Results 21 to 30 of 67
-
August 14th, 2010, 10:22 AM #21
Re: Is 38 +P as good a defensive round as 9mil?
In fact, physiologically,, even if the heart is totally destroyed there's enough oxygen in the system for the assailant to fight for 14- 15 seconds. How many rounds can you get off in 14 seconds?
Please. The world is full of people with nice neat 9mm holes in their arm who don't even know they got shot til the hollerin' is over. And spare me the thousand bucks routine. Nobody's gonna agree to let you stab them with a 2" pen knife either... if they have two working brain cells. Neither one proves anything.
Think what you want. It isn't a "good defensive round". It will be a fluke if it stops a fight. It certainly won't stop the fight before you have major damage done to you. More likely the attacker will be hospitalized in about four days for the infection it causes.
No handgun round is going to stop anyone with any great predictability. A .22 even less so. Comparatively, a handgun is actually a pretty poor defensive weapon.
Most likely it is, however, the best weapon you are likely to have with you.
And I still haven't seen anyone address the OP original question about a .38 +p. Higher muzzle velocity than a .38 special. Higher energy delivery. Not a bad round. Still gonna take several, properly placed, to stop a fight. Just like any other handgun round.
-
August 14th, 2010, 10:23 AM #22
Re: Is 38 +P as good a defensive round as 9mil?
Given the ballistic info in my load books & considering my Glock carries 15 rounds as opposed to 5 rounds in my wife's 642, I choose the 9mm.
I still wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of the .38 Spl, or a .22LR for that matter."It's hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong."
Thomas Sowell
-
August 14th, 2010, 10:29 AM #23
Re: Is 38 +P as good a defensive round as 9mil?
Do I like my 9mm? Yes. But if I were going to carry a wheelgun (and my wife probably will) I would not feel undergunned with .38 +P s.
Bottom line - carry the largest caliber you can shoot effectively, in a delivery system that meets your needs for accessibility and/or concealment.
Sorry for being off topic before. I got caught up just like everyone else.
-
August 14th, 2010, 10:35 AM #24Grand Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
-
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
(Philadelphia County) - Posts
- 3,001
- Rep Power
- 1828819
Re: Is 38 +P as good a defensive round as 9mil?
I'd agree with this. Also, .38 velocity is more sensitive to barrel length than 9mm, due to the nature of the cartridges. Check out the differences in velocity in pistol-length barrels:
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/38special.html
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/9mmluger.html
If you are using the .38 in a 2" barrel, the velocity difference between it and 9mm will be larger than if you are shooting .38 out of a 4" barrel (looking at the 124 gr 9mm Hydroshok vs the 125 gr .38 version).
-
August 14th, 2010, 10:37 AM #25Member
- Join Date
- Jul 2010
- Location
-
Hellertown,
Pennsylvania
(Northampton County) - Posts
- 76
- Rep Power
- 481
Re: Is 38 +P as good a defensive round as 9mil?
Just wanted to clarify because I am a 38 guy myself and this is the ballistics for a +p load, not just a regular 38 spl.
a 38spl 125gr JHP shot out of a 4" barreled gun, travels 945 feet per second and creates 248 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle.
a 9mm 115gr JHP shot out of a 4" barreled gun, travels 1225 feet per second and creates 383 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle
I think that bottom line, a projectile traveling at that rate of speed with that much energy is going to do some damage. Obviously the larger the projectile the more damage it will do, but either way it will hurt. Personally when carrying I look at stopping power of the round, ease of use and reliability of the firearm, and concealment.
Just to put things into perspective ... If you have every played paintball, generally a paintball gun shoots at anywhere from 75 to 125 fps. And paintballs are soft and are supposed to splat when they hit. They still sting like crazy and can leave some nasty welts or even break the skin. Multiply that by 9 and instead of a soft paintball make it a lead hollow point or jacketed round. It's going to hurt."The Earth is for the living." -Thomas Jefferson
-
August 14th, 2010, 02:28 PM #26Grand Member
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Location
-
Pennsylvania
(Montgomery County) - Posts
- 1,060
- Rep Power
- 4672406
Re: Is 38 +P as good a defensive round as 9mil?
For many years the standard FBI load was effectively a 158 grain Lead SWC with a hollow in the tip in 38 special caliber. None of the older FBI agents that I know (knew) had problems with it. The change to 10 mm / 0.40 SW came about because of a variety of problems occurring simultaneously in the Miami shootout, not the least of which was taking on rifles with pistols.
Either will work if the person knows how to shoot under stress. If they do not, then you will have either 6 or up to 18 rounds peppering everywhere except the desired target. For almost any civilian 6 shots is enough, so either will work as about as well under any scenario you care to name that the "average" person will ever encounter. Dave_n
-
August 14th, 2010, 04:35 PM #27
Re: Is 38 +P as good a defensive round as 9mil?
I know a person shot with .22 LR center of mass (Chest). In his back. I saw the wound. It occurred during a dicey and confusing situation. He felt the impact and thought somebody threw a rock at him. It barely missed his heart and the associated large blood vessels. The doctor gave him the cliche "1/2-inch to the left and you'd be dead right now." Nevertheless, I am working under the assumption the doctor was correct.
The projectile punctured his lung. He realized he was shot about an hour later when he got a chance to notice the blood and had a friend take a look at it for him.
-
August 14th, 2010, 04:50 PM #28
-
August 14th, 2010, 04:53 PM #29Grand Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
-
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
(Philadelphia County) - Posts
- 3,001
- Rep Power
- 1828819
-
August 14th, 2010, 04:56 PM #30
Re: Is 38 +P as good a defensive round as 9mil?
WTF?
.
Similar Threads
-
Can my guns handle 9mil +P+
By bripro in forum PistolsReplies: 16Last Post: June 26th, 2010, 10:06 PM -
Best 9mm defensive round.
By Brown-Bear in forum PistolsReplies: 55Last Post: February 24th, 2010, 08:31 PM -
Defensive Plan/Defensive Mindset at home?
By TheF00L in forum GeneralReplies: 4Last Post: May 16th, 2009, 03:53 AM -
good 380 defensive round
By Shawn.L in forum GeneralReplies: 25Last Post: March 21st, 2009, 12:58 PM -
.380 Defensive Round Question
By Virtualmatt in forum GeneralReplies: 22Last Post: December 29th, 2008, 11:26 AM
Bookmarks