concealed carry.

and the shootout would have turned out any different if the agents were all using the 40?
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Perhaps. As I recall one of the agents hit the bad guy who did the most damage (with a Ruger Mini 14 I think) early in the fight with a Winchester 9 Luger 115-gr Silver Tip. The bullet stopped a inch short of the bad guy's heart. The wound would have been fatal, but, because it stopped short of destroying a vital organ, the bad guy survived long enough to kill a couple of good guys.

The .40 S&W had not yet been developed, but early JHPs in this caliber penetrated more deeply than the 115-gr ST, which penetrated bare gel only to 10.1 inches, far short of the IWBA's criterion of 12.5 inches and the FBI's minimum of 12.0 inches. Odds are that a round capable of penetrating bare gel another 2 inches would have reached the bad guy's heart, if the bullet placement had been identical. The FBI's current position is that .40 S&W rounds are, on average, shot less accurately than 9 Luger rounds due to the higher recoil of the .40.

coyotewsm, all im suggesting is dont dismiss a caliber because of percieved "stopping power". The 9mm is not a failure and is still one of the top police, military and defense cartridges today. There are more size options in compact and even pocket pistols in 9mm that would round out your collection giving you the versitality you need for dressing around all conditions. Remember you can still carry your full size when prudent so dont short change your new purchase on a slight change in size unless thats really what you want.
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Either you misread the message I conveyed, or I botched the message horribly. After the Miami shootout in the late '80s the FBI deemed the 9 Luger round used, the 115-gr ST, as a failure. There were 9 Luger rounds that met the FBI gel test standards developed in the aftermath of the shootout. But, 10 Auto rounds performed better in terms of deeper penetration and likely more reliable expansion. Because of recoil and capacity concerns the .40 S&W was developed, which for decades was the preferred caliber of the agency.

Last year the FBI announced it was moving back to 9 Luger, because advances in JHP design have made the caliber essentially as effective in terms of penetration and expansion as the .40 S&W and .45 Auto, and more effective in terms of accuracy and speed, due to reduced recoil, and in terms of mag capacity. As a further bonus, 9 Luger ammo is cheaper and lower pressures take longer to wear out guns.

Based on the FBI's science-based policy, I recommend that the OP serious consider or even limit his search to pistols chambered in 9 Luger. The primary reasons for owning other calibers are fun, reducing recoil in a subcompact package, and having a diversity of choices giving you an edge in an ammo shortage.
 
Limnophile. The caliber isnt really the issue. The whole reason I'm thinking of buying another gun is for the size to have something a little easier to carry. With that being said the reason I was thinking of the 9 was to keep recoil down in a smaller gun.
 
^You are thinking like a manager at the FBI Academy's training unit then, which, because they are using sound judgment, is good.
 
The 9 does just fine for SD situations; easy to control, faster follow up...and so many options. I'm waiting for my PPS to arrive in the shops.

Laura
 
I was thinking about going with the SR9c which would make sense since it practically the same thing I have now just shorter. And you can get a clip extension so you can still have the whole 15+1. The other contender which I think will win out is the shield 9mm. I like it cause it feels real good in my hand and because the frame is substantially thinner than a lot of other compacts, which would greatly aid in concealment.
 
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