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19 Comments

  1. I appreciate your product reviews, but as to what ya said about 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP – “So, I’m not sure how this relates to real-world stopping power, or “knock-down” power, but it tells me that, the .45 ACP is hitting a lot harder than the other two rounds are.”. For self defense use, the perception of “hitting (a rock) harder” is one thing, but the main thing is how a given self defense round penetrates and damages human flesh, muscles, vital organs, and bone – and clothing – I’ll go with the FBI’s testing results for that.

  2. The internet myths need to stop if your to be taken seriously.
    You don’t have to kill humans necessarily but you can handgun hunt critters and you’ll see there’s very little difference and that “stopping power” is kinda wrong.
    Your gonna tell me that your 45 ACP 185gr HP is supposed to make a man do a backflip like Chuck Norris kicked him but the 06 180gr round with 3 times the energy that split the heart of a deer and it still ran 100 yds before dumping over aren’t the same.
    Stopping Power has too many other factors than a fat bullet to even really start this conversation.
    Accept the fact that all those cartridges and others are unpowered and convenient more so than anything.

  3. Regarding the relative merits of 9mm versus .45 ACP, I have had similar experiences to the author. When shooting steel targets, whether a dueling tree, plate rack, or pepper poppers, there is a massive difference in how hard the .45 hits. It just puts more energy on the target. It also makes a bigger hole in stuff.

    I have never been too impressed with the idea of using a government procurement process to determine which gun or ammo I should use. I have different requirements from the government, and quite frankly, their procurement decisions are often motivated by factors other than choosing the best product at the best price.

    The FBI and other LE agencies are under pressure to make sure everybody qualifies–including the diversity hires. Their test results and procurement decisions are suspect as a result.

    The 9mm has the advantage of being able to hold more rounds in a similarly sized pistol, and it is easier for smaller shooters to shoot well. The .45 hits harder. I own and carry both, but if I had to deal with a single assailant using a handgun, I would much rather have a .45 in my hand. YMMV.

    Soli Deo Gloria.

  5. Some departments actually discourage cops from practice beyond annual qualifications. Apparently they are afraid of getting a ‘Dirty Harry’ image.
    Add more rounds to lack of confidence in marksmanship and you get spray and pray. Look at the number of shots fired in typical encounters.
    Only hits count. Skill is more important than mag capacity. More is only better if you use each cartridge as if it were your last.

  6. The FBI couldn’t find Hillary’s email or election fraud. They believed their own trash in the early 1980s with their hype on the 9mm, then got mauled in the Miami-Dade disaster after mortally wounding Platt, an AWOL paratrooper with a 9mm Winchester Silver Tip. Expanded perfectly, however after penetrating the upper arm first and then the lung, it ran out of gas and only bumped into the heart and stopped. Suspect fought for four more minutes using a Mini 14 to kill or wound 7 agents.
    A heavy-for-caliber .40 or .45 ACP slug probably would have provided several more inches of penetration and vastly shortened Platt’s rampage. Suture self.
    Federal’s 147 grain HST, or their 124 grain HST would be my selection if I was restricted to a Nine.
    All this wonderful tech in duty ammo that’s supposed to get the Nine up off its knees will also make the .40 and .45 ACP better, TOO.
    Had dinner with a state trooper recently. He revealed that the UHP has seven documented cases of 9mm duty ammunition failing to get inside the chest cavity due to screwy deviations from initial trajectory. Ribs, items in shirt pockets, what have you.
    While I no longer carry my beloved 1911s, it’s like coming home when I pick one up. Forty is my friend right now, and it is also preferred by all the girls in my house.
    There are new pistols coming out all the time and Pat has a fun job trying them out!
    I wonder how much forty or fifty Ruger American .45 magazines are…and how available holsters are. That’s a big problem on new models….getting a good selection of holsters.
    With Glocks, it’s an “OMG!” dilemma, with hundreds to choose from. But I can find a left-hand, forward rake rig to carry my spare without much fuss.
    The new female students I had in a recent class all ditched their teeny-tiny pistols that kicked harder than a plain vanilla .40S&W of practical size by noon on the first day. Soon, all had purchased full-size pistols in 9mm or .40 S&W, but the Ruger would certainly be a candidate for the person who just can’t go with the flow.
    Thanks, Pat, for the variety of product you test for us.

  7. Pat,,, my first kill was at the age of 18 in the mil ,45 at 7feet he managed to cut my shirt with a knife ,i would not be here if it would have been a 9 ,or been older and slower ,i loved the way a mod 39 Smith shoots ,carried one off and on in nam and used it in the shit with ball it will do the job but ! ,,, i hit a man that should have stayed down ,,, he was able to put a 9 round in me ,,yes I’m here ,he’s not ,,have never carried a 9 after that ,except for dogs ,don’t get me wrong a 9 is better than a22 or sharp stick or a empty pocket ,
    Just my experience , been there done that ,
    Tea and chocolate

  8. I agree with Joe and Matt: the anecdotal “expertise” has got to stop. Assuming the bullet enters your target and does not exit (which is the point of hollow ammo, pun intended), the relevant measurement is energy, all of which is transferred to the target. Simple physics shows that energy is directly proportional to the weight (technically, mass) of the bullet but proportional to the square of the velocity of the bullet. Keep the bullet speed the same but increase the weight of the bullet 20% and you increase the energy 20%. Keep the bullet weight the same but increase the speed 20% and you increase the energy 44%. That is why the large but slow .45 ACP only has a small increase in energy over the small but fast 9 mm and the large AND fast .40 S&W has substantially more energy than both.

    If you like and are proficient with your 8-9 round 1911 knock yourself out, but don`t dismiss the guy with 17 rounds of 9 mm in his Glock. Not being an experienced gunfighter, I would rather have more bullets.

  9. Old, Viet Nam Army vet, I’m sorry, I’m knot known for being ‘politically correct’, give me a 45 and an M14 and don’t get in range of either! Well, I use to be that good (;

    1. eam, good line: Well, I use to be that good (;

      Yeah, the older I get, the better I was. All in the rearview mirror.

      I echo your endorsement of the M14. Best ever…

      Carry on

  12. As to the idea of more rounds in the firearm ( 9mm ) , there was an incident that happened outside the Empire state building a number yrs ago where there was guy with gun and 4 NYC police officers. If I remember right, there were something in area of 90 plus shots fired by the police officers and they brought him down because one shot / round had hit the prep in the leg. But there about 4 to 6 bystanders that were shot, two were in critical condition. And the bullets that hit the bystanders were all fired by the NYC police.

  13. Three and a quarter inches at 25 yards was the very best it could do and this is a “good shooter”? Wow. That’s terrible in my book.

    But then, Ruger isn’t sending me free guns either, so there’s that.

  14. If I’m out of the house I’m carrying, I stay prepared for 2 legged and 4 legged creatures, when the Griz are out of hibernation I carry a 45, when they’re sleeping, I carry a 9mm because it is lighter to pack around, but believe me, it doesn’t give me the confidence that my 45 does. You can read all the gun rags you want and the ballistic charts and believe the FBI’s bs, but when I go to the range and shoot steel plates at 10 and 20 yards and the 45 lays them down with aplomb and the 9 tips them over, don’t try and tell me that the 9 is equal. All I hear, is about how much the 9 improved with new powder and such, I guess there has been no improvement in the 45. You take your 17rd 9 and I’ll take my 13rd 45 and I guess we will both be happy, and what ever is on the receiving end will be in a heap of trouble. Trekker Out

  15. Enough of my Bullet is bigger than yours. If they are wearing a vest because they are so plentiful, I will be aiming at head or hips. Whatever you prefer will hurt a perp. Practice if you can.

  16. The majority of comments are spot on, for myself and background are very similar to yours, 20 years being a dealer with gun shows and shooting events, along with 60 years of hunting, shooting, for fun and in events sports. I followed the “advance in new caliber introductions” and my own testing criteria……like to add one thing, for me it’s not only the caliber, it’s the gun itself that one that just shoots and hits the sweet spot. One example was ( please don’t giggle ) a star firestar in 45acp that I bought new at a Dallas gun show for125 bucks in the 80s. Star firearms were in my mind a bottom tier manufacturer no longer in business. This gun has had around 3 maybe 4 thousand rounds run through it and is one a tack driver, two very dependable. The gun has a fluted tapered barrel like the old detonics, and it may be a big factor for it accuracy. Friends that have shot it are amazed at its ability to put bullets on target even shooting at targets out to 50 yards or beyond. I can shoot my sigs and glocks in 45 cap……but my go to carry gun is the firestar 45acp. My point being find what works for you………and stay with it, read all you want, but when you are out in the world, what’s going to get the job done is your confidence, your ability, your weapon of choice….period. On the receiving end I would have to speculate getting hit with a 9 mil in one shoulder and a 45 cap in the other…….you are not really going to be in a state of mind to know the difference……just saying

  17. I just love Merica. We have to freedom to argue about which caliber is the best cuz we can own all the guns we can afford (even more than we can afford thanks to credit).

    I’m fine with the 9mm. But I’m definitely biased in favor of the 45 ACP. I’ve got 3 Glock 45s, a Kimber 1911 and a Ruger Vaquero 45 Colt with a 45 ACP cylinder.

    Maybe it’s just psychological, but I’d prefer to greet an intruder with my Glock 21 rather than my G19.

    And the fact that one guy refused to die when shot with a 45 ACP doesn’t change my attitude. https://youtu.be/pdjcYjSsIok

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