.45 acp FMJ or .9mm Speer Gold Dot

A

armed_preacher

New member
Hypotheitical:
You just bought a new .45 semi-auto and have NO defensive .45 rds yet. You have available a 9mm semi-auto loaded with Speer Gold Dots. You also have lot's of practice with the 9mm.

Someone is threatening your life. Do you pick up the .45 FMJ (230 gr) or do you grab the very familiar 9mm with 115 gr Gold Dots?
 
The .45 hasn't even cleared its throat yet with ball?

The 9's on my hip in that case. The .45 remains a cute toy until it proves itself.
 
"You also have lot's of practice with the 9mm."

That's the only factor the decision should be made on.
 
I would never use FMJs outside of a military setting if at all possible.

An Akron pizza shop owner recently killed a holdup man. Several of his rounds were through and throughs that left deep dents in a metal door behind his assailant.

I'm far less worried about 9x19mm JHPs not stopping somebody than I am about any kind of FMJ going through the target and hitting an innocent bystander.

There's no such thing as a "justifiable accidental shooting". You may not get prosecuted, but you're going to get sued, and you're going to lose.
 
I wouldn't choose to use FMJs in a SD handgun. There is too much chance of shooting completely through and injuring a bystander.

And the 9mm that I have that I'd grab wouldn't be loaded with Speer 115 gr Gold Dots. It is loaded with Georgia Arms 124 gr +P Gold Dots. Unless it's the other one which IS loaded with Speer 115 gr Gold Dots, for now at least. Or it'd be that 686 loaded up with .38 Spl Georgia Arms 125 gr +P Gold Dots. Or SWMBO's S&W 15 loaded up with those same .38 Spl Gold Dots.

Notice any pattern here?

There's no such thing as a "justifiable accidental shooting". You may not get prosecuted, but you're going to get sued, and you're going to lose.
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A very good point. One thing that going with the quality JHP will do for you is give you the ability to claim that you at least tried to minimize the danger of shoot-throughs to bystanders. It may not save your bacon, but it may give them reason for leniency. I mean, you at least tried.

The .45 hasn't even cleared its throat yet with ball?

The 9's on my hip in that case. The .45 remains a cute toy until it proves itself.
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Quite true. If it hasn't proven itself to me, it doesn't get carried.
Then again, if all it shoots reliably is FMJs then it doesn't get carried either, short of a wartime scenario.
 
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Geez, grab both, you got two hands don't ya?
(Of course now you're going to tell me about being an amputee and I'll feel like an idiot)
 
Duh, the one I'm familiar with, regardless of whether it's stoked with FMJ or JHP.

In this case, I'd be on the 9mm.
 
I'll get any one of them which comes in handy. Speer Gold Dot is a wicked hollow point so I wouldnt care if the 9mm comes in handy.
 
It's not about .45 FMJ vs. 9 mm JHP here. It's about your ability with a particular gun. Until you shoot a lot with the .45, go with the 9.
 
A 9x19 124gr Gold Dot expands to almost 0.60" while penetrating almost 12" in ballistic jelatin (www.brassfetcher.com). A .45 cal FMJ will penetrate at least 12", and perhaps considerably more, while remaining about 0.45" in diameter. In other words, a 9mm Gold Dot is likely to do more damage than a .45 cal FMJ, while the .45 cal FMJ is more likely to overpenetrate.

"Captain, I kinna change the laws of physics."

Cordially, Jack
 
With your choice only, I would definitely go with the 9. As was said, I prefer a good expanding round to any ball for SD, and it is only practical to use what you are already proficient with. That said, I prefer .45 ACP with expanding rounds to 9mm with expanding rounds, and .45 ACP remains my preferred carry.
 
Someone up the page said a guy killed a holdup man with ball ammo? What caliber? Supposedly ball ammo cannot hardly hurt a fly when people talk about the Nato loads. As for .45 ball, I would use it in a jam as it has a track record and the overpenetration potential of .45 ball has not been made as clear to me as say, some smaller HV rounds. Well at least maybe it was a big fat guy holding up the pizza place to get some pizza and he slowed them down alot!
 
I feel comfortable using .45 hardball in a defensive situation

I feel comfortable using 9mm 115 grain HP's in a defensive situation

I definitely don't feel comfortable using a gun that hasn't been proven yet; I've had too many that didn't live up to expectations out of the box. I've bought SA+Colt+Kimber 1911's, Glocks, S&W+Colt revolvers, among others that did not work flawlessly out of the box although they appeared fine. Needless to say I'm very weary of putting a gun on that hasn't had a few hundred rounds through the pipe. That's the deciding factor here.
 
I would grab whatever is closest to me. I am not trying to be a smart #**, but if I get into a dangerouse situation in my home I am going for the closest firearm.
As far as the choice between which is better is a HD situation, when you have the time to choose, I would prabably go with the 9mm with HP's loaded in it, at least with the choice in guns I have, my Sigma holds 16, and my 1911 only hold 8. I would rather have more rds myself, especially in a stressful situation, where you might be shaking, or in the dark. I sure dont want to get halfway across the house and run out of ammo.
 
Go with the gun you are most familiar with...period. You don't want to start familiarization when you suspect a threat.

It would hurt to take a course related to the purpose you want to use your handgun.
 
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