Introductory Note From JWR: Lest this devolve into an endless “Ford Versus Chevy” type debate, after today’s posts, I don’t plan to post anything further on this particular thread.
Hi, Jim,
You’ve been getting lots of info about the “caliber wars” (again) and being the die-hard “don’t care what caliber you got” aficionado I am, I thought you and your readers may find some interest in this article: The “Center Mass” Myth and Ending a Gunfight. Maybe it’s the definitive report on the handgun “caliber wars and which does what to whom”.
Thanks for a great site, Jim. I appreciate it. – Shy III
Jim,
Just a few points from a slightly different perspective on practical handguns for personal protection and carry. As an NRA trainer I’ve been training civilians for a little more than 20 years, and have some counterpoints to the fine article by Officer Tackleberry. As to caliber and bullet configuration the military is required to use ball ammunition for both rifle and handgun per the Geneva convention. Civilians carrying for self defense generally are not as limited, unless your state has such limits. Well placed shots from a hollow point in .35 caliber (.38 Special, .357 Magnum, .380 Auto, 9mm, etc.) are all excellent choices, but in my opinion are the lowest end of the firepower spectrum that I would select.
People with a law enforcement or recent military background have a perspective of a handgun more as a potentially offensive weapon, but the vast majority of the folks I encounter have no offensive training, and should approach the handgun as a defensive tool. There are some important steps you need to consider when carrying a handgun. The first is to never be in a situation where you have to use it if possible, by practicing and having good situational awareness, The second is to have it in good working order and for you to have practice with it until the operation is second nature. Dry practice drills with dummy ammunition (for proper weight) are a good way to learn proficiency with drawing, holstering, making magazine changes, and clearing. Finally, practice firing on the range as much as you can (or can afford). As a civilian using a defensive tool, you’ll statistically never run into a situation where you’ll actually need to reload the cylinder or magazine. We tell our students that if you’re in that situation, you’re in over your head, and that sometimes life just stinks. Remember that police not only have the larger magazines, but more importantly have a radio and backup.
A few more things to consider:
* If you are married and can only afford one firearm, select the one that may be used by the smaller of the two persons, usually the wife. That Desert Eagle may be macho, but if she can’t move the slide it’s pretty much rendered useless.
* For new shooters, revolvers are easy to use. If they malfunction (as in go click), you simply pull the trigger again, with no complicated clearing drills.
* In a stressful situation, especially when firing at a human being, your first shot will miss and go high 98% of the time
* Most encounters occur within 1 to 7 yards and are over in 15 seconds or less.
* Only use factory ammunition for the following two reasons. The misfire rate is statistically very low and reloading can put you into the very unenviable position of defending yourself in civil court as Dr. Frankenstein working late in the lab cooking up your lethal bullets
Some of these considerations aren’t as important in TSHTF situations, but until then practice often, shoot straight, and be safe. – LVZ in Ohio
Sir:
I read with great interest Officer Tackleberry’s recent post. He makes an excellent case for standardizing on the 9mm for his family. I find myself agreeing with many of his points but standardizing on .45ACP is still the right decision for my family.
I am a CCW instructor and I have made many of the same arguments Officer Tackleberry made to my own clients. Finding a pistol that fits your hand and your shooting style is far more important than focusing on caliber. The ammunition industry is doing a fantastic job of creating lethal bullets in all pistol calibers. I shoot better groups with a 9mm than I do with a .45ACP (I always qualified Expert with my M9 when I was in the Guard).
So why did I standardize my family on .45ACP?
– Compatibility: My Dad owns the retreat property. His primary semi-auto pistol is a 1911 Colt Commander that he has owned since 1973. With the exception of two, my semi-auto pistols are .45ACP 1911s and Glocks.
Proficiency: When I was courting my wife, I taught her to shoot my Glock 22 which is chambered in .40S&W. Not long after we were married I enrolled her in an NRA Personal Protection class where she had an opportunity to shoot other pistols. Much to my surprise she shot better with pistols chambered in .45ACP. I got her a Glock 21 for home defense and a Glock 36 for carrying.
Cost: It is true that 9mm ball is more economical than .45ACP ball. However .45ACP ball is more economical than 9mm hollow point. Frankly, I would rather spend the money on ammo that has a proven track record of knocking down fanatical enemy ranging from the Moros of the Philippine Insurrection all the way to the Taliban of Afghanistan. As for actually going to the range I really don’t shoot as often as my friends think. I spend more time doing dry fire drills and I am still able to maintain my proficiency.
In closing I want to say that I totally respect Officer Tackleberry’s position on adopting the 9mm. If it weren’t for the fact that my Dad and my wife prefer the .45ACP, I would have standardized my family on .40S&W!
Keep your powder dry and keep em in the Black! – Cascinus
Jim,
Thank you for opening up this can of worms called 9mm versus .45 ACP. Both work well regardless of the bullet configuration. Do I prefer one over the other? Yes, but I won’t say which one.
In all of my travels overseas I have been armed and it is almost universally with a 9mm. Most generally it is with a 9mm Glock.
What can I say about the Glock? Its the AK-47 of the pistol world. I’ve seen them (both the Glock 17 and the AK-47) go bang every time you pull the trigger in deplorable conditions. When you travel on national highways in Iraq or Afghanistan you get dust — find talcum powder dust — into everything. One contractor ditched his high-end full custom 1911A1 after just one run. A few hundred miles and he had repeated stoppages. In the end he used a Glock 17 and swapped his M4 for an AK-47. Both work in extreme conditions.
Can you get better performance with a .308 and a .45 ACP? Sure. If your gun goes off.
I’ve got Glocks in 9 mm, .40 SW, and .45 ACP and at home carry the .45ACP. But as soon as I go overseas on a project I carry the Glock 9mm as I know I can also get ammo for it just about anywhere (the nasty FMJ stuff the Egyptians load in lots of cases).
For competition shooting I use my Para-Ord P14 (double stack 1911 configuration) as it does have finer controls especially the trigger pull. But I can clean and lube it between strings if I have to. Not much like real field usage. – P.K.
James:
To help settle the argument, I suggest checking out the ParaOrdnance line of 1911s. Para-Ords have been around a long time and have proven reliability. Although I don’t own one, I do know of their handguns. In short, some of their models deliver .45 ACP, high capacity (see various models), as flat as other 1911s and don’t weigh much more (except for the extra .45 ACP ammo weight) than their competitors. This is a very old discussion and that’s why Para delivered it first in the late 1980s. – Flhspete
Jim:
“Diz” stated in his recent letter that handgun skills are perishable and that it is necessary to practice with a lot of ammo on a regular basis, which causes the .45 ACP to be more cost prohibitive than the 9mm cartridge. I felt compelled to counter his argument and hopefully debunk a popular misconception from negatively affecting the wallets of your readership. Many people believe that to be a good shot, you need to shoot a lot. This is false. Practice does not “make perfect”, practice makes permanent. Good practice makes you good, but if you practice garbage, you will be a garbage-master. Most of shooting, especially defensive handgun shooting, is based on muscle memory. Muscle memory is created from frequent repetition of an activity- in this case, rapid and smooth presentation from the holster, proper sight picture, sight alignment, trigger control, and a surprise trigger break with sights on your target. This should be followed with an after action drill, which includes scanning your environment for further threats and breaking the “tunnel vision” that follows a shooting incident. Your after action drill should also include seeking cover after the initial shooting and making sure that any dangerous threat to you no longer exists, whilst simultaneously checking your weapon, doing a tactical reload, and if applicable, checking yourself for bullet holes (most people don’t immediately know they’ve been shot). Frequent shooting practice (even with the relatively lower recoil of the 9mm) will inevitably lead to the development of certain patterns that will negatively affect the shooter’s accuracy and overall performance. No matter how professional you are, (or think you are) you will start to develop the involuntary tendency to either flinch (raise the weapon’s muzzle slightly as it fires, in an attempt to escape the recoil), buck (push the weapon’s muzzle slightly down as it fires, in an attempt to fight against the recoil) or jerk the trigger (pulling the trigger instead of pressing it, hoping to get the unpleasant recoil feeling over with).
The best way to combat these tendencies is to put the emphasis on your training on dry practice. It is free, takes 10-15 minutes a day to retain the “perishable skill,” and contrary to a prevailing belief, it will not damage your weapon unless it is a rimfire.
Dry practice (not ‘Dry-fire practice’), when done properly, will greatly increase your skill at no cost to you. It consists of setting up a target against a secure backstop (such as a wall in your basement or earthen berm in your backyard), unloading your weapon, your magazines, and yourself of any and all ammunition (there is no excuse for negligent discharges; the real safety is between your ears), eliminating all distractions in your immediate environment (turn off your television, cell phone, and lock that door), and verbally telling yourself that you are beginning your dry practice session. You should then go through the forms, presenting from the holster, sighting on your target, and smoothly pressing the trigger for a surprise break. Practice emergency reloads with empty magazines. Practice your after action drills. Important: Only practice malfunction clearance drills (with live ammunition) on the range, not in your house. This should be obvious, but is not to some people. Once you have finished your dry practice session (anything longer than 20 minutes or so will start to give you diminishing returns), you should take down and put away your dry practice target, verbally tell yourself that your dry practice session is over, and return your weapon to your preferred condition if you carry concealed.
Live-fire practice on the range should only be done to validate your dry practice. It should not be the bulk of your defensive weapon training, as it is both expensive and counter-productive to developing good skill. It should be minimal, ideally not consisting of more than 50 rounds at a time. With proper dry practice, you will see your shots hit their mark dead-on when you visit the range.
Keep in mind that a 50% rule applies to defensive shootings. It basically states that [under stress] you are only about half as good as your average day of training. When you are really consistent in your training, 50% of that is often sufficient to save your life.
You should use the most powerful cartridge you can comfortably handle, but remember that at the end of the day, an increase in energy is no substitute for proper shot placement.
Thanks for all you do, Jim. – Lost Boy, Front Sight Instructor
Mr. Rawles-
I just wanted to add one more perspective to those arguing about which pistol cartridge is best to carry. My view: Stop worrying about it. Pick a handgun and caliber that is comfortable for you to shoot and carry. Pick a handgun you can afford, for which there is a ready supply of ammo to stockpile. Instead of worrying about one stop shot statistics and anecdotal tales of handgun stopping power, put your time into practice and other preparations. Keep your long gun(s) properly maintained and practice with them as well.
It’s an argument analogous to the “skills beat stuff” view. The different defensive calibers are all tools that can get the job done when wielded correctly.
As always, love the site. Keep up the great work! – Rich S.