Expert advice on selecting a handgun

[synergy]

Very informative, Bravo! My duty weapon is a Sig Sauer P220 Stainless Elite with 10 rounds of .45 ACP. I wish I could carry an H&K P30 off duty, but the Park service has an exclusivity contract with Sig Sauer, even my off duty weapon has to be a SA/DA Sig in 9 .40 or.45. I can't use .357 Sig even though it wouldn't be my first choice.

Everything in that article sounds a lot like what my firearms instructors said. However I should like to point out that the quantity we refer to as 'Stopping Power' is a function of how much distance and time it takes for a bullet to dump it's energy into the target. Rounds like 9mm para FMJ take a very long time to stop and they achieve huge penetration. So this round does not inflict the massive tissue shock damage achieved by other types of rounds. If the time and distance it takes a bullet to stop in a soft target is very great, that target will die from hemorrhaging and maybe organ damage and this might take 30 seconds or 30 minutes depending on where the target was hit and you risk hitting whatever is behind them. However if you are using a highly expansive 9mm +P+ load that stops very quickly and in a very short distance, it will definitely achieve the massive shock effects that make up a bullet's ability to put someone down quickly. That said, the .45 will always stop in a shorter time and distance because the bullet is moving slower and expanding to a larger size and thereby inflicting even more shock damage. Is the difference in damage between the 9mm expansion load and the .45 expansion load likely to have a noticeable effect? My opinion is no, there will be no effective difference, so I would prefer to carry a 9mm with more ammo capacity off duty.

The reason I carry the .45 on duty is that when I was shooting a bunch of Sigs trying to decide which one I wanted, the P220 fit better in my hand and I was able to shoot straighter and pass my Qualification with much better scores.

You were lied to.

You can sever the CNS, or destroy tissue in the path of the bullet. There is no "shock" effect with handgun rounds.

http://www.firearmstactical.com/hwfe.htm

http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19887

[CHEMICAL]

Me personally if i'm ever in a gun fight I'm shooting until the bad guy's body drops dead, straight up!!! and, heck I might put one more hollow point in his ass just to make sure he's dead!

congratulations, you have just assisted the prosecution by establishing "intent".

[oneak]

very informative... better than most articles i´ve read in regards to selecting handguns...

[GlockSig]

Great info

I carry the Glock 23 myself

[spinhat]

Very interesting read, I bought a glock 19 because it was a lot more accurate for me when I tried it and a glock 23. I thought I was being a wimp at first but it does make a lot of sense that if you can’t hit the target what good does a lager caliber do for you.

[aveojohn]

What I'm getting from this artical is, no matter what you carry, just keep shooting till the bad guy is dead.

[indianjack]

What I'm getting from this artical is, no matter what you carry, just keep shooting till the bad guy is dead.

No, No, No. until they are no longer a threat. I guess dead fills that requirement though.

[dogngun]

My next purchase will be a 90 round drum magazine for my Beretta 21A Bobcat.

Yeah, but try and get an ISP holster for it then!!!

I have no problems with anything anyone else wants to carry- as a progressive Democrat, I respect your diversity- but I have been shooting S&W revolvers and 1911 pistols for over 40 years, and will stay with them for now.


(Even though I did get sidetracked by a S&W 5904 9mm pistol for a few years there...)

mark

[russellsue]

Im looking at a Keltech pf9 o a Bursa 9mm or the Taurus millinium 9mm what would be the better choise

[Gun]

9mm.fmj.at 25 yards-fps.1180--358-ft.lbs.
.45--fmj.at 25 yards-fps.827--351-ft.lbs.
Crow anyone-?

Not sure of the source of those numbers, but that doesn't look too far off. Going by your numbers there's 7ftlbs of difference...which translates to a 2% difference in energy....your helping me make my point. Let alone your quoting 9mm as having more energy than .45acp.....

Going by Federals numbers...they're calling 230gr FMJ Amer Eagle ammo with 404 ftlbs at the muzzle, and 9mm 115gr FMJ with 356 ftlbs at the muzzle.

Two mm's isn't much, linearly, but cross-sectionally there is an difference of 1.5 times the area for the energy to be displaced, when comparing the 9 to the 45.


The sheriffs deputy who issued my LTCF gave some advice. He told me that if I hit the BG COM and they kept coming, shoot 'em in the hip. A 45 or even a 9 in the hip will make it difficult to walk, let alone stand.