine since higher velocity rounds may not penetrate very far, whereas slow and heavy rounds will penetrate alot better. I personally use heavier rounds such as 147gr 9mm and 180gr 40 cal, rather than the light 115 or 124gr 9mm or the 165gr 40 cal. I tend to stick with Winchester Ranger T or Speer Gold Dot ammo too since that is basically the best ammo out there from what tests have shown including the tests in the link I posted. They're a little harder find since they are LEO ammo but you can find them online or at gunshows for sale nowadays. I actually came upon a ammo dealer online who sells me the Speer GD 180Gr rounds for 50 cents a round including the shipping which is about as cheap as I can expect to ever find it since alot of people sell this stuff for about $1/rd.
 
Joined
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I posted a reply in a thread about this very thing not too long ago. I sold/traded off all my .40s and the rest of my ammunition for them recently. I went to 9mm. Using standard velocity 147 grain Winchester SXTs (black box with red letters.) I also use the std. vel. Winchester Ranger Ts (Gold box with blue letters)

My main carry gun is a Kahr 9mm. It is small, compact, easily concealable, and I like the lower recoil of the 9mm in the small package. There is a video on youtube of the ballistic differences between the 9mm, the .40, the .45, and the .357 Sig fired into different types of ballistic gelatin and other media.
 
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