Hand Gun Caliber of Choice
- Thread starter dragginaknee
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I like the .40 S&W. If it was a preference without cost consideration though, I'd go with .45ACP. And while I'm new here and don't want to make waves, I do believe you did the .38 a disservice by placing it with the .380. It's actually a lot closer to the .357 isn't it?
LouisianaCarry
Tactibilly
Everyone loads their carry gun with hollow points so that the bullet will expand and cause more damage on impact. Why not just start out with a bigger bullet. Give me a .45 any day.
I carry a .40 for work because it was that or a 9mm.
I carry a .40 for work because it was that or a 9mm.
SpeedRacer
Well-Known Member
I like .40 and .45ACP. I just never liked the way 9mm recoil felt, and I've shot several different ones. I love the bang of a .45. It just feels...solid...like a pistol should. It's hard to explain. I love the thought of carrying .45, even though you lose some capacity. But isn't the average gunfight only 3 or 4 shots anyway?
.40 is my around the house/SHTF round of choice. Cheap enough to keep in bulk, big enough to do serious damage, but small enough for me to shoot fast and accurate. And won't overpenetrate like a 9mm.
We did a "backyard ballistics" test a few weeks ago. I had some big 2" thick pieces of Mahogany left over from work. I had one piece 2", and two glued together for a total of 4" of hardwood. We shot both with .22LR, .223, .38Special, .357Mag, 9mm, .40S&W, and .45ACP.
Only two rounds made it through the 4" thick piece. 223 and, you guessed it, 9mm. Granted these were all FMJ ammo, maybe JHP would be different. Still a scary thought in regards to shooting it inside a house, or hell even going right through the BG and hitting whatever is behind him.
All but the .38Special and .22LR made it through the 2" thick piece, all with varying levels of damage to the "exit wound".
.40 is my around the house/SHTF round of choice. Cheap enough to keep in bulk, big enough to do serious damage, but small enough for me to shoot fast and accurate. And won't overpenetrate like a 9mm.
We did a "backyard ballistics" test a few weeks ago. I had some big 2" thick pieces of Mahogany left over from work. I had one piece 2", and two glued together for a total of 4" of hardwood. We shot both with .22LR, .223, .38Special, .357Mag, 9mm, .40S&W, and .45ACP.
Only two rounds made it through the 4" thick piece. 223 and, you guessed it, 9mm. Granted these were all FMJ ammo, maybe JHP would be different. Still a scary thought in regards to shooting it inside a house, or hell even going right through the BG and hitting whatever is behind him.
All but the .38Special and .22LR made it through the 2" thick piece, all with varying levels of damage to the "exit wound".
thomasward00
Well-Known Member
I voted 9mm because I have 2 but I love my H&K .357 Sig, thats my round of choice.
coltaholic
Well-Known Member
the 44 mag is my first choice, but it scares people when i tuck it in my belt, so I carry this one --Colt CCO
Gentlemen (and I use that term loosely here for some of you, lol!), I decided to jump in on this thread. To start off with, the question is misleading -- caliber of choice for what? Plinking, hunting, competition, self defense, etc. From the responses thus far, it appears most are thinking self defense. Ok, then my next question is: caliber of choice for what kind of self defense? Are we talking -- home defense, open carry, concealed carry, or what? That matters. Also, the caliber of choice may depend to some extent on the handgun of choice, which is surely dependent on the type of situation you are talking about. So, we are back to home defense, concealed carry, etc.
To illustrate that an answer to this question is far from black or white, or right or wrong, let's assume that we are talking about concealed carry. I think most experts will tell you that any gun is better than no gun when and if you ever need one. So, while a 45 is a far better choice than a 22 LR for stopping power, a 45 will do you little good if your 45 caliber handgun is too big and heavy to carry with you when your in shorts and shirtless taking a stroll down the street. Whereas, you might carry one of those 22 LR mini-revolvers in that situation -- which is a far better choice than no gun.
So, for a shirtless guy in shorts talking an afternoon stroll down the street, the answer to this question would be 22 LR -- simply because that fits the only handgun his is willing to carry everytime in that situation. However, for burley pro linebacker who lives alone in a rural area and keeps a handgun on a nightstand besides his bed for home defense, the correct answer might a 50 cal S&W -- but only if he can shoot that weapon very effectively.
Bottom line is that this poll makes about as much sense as the question -- which came first, the chicken or the egg!
To illustrate that an answer to this question is far from black or white, or right or wrong, let's assume that we are talking about concealed carry. I think most experts will tell you that any gun is better than no gun when and if you ever need one. So, while a 45 is a far better choice than a 22 LR for stopping power, a 45 will do you little good if your 45 caliber handgun is too big and heavy to carry with you when your in shorts and shirtless taking a stroll down the street. Whereas, you might carry one of those 22 LR mini-revolvers in that situation -- which is a far better choice than no gun.
So, for a shirtless guy in shorts talking an afternoon stroll down the street, the answer to this question would be 22 LR -- simply because that fits the only handgun his is willing to carry everytime in that situation. However, for burley pro linebacker who lives alone in a rural area and keeps a handgun on a nightstand besides his bed for home defense, the correct answer might a 50 cal S&W -- but only if he can shoot that weapon very effectively.
Bottom line is that this poll makes about as much sense as the question -- which came first, the chicken or the egg!
dragginaknee
Gun Addict!!
rm76 the question was a general one. What is you hand gun caliber of choice? It was specific, if not there would have been 100 options on the poll. 37 post and no one bitches or complains.. till your post
If you dont like the poll, make your own!!
If you dont like the poll, make your own!!
Didn't say I did not like the poll, but as I read thru it I could see that people were answering from different perspectives, and I had to try to figure out what their perspective was. Was thinking that someone would pose the "what for" question, but no one did. So, I decided to do just that -- and explain my reasoning, and while in the process I decided to inject something that I hear every self defense expert harp on time and time again -- that any gun (read caliber) is better than no gun when it comes to self defense. Some "carry" readers may have already grasped that, but others may not have yet. Sorry to have hijacked this thread for a moment -- but please carry on! 
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