40 cal VS 45 VS 9mm???

168724 Views 145 Replies 81 Participants Last post by CDR_Glock, Jun 12, 2010

Doglips

Discussion Starter · Dec 20, 2002

This is an old debate but good to get people stired up....I prefer the 45acp...too many Jeff Cooper articals as a kid I guess. My wife likes her 9mm and I belive with HP and not FMJ this is a good self defense platform.....but Im intrested in the 40 cal...I dont know Jack about the 40 so I'll ask....Is the 40 as good as the 45acp for self defense? Better than the 45? or just some freakey new fly by noght round?

Save

1 - 4 of 146 Posts

Gyrene

· #4 · Dec 21, 2002 (Edited)

I like the 10mm or the .41 Magnum. Either has it all over the .45 ACP, the .40 and the 9mm, except for over penetration. All the way out to 200 yards both have as much, or more knockdown power than the .45 does at 25 yards. I carried the .45 ACP Remington Rand, and it never failed me. I like the .45 ACP and the .40, but they are not as powerful as the 10mm or the .41 Magnum, and I always felt I should never send a boy to do a mans' job.

Yes, I do have 2 .45 ACP's, 3 .45 Colt's (Long Colt to the uninitiated), a .40, and 2 9mm's. The ones I favor, are the 10mm and the .41 Magnum, and neither is the handfull that everybody claims. I can fire either one with either hand, or both at the same time one in each hand. Yes, I like my .44 Magnums too, but they are not the subject of this discussion any more that the 10mm and the .41 Magnum.

Since you are debating the .40 vs the .45, the .40 is supposed to be a little better, but you need to shoot it to figure it out for yourself. What is one mans' junk is another mans' treasure. All of these people shooting .45 ACP's, for fun or Competition, didn't happen by accident!

See less See more

Save

Gyrene

· #7 · Dec 21, 2002

Doglips - Check out the .45 ACP Springfield V something or other. My EX loved to shoot it, and she never liked a gun that kicked much. In fact before the Springfield she never liked anything bigger than a .22 LR. The .45 ACP Springfield V something or other, is ported, and it makes a tremendous difference especially since it is a small pistol. She needs to fire all of them to see what she can hit with, and what feels comfortable to her.

Save

Gyrene

· #34 · Mar 10, 2005

tommy - I sure hope those crabs are the kind I think they are! Man, a bushel of the other kind, is a defensive weapon in its own right!!!!

Back on the .45 vs the .40 vs the 9mm. I said before that I would prefer the 10mm, and it is really a .40 Cal, only the case is about 1/8" longer. You use the same loading dies (the .40 Cal is just seated 1/8" lower), can use the same bullets, and for that matter the same powder charge.

As far as the cost to shoot a 10mm, in my experience, it is the same as for the .40 Cal, because for most of my 10mm shooting, I have used the .40 Cal cartridges. In all of my 10mm's (S&W 1006, Colt Delta Elite, and S&W 610) the .40 Cals perform about the same as in my .40 Cal handguns.

As far as recoil, the 92F(M9) 9mm seems to me to recoil at least as much (it really torques my wrist), or more than any of my .45 ACP's, which are about the same as my 10mm's. My .40 Cal's seem to recoil a little more than my .45 ACP's, and a little less than the 92F (M9) 9mm. I know a lot of people believe that the 92F(M9) was chosen because of the recoil, but it was selected to have a NATO Standard for all NATO members and for no other reason, performance was not a primary consideration.

In case you may think that recoil is a real bother to me, I do enjoy shooting my .500 S&W, .44 Magnums, .454 Casul, etc. I have several 9mm handguns, for collector purposes only. My favorites as I had stated before are the 10mm (full power), and the .41 Magnum.

Somebody mentioned the .44 Special (fired in a .44 Magnum of course), that is, right after the S&W 610 10mm and .41 Magnum, one of my favorites. Keep in mind that the .44 Magnum (same as the .44 Special), is not .44 Cal, it is .429, (only .019 larger than the .41 Magnum). These are "Wheel guns" as you may have noticed, and "Wheel guns" really are preferred for Defensive Weapons, because "Wheel guns" seldom fail. Using Speedloaders, you can reload your 'Wheel gun" as fast as you can reload a semi-auto with magazines!

`

See less See more

Save

Gyrene

· #36 · Mar 10, 2005 (Edited)

BRG3 - If it isn't held tight to the bolt face, by the extractor, it won't fire, and I have never had that happen in the Semi-Autos. I have fired in excess of 8,000 to 10,000 .40 Cal rounds in my Semi-Auto 10mm's and that has never been an issue. The only thing that is an issue, is that you must make sure you clean the chamber well before you try to fire 10mm's the next time (just like after you have been firing .22 LR in a .22 Magnum, .38 Specials in a .357 Magnum, or .44 Specials in a .44 Magnum).

At least 10 other people I know also shoot .40 Cal in their 10mm Glocks, Colts, and S&W's, and they have never complained about them not firing. Some of these require a softer recoil spring to cycle, but nothing else.

Save

1 - 4 of 146 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month