9mm handgun?

Question

ok why do so many people not like the 9mm hand gun? I am looing to buy another gun and have heard people say dont buy a 9mm because it doesnt have enough stopping power. i understand that a 40 and a 45 have more but to be honest dont you think a 45 is over kill for most things except stopping power? ook all so now its your turn to give me your opinion.

ok all for what it matters thanks for ALL your opinions weather valid or not. I am not some one who takes guns or shooting lightly and I know that handguns are not hunting guns but they do serve a purpose. Im not out to hunt anyone but if the need comes up to protect my self and family I want to have it available. I went out to the range today and shot a glock 9mm 40 and 45 a sig 40 a S&W .357 and .45 out of all of them my faves were the glock 9 and 40 my groupings were fist size with all from 10 yards so acuracy didnt play a part. and just to satisfy anyones curiasity I am going with a Glock 9mm. and this isnt my first gun or first time shooting but thanks for all the advice anyways.

Answer 1

The 9mm is not a bad round. In fact, most small or compact handguns might be best in 9mm because of its minimal recoil. What people are talking about when they say it doesn't have enough stopping power is that the 9mm has a rather high velocity and coupled with its small caliber, the round is more likely to go straight through something/someone than deliver all of its energy(stopping power) to it. Getting hollow-points will greatly increase the amount of energy the round delivers to the target. I would suggest Federal Hydra-Shoks or Hornady TAP in a heavy grain. The .45 ACP has plenty of knock down power, for the shooter and the attacker. The amount of recoil produced by shooting the .45 ACP makes it only manageable by the most experienced shooters. So if you needed to take follow-up shots, the recoil might throw off your aim too much to land another decent slug. The round is a favorite of many and has been around for about 100 years, but there is an argument that the amount of recoil is not balanced to the total energy of the round. Now the .40 S&W is a good balance of recoil of stopping power, which is why it is replacing the 9mm and .45 ACP calibers for police all over the country. Everyone from Highway Patrol officers to Texas Rangers have the .40 S&W in there handguns. Today, my handgun is in .40 S&W caliber and I suggests yours be too.

Answer 2

All three, the .9mm, .40 S & W and the .45 acp are defensive calibers. Do I think that a .45 is an overkill for most things except stopping power? I don't understand what you are asking. The .45 acp is a defensive handgun. It is not a hunting caliber and it isn't real good against barriers, so no, it is not an overkill for most things.

Any of the three will serve you well for defensive purposes. With the .9mm it is important that you stay away from ball ammo and subsonic ammo for defensive purposes. The .9mm comes into its own using lightweight, high speed ammo like the 115 to 127 grain hollow point rounds.

The choice then comes down to what works for you. Is the .45 too bulky? Then maybe the .40 will serve you better. If you feel that the .40 has too much snap, then may be a .9mm will work better for you. Check them out at the gun shop and see which feels right.

Best.

H

Answer 3

Randkl we are walking away and shaking our heads at your ignorance.

OK so you want a 9mm handgun. shoot a few, see how you like them and then choose one. If you aren't sure, then try something else like a .40 or a .45.
As for Doc, he is very right too. He prefers revolvers (for very valid reasons) so that is what he uses. Whats wrong with that?

Stopping power? It is just that...to stop the attacker. If you kill him, hopefully you are within the law.
If you stop him ,you can get away safely.
If you wound him you may have commited your last act on earth, so (in my opinion) you can either stop him or kill him.

Hypothetically you could kill someone with a BB gun with a well place shot in the eye but that not very realistic. Are you going to keep a BB gun around for protection? More than likely not.

Same principal applies to the .22 short or even the .45ACP. A .45 is no more effective than the BB gun if the shooter is not proficient with it. The 9mm is an "adequate" round for self defense. It will get the job done, but the shooter must do his part - just like any other gun or caliber.

It's all about what you like and are comfortable with. A 9mm is about as small as I would go for an auto pistol in self defense (once again, my opinion) but others may feel otherwise, so let them shoot what they wish.

I prefer a .45ACP, my wife prefers a .40S&W.
OK, so figure out what you prefer- who cares what anyone else thinks, they aren't shooting for you or paying for the gun. They wont be the ones defending you either, if the ocassion arises.

My second choice would be the .40 and equal to that I would gladly carry a .357 Magnum. All the bullets in the world won't do a bit of good if they don't hit their target, so 19 round mags, 8 round mags or six in the cylinder really isn't an issue. Lets just say less rounds mean more expected proficiency from the operator.

Just a note: Although adequate, the law enforcement and military communities are reverting back to the .45. Take that how you want but it is a fact. The 9mm is being phased out slowly for .40 and .45 calibers. Ironically many are migrating back to the 1911 design guns for one reason-stopping power.

So somewhere it does matter. But you have to remember they fight a different fight, on different terms than we ever will, as civilians

Either way it is utimately your choice. Forget what the rest of us say, just become proficient with whatever you choose in case you do have to defend yourself someday.

Answer 4

This is kind of an on going debate on this site. If you do a search of answers you will find some of the arguments. I think the arguments for the 9 are overwhelming in most cases...
but the debate rages on.

Some people claim carrying a 9 with 17 rounds is overkill.

I have a friend who was being choked by a monster of a man. He shot the guy in the bottom of his left rib cage and the bullet exited the guy's right shoulder. The guy got off my friend and walked out of the house and lived. My friend shot him with a 44 magnum. My friend had hid the 44 mag under his couch because he had a hunch things were going to go bad. I have learned a couple of things from that experience (o.k. had some things reinforced). One thing I learned: you can't depend on cops. I left off some details. Basically the cops were scared of the guy so they did not do their job and prevent the incident.
At point blank with a 44, one shot was not enough. The bullet went through most of the guy's torso and did not knock him down and did not kill him. The idea that if you can't do it with one shot you should not be carrying a gun is BS. Most encounters with bad people involve multiple targets at night. You may be shooting from your side, the ground, while backing up or going forward or sideways. High capacity magazines are the way to go.

Furthermore the gun flew out of my friends hand because he shot the guy with his wrist twisted (imagine trying to shoot a hos who is on top of you and you can see why). The point is recoil matters. At 15 yards with poppers (steel targets) three feet apart I do about .25s splits on a good day with a nine. With a normal 40 It will open up to about .4. But the big diference comes when I shoot left handed. I am reall slow either way but the time it takes to get the 40 back to target 3 times as long. People who say you don't need capacity have a perfect plan on what is going to happen. If you knew what was going to happen you wouldn't need a gun.

Also a small lightweight nine is more likely to be carried. What good is a gun in a dresser?

The next thing people say is that special forces use a 45. That is for combat situations and there is not one pistol that all special forces shoot.

The wound channel and penatration of a high-end nine bullet and a 45 are incredibly similar. That is not all there is to a good bullet but it is measurable and, to me, is a strong indication of its defensive capacity.

Also if you don't reload you cannot afford to shoot anything other than a 9. I do reload and have recently gotten back into competitive practical shooting. I am starting in production with a 9 to kick the cobwebs off and to go against light competition till I get my groove. I am wincing right now at the price of 40 bullets and might stay in production a little longer

Answer 5

sure's hubby right here: The .380 has many perfect names. interior the US, the right call is .380 ACP. In Europe, it fairly is talked approximately as the 9x17mm or 9mm Corto or Kurz, which stands for 9mm short. The 9m (Luger) is likewise properly-known via fact the 9x19mm. The bullet for the two the 9mm and the .380 are an identical diameter (0.355"). the only difference between the bullets is the load of the projectile. The .380 bullet generally runs between 80 5 and ninety grains. The bullet for the 9mm generally weighs between a hundred and fifteen and 147 grains. A bullet for the .380 would desire to be loaded right into a 9mm cartridge. Now, in case you're asking if the .380 cartridge would desire to be fired in a 9mm firearm the respond isn't any. the two the .380 and the 9mm head area on the case mouth, not on the rim. the main important difference between the 9mm and the .380 is the case length. in case you have tried to fireplace a .380 in a 9mm firearm probability is fabulous that the cartridge won't fireplace. via fact once you squeeze the set off and the hammer falls the firing pin will push the cartridge forward 2 milimeters at which element the cartridge case will quit sliding forward however the firing pin won't have sufficient tension or return and forth distance to detonate the primer. as a result, the .380 should not be fired in a 9mm handgun even nonetheless the bullet continues to be 9mm in diameter. good success and good capturing.

Answer 6

Jimmy may lad, when some one is coming in your direction with a knife, a broken bottle or a gun in their hand, and mayhem in their hearts, there ain't no such thing as overkill.

If it weren't for endangering innocent bystanders, I'd carry a .454 Casull for defense, if I could find a bullet that would expand on light resistance.

I haven't read the other responses yet, so I'm probably repeating what has already been said.

I don't trust any semi-automatic as much as I trust a revolver. I consider the 9 mmP to be in between the .357 Magnun, and the .38 SPL in power. Some of the better 9 mmP loadings tread hard on the heels of the .357 Magnum, but they do so at the cost of extremely high pressures. And both the .357 and .38 Spl have loads that cover the 9 mmP's power level. I don't think that there is anything the 9 mmP can do that can't be done just as well by the .38 SPL or .357 Magnum. As for magazine capacity versus cylinder capacity, you can't miss fast enough or often enough to win a gunfight. Only hits count. So six might be as effective as 16.

Doc

Answer 7

That's nonsense because if you target shoot, 9mm ammo is cheaper than .40 and .45's and in terms of self-defense, you can get certain types of hollow point rounds that have almost as much power as a .357 magnum does. What's cool about a 9mm is the recoil is easy to control, unlike a .40 or a .45 (good luck trying to hit anything with these two if you can't handle the recoil). Personally, I think the ruger or the glock are the best choices because they are generally less than $600. Good luck to you and don't listen to those who say size matters.

Answer 8

The size and cal. of handgun is matter of personal choice, no matter who says what for or against.
As far as stopping power, a simple .22cal short under the right conditions will kill just as dead as hand granade.
A 9mm is fine if you like that cal. and how you handle the weapon.
The main reason law enforcement went to 9mm.& .40 cal was the sheer fire power as the old service .38 cal were generally limited to the six shots, and the semi auto's handle much more without the need to reload, plus the semi's needed to just eject and then install a new pre-loaded clip, much faster. Stopping power of the 9mm is much the same as the old .38cal.
For most self defense guns, a simple .38, 380 or even a .32 is plenty, whatever you can handle with accuracy and comfort.

Answer 9

My opinion is that a 9mm is a great firearm. Who says a 9mm doesn't have good stopping power has not shot the correct rounds. For example is you where to shoot 9mm cor bon brand ammo through your 9mm you have a 95% one shot stop. Basic information is true full metal jacketed bullets don't have great stopping power , hollow point and even semi jacketed ammo provide better stopping power. I personally have all 3 calibers you mention and 40 cal if you change the barrel can shoot 357 sig ammo a fun round to shoot. I don't really have a prefference but , being comfortable handleing you firearm is what counts also being able to hit your target. (gun control)

Answer 10

I have handguns in both calibers and I think that too many gun snobs get down on the 9mm caliber. Sure it doesn't have as much stopping power as a .45 but it is more than adequate to stop someone. People should worry less about the 9mm not having as much power as a .45 It really comes down to accuracy if you can put your rounds in the right place a 9mm will do just fine. You also get more capacity. I can carry 16 rounds in my 9mm vs 8 in my springfield .45. I think it really comes down to personal preference. I also think a lot of the hate for 9mm's comes from shooters who want to justify that they spent a couple grand on a 1911 in .45 caliber